We have all seen them, a coiled cable that makes connecting two electronic devices so much easier.  The benefits of a coiled cable are numerous, but the main purpose is so that a big pile of excess cable doesn’t lie around and get tangled.  A coiled cable can also be called a coil cord, coiled cord, curly cord, coiled wire or stretch cord to name just a few other names.  All these names are used in this article, but they all mean the same product. The question, how to make a coiled cable? Is answered below in four steps.

As with many things experience plays its part, so it is always best to consult with experts like Meridian Cable.

STEP ONE is to make a cable.  This can be as simple as one conductor or as complicated as a cable Meridian Cable recently made.  That coiled cable had 15 conductors; five twisted pairs, two 14 awg conductors, two 18 awg conductors and one 50 ohm coaxial cable.  Most coiled cables are not this complicated, but Meridian Cable can do it.

Since a coiled cable acts as a spring it is critical when making the cable that all the conductors are constructed right.  Things to consider are the size of the conductor stranding, the twist of the stranding, the direction in which the conductors are bundled and the insulation material used to name a few.

The final cable consideration is the outside jacket material.  This is critical because this is where most of the “coil” action in a coiled cable occurs.  Meridian Cable uses the following materials; polyurethane, thermoplastic rubber, thermoplastic elastomer and polyvinyl chloride.  Each material has applications it is suited for and these can range from medical uses to simple industrial control situations.

STEP TWO is to wind the cable onto a rod.  During this process the coiled cord starts to look like the final product.  The cable is wrapped around a rod the can be a small as 1/4 of an inch to a large as 3 or 4 inches in diameter.  The size of the rod creates the inside diameter (ID) of the coiled cable.  A small ID creates a coiled cord with more spring action and a larger ID creates less spring action.

STEP THREE is heat treating.  Since the outer jacket material is thermoplastic it can be softened with heat.  However too much heat will melt the material and too little won’t change anything.  The goal is to heat the material JUST hot enough and for JUST the right amount of time to get it to stay in the coiled shape.  This requires some experience and know how because if it isn’t done right then the coiled cord won’t perform correctly.

STEP FOUR is reverse winding.  During heat treating the material on the outside of the coil cord is lengthened and the material on the inside is shortened.  When the coil cord is reverse wound, or turned inside out, the force pulls the coils together giving the coil cord the spring action.

While these are the basic steps in making a coiled cable there are a lot of details that need to be considered.  A few things to consider are how many cycles will the coil cable experience, what kinds of environment will the coiled cable endure and what electrical properties are vital for proper performance.  Meridian Cable has the experience to talk you through the design considerations and show you how a quality coiled cable performs.  Call or email us and we will be happy to design your next coiled cable.

Bud Kinzalow – Meridian Cable

Custom, that word is used so often today it is often hard to know what it truly means.  This as true for a custom cable assembly as it is for any other product. Exactly what is a custom cable assembly? Hopefully the following information will help you know if the cable assembly you need is custom or not.

If you were driving down the street and saw a vehicle that had the front end of a sports car, the middle section of a family sedan and the rear end of a pick up truck you would know instantly it was custom.  However if a standard compact was next to you, well you would know that car was definitely not custom.

So how do you tell a custom cable assembly from a standard cable assembly?  Really there are three things that will tell you and they can be summed up as follows; the ends, the middle and the inside.

Let’s start with the ends.  Most often these are connectors, but they could be any kind of termination.  We have all seen cable assemblies at big box retailers and know most of the connectors used.  If you need a cable assembly with typical connectors, then odds are the cable assembly is not custom.  We recently had a customer that needed their cable terminated with a housing that had a switch and circuit board inside.  And on the circuit board, in addition to circuitry, there was an LED that needed to project through a light pipe.  This was decidedly custom and not available at their local store.

The middle of a cable assembly is sort of the sedan in between the sports car and pick up truck.  Let’s say you need a standard cable, but you need a different length.  Or better yet you need a place in the middle to have another cable come out, because you need to connect to something else.  This month we had a request for a USB cable.  Simple enough until the customer said they need to connect the ground of the cable assembly to an AC power outlet.  That is truly a custom cable assembly.

The inside of a cable assembly is the cable itself.  We can all go onto to the internet and search for cables.  Try this, search for a cable assembly made with twelve 18 awg conductors, one shielded 18 awg conductor and 1 RG 316 coaxial cable, all with a polyurethane jacket.  Odds are you won’t find this, except on our website.  Or say you need a cable with three 20 awg conductors and five 26 awg conductors, in a flat, not round, shape.  These are truly custom cables and you will find these and more on our website.

To summarize,  if your cable assembly needs a special end, requires something special in the middle or must have something special inside then you need a custom cable assembly.  Meridian Cable has designed thousands of custom cable assemblies and all you need to do is call or email us.

Bud Kinzalow –Meridian Cable

There are companies all over the world that promise lower prices, even in the US!  Think about it, have ALL your US based suppliers been perfect?  No they haven’t, nor have all your off-shore suppliers.  The question isn’t simple off-shore or domestic. The smart buyer looks for a company with depth of experience, capability and control.  This is possible, if the off-shore company is US owned and controlled, like Meridian Cable. We have been making custom cable assemblies and coil cords for 15 years.

The Myth of the 4 “Qs”

Quality – Meridian Cable has been ISO9001 certified since 1999.  How many of your US coil cord and custom cable assembly suppliers can say that?  We also have been audited by at least 4 customers each year since 2003, and have consistently passed.  Meridian Cable is an approved supplier of coil cords and custom cable assemblies to the medical, aviation and military industries for a reason.

Queue – Gargantuan lead times?  Not at Meridian Cable.  We extrude our own cable and keep copper and plastic in stock.  We also keep custom cable in stock for those who are flexible and need product, from China, in 2 to 3 days, not 2 to 3 months.  Our typical lead-times are the same as any US supplier.  Call Meridian Cable and we will be happy to tell you.

Quantity – You must buy HUGE quantities from China and pay in advance.  Not at Meridian Cable!  We take orders constantly below 100 pieces and even have coil cords in stock in our US warehouse for single piece, immediate delivery.  Don’t be fooled by those who don’t care to smartly explore the best value.

Quadruplication – Okay it’s not a real word, but we needed a fourth Q.  Meridian Cable is a US company that owns a factory in China.  It is our factory; therefore your proprietary information is protected.  In 15 years of operating in China, Meridian Cable has never had any customer information divulged.

The Right Chinese Choice

China has a lower cost, which is why companies now more than ever are sourcing from China.  When you look for an off-shore vendor why not have the best of both worlds?  Look for a US company that owns its own factory in China.  This way you can work with your US vendor just like always and have the cost benefits that China gives.  Meridian Cable is the best choice. Call us or email us for a quote. Our dedicated staff will be happy to work with your coil cords and custom cable assembly needs.

At Meridian Cable our tag line is “Off Shore – In Spec – On Time™” and we specialize in custom coil cords and custom cable assemblies.  Since most products we build are designed, tooled and built exclusively for our customer’s many folks believe our lead times would be quite long.  This is far from the truth.

Recently Meridian Cable was fortunate enough to work with a new customer who was in a bit of a pinch.  This company was in Hawaii filming a sequel to a major motion picture, and they needed some custom coil cords fast.

The common perception is lead times from China, where our wholly owned factory is located, are months long.  We shipped this order in less than one month from first contact.

Our new customer found us through an internet search, sent us an email and we had a quote to them in 2 days.  Again this is a custom coil cord and not something we keep in stock.  If this had been one of our stock coil cords we could have shipped the same day.  We designed, costed and quoted this product in 2 days, and then proceeded to deliver them to the customer in less than 4 weeks.

To put some perspective on how quick this is, an explanation of how a coil cord is made will help.  The first step is to build the inner conductors.  This starts by taking individual copper strands and combining them to make the gauge wire needed.  Step two is to cover this wire with an insulation material such as PE, HDPE, PP or PVC.  In step three we combined three 26 gauge wires and a 24 gauge drain wire together in a bundle.  Step four was braiding whereby the wire bundle is cover in a shield made up of 64 inter woven strands.  In step five we did the final extrusion with PU, polyurethane.  All these steps just made the raw cable; we still had to make the coil cord.

Coiling cable involves winding the raw cable around a metal rod.  The size of the rod and length of the winding will determine the size of the final product.  After winding the rods are put through a heat treating and cooling process to make sure the raw cable holds the curly cord shape that gives the product its retractablity.

Then all we had to do was ship the product, from China to Hawaii, where our customer was on location shooting their film.

All this was done in less than 4 weeks.  This is what “Off Shore – In Spec – On Time™” means at Meridian Cable.  Call or email us and see how we can help solve your custom coil cord or cable assembly needs.

Bud Kinzalow – Meridian Cable

Meridian Cable recently helped a customer turn a mess of 3 coil cords into 1 neat solution.

The existing design used 3 coil cords, 4 DB9 connectors, one Molex connector and one DC power plug.  All 3 coil cords were in a tube and would get tangled up.

Meridian Cable’s engineers designed one coil cord with 2, 24 gauge conductors and 24, 28 gauge conductors eliminating the needs for 3 separate coil cords.  This design also included over molding the DB9, Molex and DC power connectors.

Call us or fill out our contact form if you need coil cords designed or quoted.

Bud Kinzalow-Meridian Cable

Cables for Ultra-Slow Motion Cameras

Hi,

I’m sure that many of you will be watching the Super Bowl this weekend. While you are watching the game and are enjoying the great replays, think of Meridian Cable. Meridian Cable supplies the cables for the cameras that provide the high-definition, ultra-slow motion replays for CBS Sports’ live broadcast and NFL Films’ coverage of Super Bowl XLIV.

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