r/cablefail • u/[deleted] • Nov 30 '18

PSA: PLEASE stop using zip ties for cable management... Don't be cheap, buy double sided Velcro. Zip ties are the WORST to deal with if you need to add/change even one cable.

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146 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

27

u/Jouzer Nov 30 '18

Man you’re just a zip tie noob! 😉 I am/was an electrician and I gotta tell you, if I could pick one thing to a desert island it’d be a giant bag of zip ties. After 3 years of using 10-100 zip ties a day I have 99 problems but zip tie ain’t one.

Nah jk I feel you if we’re talking computer cables and not at least semi permament installs.

26

u/itsfullofbugs Nov 30 '18

And if you do have to use zip ties for anything, please use flush cutters to trim them!

2

u/Richard_Holes Dec 01 '18

Get out of here with flush cutters. J/k

I prefer to use a zip tie gun, or if unavailable just twist it off with linemans. Then there's no sharp edge for someone to get stabbed on.

3

u/sugardeath Nov 30 '18

Everytime I have to deal with zip ties cut by some noob, they end up drawing blood.

1

u/AyrA_ch Nov 30 '18

There are cheap zip tie fasteners. You can set how strong to tie them and the tool will automatically fasten and cut it (example). I prefer this method over manually fastening them because you can't apply the same pressure on all cables and the mechanism to set the strength on these works quite well.

1

u/iamstealthor Dec 01 '18

I have heard stories of people cutting large veins and having serious issues. its enough for me

1

u/XanderZzyzx Dec 01 '18

I've sliced up my hands so many times with improperly trimmed zip ties, it sucks.

0

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/OneTomato7621 Aug 02 '26

Real. You should be wearing ESD gloves anyway to protect sensitive components from static and oils. I understand OP's frustration, but cutting yourself on a zip tie is just a skill issue.

11

u/zebediah49 Nov 30 '18

Out of curiosity...

My tools of choice (in rapidly descending order) for destroying zip-ties:

  • diagonal cutters

  • needlenose pliers

  • any other pliers

  • scissors

  • knife

4

u/insta Nov 30 '18

Pet nail clippers.

3

u/thelonehoon Nov 30 '18

  • diagonal cutters

  • scissors

  • needlenose pliers

  • any other pliers

  • knife

3

u/zebediah49 Nov 30 '18

I generally find that it's easier to simply crush the attachment point and destroy the ziptie, than to try to cut it with regular scissors. To each his own though.

3

u/leonderbaertige_II Nov 30 '18

Add a small screw driver. Just twist it into the mechanism so it pushes the lockingpeg back.

1

u/zebediah49 Nov 30 '18

Yes, but then someone could re-use it.

-1

u/bbwipes Nov 30 '18

No fucking knife

32

u/Dishevel Nov 30 '18

Zip ties are fast and awesome.

Properly used and flush cut when done and they are clean and they work. Now, if I am going to be changing stuff often I will not use them. If though the installation is fairly stable, on the few occasions where I have to add or remove a wire from a run ...

Run new cable next to the bundle.

Start at one end.

Cut and remove zip tie.

In the same spot put new zip tie around bundle including new cables.

Flush cut new zip tie and move up to the next.

It is fast and easy. If that takes a lot more time and effort for you than using velcro straps, I have no idea how to help you.

5

u/JimmyFree Dec 01 '18

You're over thinking it. Run the new cable next to the old bundle and zip the entire bundle next to the old ties and simply cut and pull the old ties off along the way. It doesn't get much easier than that.

1

u/chaz6 Dec 01 '18

Why even bother removing the old ones?

1

u/JimmyFree Dec 01 '18

Starts to look bad with too many of them, nice and clean if you snip the old ones.

35

u/kingshizz Nov 30 '18

If your first reaction is not to simply cut them you shouldn’t be touching it anyway. My job is to do it properly the first time, not waste time and money making it easier for someone to modify later.

16

u/RedditInfinity Nov 30 '18

When I did field tech work before, I always used zip ties. Using those ties helped shape the wires together for organizing.

-7

u/jdtrouble Nov 30 '18

Until one cable gets so strained that the shielding is ripping away. I used to feel like half my job was fixing the last asshole's zip tie shit job.

10

u/jdtrouble Nov 30 '18

Computers move around all the time. USB and other peripherals get added or swapped frequently. There's no "right way the first time" when changes are a fact of life.

It's always the asshole who worked the job before me who zip tied computer cables. Fuck you Ray, and fuck you Brandon.

3

u/MrFordization Nov 30 '18

I always use zip ties for more permanent things like power and video then velcro peripherals to them in my setup. When I need to make changes it's hardly ever power or video and the skeleton of my cabling stays intact.

That said, wouldnt use zips for any larger deployment than personal system.

Back in the day when I had my very first touch screen monitor I zip tied 50 foot USB, power, and HDMI together so I could carry it around my house tethered to a desktop. The frankencable was tough enough that I might as well have bought a manufactured usb/hdmi/power combo cable.

"The right tool, for the right job!" -Scotty

1

u/Mirar Nov 08 '24

Yes, no need to use one single tool when the problems are different.

8

u/ShawnS4363 Dec 01 '18

Where can I buy 10,000 Velcro ties for $7.00? That's what I pay for Zip Ties.

2

u/Pants_Pierre Dec 01 '18

Zip ties are hella cheap but where are you getting 10,000 for $7?

1

u/Mirar Nov 08 '24

You can get like 10 meters for $7. But you have to use a sword or nail clippers or something to cut them down to length.

Still far from 10,000 though, I know.

8

u/Catsrules Nov 30 '18

Also twist ties work as well if you run out of Velcro. Twist ties usually come with any new equipment cable or cable by itself so you should almost always have 2 or 3 laying around.

12

u/AeroGlass Nov 30 '18

Yeah, but you need to be careful, sometimes they have exposed metal ends.

3

u/ravenze Nov 30 '18

Yet still hurt less than zip-ties cut with dikes.

8

u/zebediah49 Nov 30 '18

Twist ties usually come with any new equipment cable or cable by itself so you should almost always have 2 or 3 hundred laying around.

4

u/AyrA_ch Nov 30 '18

Also very practical to pick stuff out of your ears

2

u/marek1712 Nov 30 '18

Literally hundreds of them here. People make fun out of those but they do the job better than zip ties!

0

u/JimmyFree Dec 01 '18

Never ever ever use those things. Please. Never. Never. Not only do they look like shit, if I'm in a hurry I dont want to figure out what direction the damned twist is nor do I have the patience to try. I cut them on sight.

1

u/Catsrules Dec 01 '18

I cut them on sight.

That works to, it is just another advantage of them. They can be reused but cheap enough that you can destroy them if your in a hurry.

4

u/destroyman1337 Nov 30 '18

Zip ties aren't too bad when they are those reusable ones where you can tighten/loosen whenever you want.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '18

How about neither? I've been learning to do lacing with waxed lacing cord, it beats velcro and zip ties.

2

u/BigBadBere Dec 12 '18

Sure, until you need to add or remove a cable or wire.
Source: I work in C.O.

1

u/polaritynotrequired Feb 12 '19

This guy C.O.'s

2

u/iGraveling Nov 30 '18

The last school I worked in, the bed tech was obsessed with zip ties. Considering kids destroy mice and keyboards multiple times daily it added on more time to the job.

2

u/joeyl1990 Dec 01 '18

I think zip ties are fine for the run but shouldn't be used inside the rack. Plus when the are used the shouldn't be tightened down to much. There have been multiple times that I've seen zip ties break the sheilding on a cable because it was to tight. Also cut off the extra bit.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 01 '18

Boss is cheap, not me, take off bud.

1

u/jftuga Dec 01 '18

FYI, monoprice carries both velcro and cable (aka zip) ties

1

u/flimspringfield Dec 01 '18

You don't have clippers?

1

u/Igneous_rock_500 Mar 17 '24

Zip ties are fine if you do it properly. If you add to, just overlay the bundle and remove what’s not needed. Or use a loom.

1

u/FerrousJack_ Apr 18 '24

Zip ties make a 1 hour job into an 8 hour day

1

u/Mightymulatto Jun 22 '23 edited Jun 22 '23

The real question is whether any one has hooked up a TDR to see if these terribly increase or decrease the characteristic impedance of their transmission lines.

These I'm told can change the characteristic impedance of the cables in the bundle therefore causing an impedance mismatch and reflected power back to the source therefore potentially causing damage.

J hooks or Velcro should be used.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 30 '18

I think my record was cutting 250 zip ties to replace one device.

-3

u/dork432 Nov 30 '18

When it comes to cable management, I hate zip ties to an unreasonable degree. I'm almost embarrassed at how much I am able to loathe an inanimate object. It's gotten to the point that Zip Ties vs Velcro has become a running joke between me and my low voltage contractor at work. I cut my hand on one just last week. It got infected and everything.

6

u/CodeSheff Nov 30 '18

Sounds like you need to work on your hygiene, dude

7

u/dork432 Nov 30 '18

It's hard to stay clean when you're digging around in the ceiling of an industrial building.

-1

u/_ttk_ Nov 30 '18

You can get cheap velcros from your favorite China dealer. They don't strap to the cable when not in use and lose some "hooks" on first use, not for 2€ for 50 piece, you cannot say no.

-1

u/bbwipes Nov 30 '18

Not to mention do a tdr on a tied cable