Twisting Power Cords Together - OK or NOT?? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff PB]

Silly question I think but I have the typical mess of cords coming from my rack and I want to twist my power cords together so they are basically all parallel and look like one thick cord. Can this cause interference? What about cords going to digital vs cords going to analog?

Thanks

 

[HankM]

I believe you could get some interference but you also may not get any. Try doing it and listen or see if there is any hum or RF transmissions.

 

[Pat K]

I think youll be ok, i have all my power cords zip-tied together. As I've learned from car audio, I think as long as the power cords aren't near any cords with a signal going through them (audio or video), then you should be ok.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

You can go to Radio Shack and buy some "split-loom" tubing. It's basically a thin plastic pipe cut in a spiral. You just grab a bunch of power cords and thread it into the tubing. Works great since the cords can come out at any point along the length.

My rule is to create 3 separated bundles:

- AC Power cords

- Speaker wires

- Interconnects

Strong Suggestion: Get some wire labels from Radio Shack and label all your power cords at each end. Just do a simple A/B/C.. style.

The very week after I bundled all my power cords into tubing, my DSS receiver started acting funny. I called tech support and eventually he told me to "Unplug the receiver". Here I am with 6-7 black plugs going into a power strip and I have no idea which one goes to the DSS receiver.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jeff PB]

Thanks for the tips everyone - I'll bundle these things up and use the tubing to give it nicer appearance.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

I forgot to mention:

I put my receier/amp on the bottom shelf of my rack. This allows all those speaker wires to flow out onto the floor and stay away from the interconnects and power cords. This makes it simpler.

 

[Joe Tilley]

Something to think about, my boss is a retired electrian & something he has told me is that if you bunch power wires togeather it will actley form a transformer,(this may not apply to differnt cords from seperate componets) but the same wire passed over itself several times in a short bundel will.

 

[Jeff PB]

I am not sure I understand the potential significance of a bundled line forming a transformer? More noise as a result?

 

[Bill_Weinreich]

Jeff,

Whenever a current passes through a wire, It will produce an electromagnetic field. A tramsformer relies on this. Two(or more) coils of wire wrapped around a center core(for better conductivity). The EMF from the primary coil will "transmit" into the secondaries. Usually at a higher or lower level or sometimes the same (used for isolation). The EMF emmited from the power cords could possibly interact with the others but since thay are all just carrying current at a low frequency (60 hz), you shouldnt be able to hear anything. If one of the components developed a problem (espec. in the power supply) it may become noticable. Just make sure the power source is clean and bundle away.

Bill