Page 1 of Tidying up excess cabling

I have put together my hone cinema/HiFi system over a few years now. But the biggest pain is the cabling, particulary the power cables. I need at least ten three pin sockets to ensure that all my `boxes` are connected to a power source. Is there any way to simplfy this problem. My better half likes watching the movies, but does not appreciate the mess in her nice living room and as for the cat, he has a field day.

Divorce the better half/drown the cat?

J/K :D

10 sockets? Jeesh, what is your set up like - can you put the cables under the floor? Is your TV in a cabinet? I don`t suppose something simple like duct tape would help?

One of two options as far as power cables are concerned:

1. Neatly bundle each cable to the required length and fasten with a tie-wrap, not tape as you get left with a sticky mess! This is what I have done and it does neaten things up a bit but you`re not supposed to do it as the coiled up mains flex can become a fire risk if it generates excess heat.

2. Cut the cables to length and fit new plugs. Neatest but may invalidate warranty as all plugs have to fitted by manufacturer (BS regs i think) and if you move your equipment you might need that longer mains cable!

What I have also done is screwed a four gang trailing extension to the back of my TV cabinet so the mains cables all plug in round the back and then you only have one mains lead going to the wall socket as I too need around 10 13amp sockets for my set up.

DS

Time to get the drill out I`m afraid... You can buy nice slimline triple wall sockets these days - run a spur off the mains and fit three or four of these to the wall behind your kit. This is what I`ve done, and it looks good and banishes the dreaded multiplug adapters... They have fuses in the, so safety`s the same. I`d also go with trimming the leads to get them the right length - Most hardware uses standard small-guage kettle leads, so you should be able to swap in a new one if you ever have a warranty problem.

Cheers

DanB

PS Alternatively, does your amp have a power output or two on the back ? My tuner and CD player are both powered through the same output slot at the back of the amp - cuts down on the power sockets, and also means everything comes on at the touch of a button...

This item was edited on Tuesday, 10th July 2001, 17:13