# Organizing Cable



## lighttechie5948 (Jul 9, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

My high school has been organizing their cable in a wooden box someone built and every time I go to grab a cable it's a huge task to find the size I want and one with connectors on both sides. Then once I find the one I want I have to try and untangle it from everything else inside the box. So this box thing really isn't working.

I'm gonna have a lot more control next year (since they finally found out that I'm the only student there with professional experience) and I want to redo how they organize cable. I was thinking of using different colored electrical tape to label how long each piece of cable is. Then have a cart with different pipes color coded to the sizes of cable. Another pipe for twofers, and then drawers on the bottom for MEDs, FEDs, and other adapters.

Do they sell something like this or would I need to find someone to build it?

What do you think? How do you organize your cable?


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 9, 2010)

It is better to store electrical cable flat rather than hanging from a pipe. If you use ties to keep the cable in neat bundles then there shouldn't be too much of a tangle to sort through. There are plenty of youtube videos on how to wind and store cable.

Does your high school have a metal shop? The cart sounds like an ideal project for them.

There are a number of threads on coding cables in the forum like this one.


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## BillESC (Jul 9, 2010)

I suggest keeping your color code simple. My shop uses the following:

5' & 50' Blue

10' & 100' Red

15' & 150' Orange

20 & 200' Green

25' & 75' Yellow


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## bishopthomas (Jul 9, 2010)

Here are two different systems for cable organization in the shop that I have seen and like: The first is the "wall o cables" system where you hang them from hooks on a peg board (or wall). The other is a wall of divided shelves (like cubbyholes). The goal is to separate at the very least the types of cable, but also by length if you have the storage space for that. Wrap them and tie them off with either trick line or velcro. I also use color codes for my cables but go with heat shrink (with my company name printed on it) rather than tape. You can go with the tape idea since you already have the cables terminated. I use the following color code for all cables, if it matters:

<6' yellow
10' white
20' green
30' blue
50' red
I don't usually carry over 50's, but if I did I would add two colors together, ie 75' = red+green


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## WooferHound (Jul 9, 2010)

A shop that I worked at used the standard resister color code to label the length.
10 colors and 10 numbers looks like this
Black - 0
Brown - 1
Red - 2
Orange - 3
Yellow - 4
Green - 5
Blue - 6
Violet - 7
Grey - 8
White - 9
So a 25 foot cable was Red/Green
a 150 foot cable was Brown/Green/Black
you may run into problems where the tape is the same color as the cable


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## ajb (Jul 10, 2010)

WooferHound said:


> A shop that I worked at used the standard resister color code to label the length.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


 
In actual resistor color codes, the last band is supposed to be the multiplier, so a 25' cable should be Red-Green-Black (25*1) and a 150' should be Brown-Green-Brown (15*10). Of course cable lengths are generally integers in much narrower range than resistor values, so your modification makes sense.

Electronics Reference: Resistor Color Code Guide

That said, I personally prefer doing length ranges--it requires fewer colors, so you can reserve a few colors for indicating cable type (most helpful for XLR, where it's not always immediately obvious), and 5' increments are usually adequate precision if you've got space to dress up slack.


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## xander (Jul 10, 2010)

Most of the cable I deal with comes from a shop so they get to pick the color coding. PRG, 4Wall, LUCS all have their own system and they are not the same. Then add in any house cable that inevitably has it's own color coding. It gets quite confusing sometimes. I remember back at my college they made it simple. Red was 5' and green was 10', then just add it up. A 25' would have 2 green bands and a red. Super easy to remember. If you have lots of long cables maybe add a third color to the mix that means 25' or 50' or something. Some people don't like this system because one piece of tape may fall off and then you think it's a 15' but it's actually 25', but some heat shrink can solve that problem. K.I.S.S.

-Tim


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## WooferHound (Aug 3, 2010)

I occasionally work at a lighting company here in town. They use pipes to put their wire and cables on. I'm sure you don't have this many cables, but this should give you some ideas. Here are some pictures...


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## BDS0111 (Aug 3, 2010)

Hi Joe,

How many cables does your school have? You could start by standardizing your cable inventory. Shoot for having just a few lengths: 5', 10', 25', 50', and maybe 100' (maybe 15' too, if you think you need it). These would probably handle anything you come across. Decide on the few lengths that you need weather it is what I wrote above or something else, and standardize everything to it, eliminate all of your odd-ball sizes. If you have a 13' cable, cut it down to 10'. Make adapters out of the 3'. Pick a simple color code... One color per length, there is no reason to have 2 or 3 different colors of tape on your cable if you only have four of five sizes. Stay away from some of the ridiculously complex codes that some larger shops use. I put heat shrink over the E-Tape too, cut a 1" piece for this. I also have my company name and barcode on each cable under another piece of heat shrink, and always at the male end of the connector. You won't need to worry about this though, unless you loan your cable out or want it for looks. Just simply write on the connectors with the school name or initials with a silver sharpie. Put a piece of tie-line on each end of every cable! Each time you coil it, tie the line to keep the coil secure to prevent it from getting tangled! Repair all of your pieces with missing connectors.

I agree with others that it is better to store cable flat. You might consider building a few cases for your cable. If you have a lot of inventory, you could have one case for each size. This would make it much easier to move the cable around during load-ins and outs.

Good Luck!!

BRANDON


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## CSCTech (Aug 4, 2010)

I can't say much for neatnes as our storage is a filing cabinet, but as for keeping the tangling away, when the cable is rolled, twist one end around the bundle and plug the connectors together. Now you have a little handle and no way for it to become tangled, provided all the cables are done this way.
Of course this wont work for some cables such as Speakon.

Make sure the connectors aren't being stretched.


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## ship (Aug 6, 2010)

The electrnics color code is fairly common, too bad it didn't catch on in the industry back in the like 70's or before when such concepts came out. This topic has also been discussed before should you want more research into the subject.

Stuff like as above problem of if electronics color code when your cable lengths don't match up with another companies color code that just don't stock that length of cable. Might especially be problematic between lighting and sound companies based on the metric or imperial systems.

Where I work we use a different color code than that above and like eight years ago, it took practically an act of God to convert 15' cables from the stupid white/red to a more simple red. Even heard a problem with it of... "how than if now red for 15' can we tell the difference between 15' and 75'?" urr... gee, self evidant?

Where I work, cable colors got really complex in even running out of colors - overall color verses stripe of color even above a length color code so as to designate what it's for. Got our basic color code - 5' = yellow for instance. This by way of pre-printed heat shrink labels with company name and phone number. Such imprinted lablels often wear off with use so they are always not just covered with clear heat shrink, but that heat shrink is glued to the cable so it does't have flexibility/wear problems after a few years. 

Add to that on a common cable that I recognize that nobody uses the same color code for length. Some do post a very useful color code inside their road cases so those pulling the cable can figure out how long it is dependant on color. Very useful, never got much into it but very useful for the often IA types that work for many companies when on site without standardazation.

Instead I have gone to P-Touch labeling all or at least most of my cable above the color coded for length cable. 8pt text for such a labeler that cable's serial number, as important for tracking as with it's bar-code that I normally throw away if servicing the cable. Never got into the bar code system but it is policy. Also of 8pt text if 208v cable is a 208v. label which normally don't get a serial number. This differenciates it from the 120v stuff and is in general a warning.

Than as often added to a pre-printed for company and phone number cable lenth is it's description code in 4pt text. This on most cable other than that which I don't care about as much or don't have room. I do a specification of the cable line in telling what it is. 12/3 SJ (OOW at times left out in only SJ verses SO most noted), 12/3 SJ. 50'. Or should it say be a multi-cable, say 12/14 ProPlex 50' as noted the same info - gauge, conductor, brand or class than length. This length as listed on most all cables is especially useful to the roadies on-site but the other info is also important should they be doing their lamp load calculations in doing their job in say not making a 14ga. cable do a 20A load.

Been a problem in the past before I went all 12 ga. cable for use.
l
Anyway, those are the top two lines of info. Under company name and phone number on multi cable, hoist cable and for many others, I'll also list the date it was made and initials of who made it. All this atop a color for length heat shrink and under a glued down clear heat shrink so as to preserve the info. Takes more time and money to do it that way, but the info is preserved.

Our system is arcaic in some ways in not using all colors and in limited by colors before my time for cable length. Sometimes say for a 150' cable it's both blue and yellow for color code. Should it be a length of 150' 1Kw Soco cable for instance, it's going to have three colors to it. Yellow/blue and two purple stripes on the edges. (Those designing the origional color code system date back 20 or 30 years in being un-imaganitive in a system I'm now stuck with.) Purple stripes at the ends of a length color code denote that this cable is either 1Kw cable or 208v cable. Both have the same stripe pattern and system though the Soco cable can be used in either 120v or 208v way.

Such stripes make you note things - not always understand what it means but you do note it. Once the company ran out of colors in not using all that many in even ROYGBV in color code as also done, they started double stripeing cable.. 175' is say Red/Blue... Makes sense to us.. but 200' is black as with use on adaptors, fixture colors etc.. I introduced the blue color code to S-4 Leko's once the 750w was introduced and it was needed to know what was still 575w verses 750w. Also introduced a write on of the date of the fixure on that label for the cap at least in assuming resale of the oldest fixtures and or tracking down bad lot numbers. Got some metric fixtures by mistake and or crappy lot of them in tracking them down. Date your gear by making it and who or by factory in at times you do get bad gear and need to track it down.

This if not "bad employee" not fully tightening down terminal screws, and all cable with that person's initals need to be returned for inspection.

Anyway, I digress, color coding is good. Used to be at work the same color code for length of cable for 3-pin XLR cable as 5-pin DMX cable. This before my time, they found some inventory problems with proper re-stock of them so in un-used color in the color code, started marking 5-pin cable no matter the length with green velcro. This as opposed to normal data cable that gets velcro of similar color to it's lenght. (For some reason they in the past as with purple or orange, never used green for a length code.) Orange for me is a caution color, purple I cannot get heat shrink for but I play with in tape at times, green?)

Anyway they did all the five pin stuff with green heat shrink. Worked as a concept until someone on a constant basis removed the green Velcro from the cable as many do in common with all velcro on cables... gone in often just throwning out in not realizing how many hundreds of dollars per show they just cut off or tossed out. Hmm... velcro in my way, remove it at like over $1.50 each and probably even more each removed over the years. Sorry if the Velcro was in your way, did you have to destroy it or toss it out never really got thru to the tour types in costing hundreds of dollars per year to providing a marking of the cable and also to just band it above tie line.

Anyway, became appairent that velcro wasn't working out for use of either wrapping cable - though still in use, but no longer relied upon in marking the cable. Instead I introduced the single stripe of color under the heat shrink concept - in the past it was a double stripe, mine was a single stripe in a chotic system.

All true 2-pair five pin XLR cable now got a green stripe in the rest either not true five pin or older cable now circulating out of the inventory as it fails. Replaces the need for green velco for the five pin stuff unless five pin and velcro removed in people having to inspect what they put away anway... and or in pulling for a show, having to explain that if if five pin, if it has a green stripe at the label, all five pins should work, otherwise without a green stripe and unless specifically requested, pins one thru three in working is fine. Lots of non-green stripe cable returned as bad given pins 4&5 don't work but that's a more eduction type of thing as normal with how many amps a 100' 16/3 SJT cable can carry.

Ran out of colors of stripe at some point especially when it came to the two versions of six pin cable. RFU, Sensor, Clear Com, or other purpose? About the same time LED fixtures and other four pin gear became popular in me having to differentuate between Color Blast cable, verses Clear Com, Chroma Q, Color Ram or in general scroller cable. Ran out of color stripes for them also given versions amongst others. Color stripe near the lenght of cable color code works well as a concpt but after I went copper, aluminum and even masking tape in color - and I do have a baby blue verses normal blue color... gets complex not just to remember the code but to find more colors for new special cables.

All this said, it is a code and when I have time and mostly I don't just rely on color codes or mutiples of them, I label what it is and how long it is. Who owns it with a phone number, and if important, who made it and it's date.


This all as got complex given many cables - pallets of each length and I cannot imagine how many given any length of them might reach into the 3 or 400's for serial number, for my personal use, I use what I learned in college and works better in my own gear for me.

As stated in the past about this question, I use e-Tape to mark who owns the cables and it's lenght. My gear is 3M bably bue and many of my tools even still have that marking. One color of E-tape as my color in not knowing anyone else around with that color and or as per college, one color of tape per where this cable, fixture, or tool belongs to. Graned even if sparkley pink nail polish in marking the tool, fixture or cable, gotta know who owns that color before one has a hope of getting it returned thus the engraved name also.

Still though after color as to what theater the cable belonged to was their system I use and with a sort of Roman Numerals system can still about 20 years since I was introuced to the system... still can easily read.

Assuming a 3/4" wide strip of tape, it in a Roman Numerals type way of marking makes it easy to read how long this cable is. One 3/4" width is ten foot. Half that in width is 5'. Double that width is 50'. Count the rings on this cable and it's very easy to figure out how long this cable is. While at work I use one system, at home and for my own gear, I use the more sensible system. Count the rings. This assuming like 20 years ago I printed up and placed under packaging tape my name and (very old) phone number to what I own also. Taped color code that would be better under glued down clear heat shrink in protecting the info, but I don't use the cable that much these days. I own my cable though and at a glance can easily determine it's lenght by way of counting the rings. Another system that I prefer in reality. Count the growth rings.


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## Grog12 (Aug 10, 2010)

So apparently I'm the only one who prefers actual numbers to color. As mentioned before everybody and their brother has a color system, and none of them match.


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## bishopthomas (Aug 10, 2010)

Grog12 said:


> So apparently I'm the only one who prefers actual numbers to color. As mentioned before everybody and their brother has a color system, and none of them match.


 
Numbers are fine, but when I need to grab a 20' cable in a hurry I don't want to be looking for a tiny number printed under heatshrink.


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## derekleffew (Aug 10, 2010)

PRG's color code is the only one I've memorized, since that's the shop I see the most. It matches across all their branches and divisions, and has roots going back to the 1970s. There's not much logic to it, but once it's known, it's known.


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## Chris15 (Aug 10, 2010)

My preferred system has the best of both worlds, numbers and colours...
Metric length in metres in coloured bands consistent with the resistor colour code, followed by that length numerically, preferably in Panduit PCM series, but at that point I'm starting to get fussy...
Preceded by a company sticker and all encased in clear heatshrink.


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## Grog12 (Aug 10, 2010)

bishopthomas said:


> Numbers are fine, but when I need to grab a 20' cable in a hurry I don't want to be looking for a tiny number printed under heatshrink.


 
Which is why I don't print them tiny.


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## zuixro (Aug 10, 2010)

I have the ultimate solution! 

Using alternating bands of black and white e-tape, create a barcode-like system to encode your venue name, and the length in meters on the cable.

White strips are 1, black strips are 0.

Begin with a start byte of 10101010 (So we know which side to start from). Then use three ASCII characters to identify your venue. Next, 3 ASCII characters, the length in meters. Finally, an end byte of 11011011.

So a 100 meter cable at my venue would be:
1010101001010101010100110100001100110001001100000011000011011011

Then cover the whole thing with heatshrink.

Optionally, add another ASCII character after the length to identify the type of cable. S for stagepin, T for twistlock, M for mic cable, etc.

It's easy to remember, unambiguous, easy to read. =D


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## Anvilx (Aug 10, 2010)

What about a check sum?


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## sk8rsdad (Aug 10, 2010)

Anvilx said:


> What about a check sum?


Bad actors use a HAMming code


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## zuixro (Aug 10, 2010)

Anvilx said:


> What about a check sum?


 
I actually planned this out a month ago, but I couldn't find the thread. That was in the original version, but I forgot.


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## ship (Aug 11, 2010)

Used to have a bunch of color copies to forget which.. ILC or TLC's color code that if using their cable on rental, I would post their color code on the road box lid. Often frequently where I work will also post that color code or used to also on the lid.

Me, I went away from the system of color coding. Yea, I still use them, but just about all gear under it's serial number if it has one, gets a tag/label of what it is and what it's length is.

That's for a few purposes, under the label 18" away from the plug and connector - each end, you get a tag such as 12/3 SJOO

W 25' on it on each end. See this tag less than 18" away from the end, and you know this cable will be a wee bit shorther.



Beyond that, you know the grade and gauge of cable in use plus it's length. See say one cable with white coloring marked as 25', one tends to fixture out all with white markings and marked as 25' long will be 25' long.


Don't require long term memory of color code, given each cable is marked for lenght already,the color code only supplements the ease of finding them as intended as a concept anyway. You also in getting tricked to read the label as a "Professional", might at that point not use if known to be 12ga wire, for a 30A loading amongst other problems at times "Professionals" don't read clearly enough to master in concept of use. Written down and pinted the say 12/3 SJOOW 25', in reading the label, your mistake in using it for other than it's design loading or purpose.


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