Care and Feeding of VGA Cables at DVinfo.net

Phil Sherwood · March 4th, 2007, 08:13 PM

Any advice on how to best store a VGA cable? We use a 75 footer at church, and have had two wear out after a year or two of use. Of course, the tricky bit is that we lay it out and take it up every week. We've been using a cord reel, but I'm wondering if that is wearing out the cable more quickly.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Eric Stemen · March 7th, 2007, 01:36 PM

are people walking on it? Maybe you could leave it on the floor and put some cord consealers(spelling?) over it? But a longer cable and run it along the wall, then attach short length cables to the end of the long cable and monitors....that way nothing on the long expensive cable has to be flexed.

Daniel Browning · March 7th, 2007, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Sherwood

Any advice on how to best store a VGA cable? We use a 75 footer at church, and have had two wear out after a year or two of use. Of course, the tricky bit is that we lay it out and take it up every week. We've been using a cord reel, but I'm wondering if that is wearing out the cable more quickly.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

What do you mean by "wear out"? The cord gets thin and the wire starts to show? Or the video quality worsens? Something else?

We use a 50-foot VGA cable at our church, and, like you, we lay it out and take it up every week, too. But after two years, the cable is fine. The only trouble we've had is from people bending the end-connectors (dropping them on the ground, forcing the pins in the wrong orientation, etc.).

Besides, who cares if you have to buy a new cable every two years? Monoprice.com has a 100-foot SVGA for just $24.

Phil Sherwood · March 8th, 2007, 08:13 AM

Eric: yes, people are walking on it. That's a good idea to use short, more easily replaceable cables in the damage prone areas. Or we might get a longer cable so we can run it along the wall and out of the walkways.

Daniel: We're paying $40-$50 for 75' from cableswholesale, so the price isn't as much the issue, but the showing up bright and early Sunday morning and discovering the cable doesn't work that week is an issue. We had no backup this past week.

I'm suspicious of the cord reel we used, I think over time the clip that holds the cord in place pinches the cord and damages some of the wires. This past Sunday we seemed to have lost the blue channel - the color was waaaay off.

How do you store yours Daniel? Do you just coil it by hand, or use a cord reel?

thanks for the responses!

March 4th, 2007, 08:13 PM	#1
Phil Sherwood New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 24	Care and Feeding of VGA Cables Any advice on how to best store a VGA cable? We use a 75 footer at church, and have had two wear out after a year or two of use. Of course, the tricky bit is that we lay it out and take it up every week. We've been using a cord reel, but I'm wondering if that is wearing out the cable more quickly. Any suggestions? Thanks!

March 7th, 2007, 01:36 PM	#2
Eric Stemen Major Player Join Date: May 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 378	are people walking on it? Maybe you could leave it on the floor and put some cord consealers(spelling?) over it? But a longer cable and run it along the wall, then attach short length cables to the end of the long cable and monitors....that way nothing on the long expensive cable has to be flexed.

March 8th, 2007, 08:13 AM	#4
Phil Sherwood New Boot Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Fort Worth, TX Posts: 24	Eric: yes, people are walking on it. That's a good idea to use short, more easily replaceable cables in the damage prone areas. Or we might get a longer cable so we can run it along the wall and out of the walkways. Daniel: We're paying $40-$50 for 75' from cableswholesale, so the price isn't as much the issue, but the showing up bright and early Sunday morning and discovering the cable doesn't work that week is an issue. We had no backup this past week. I'm suspicious of the cord reel we used, I think over time the clip that holds the cord in place pinches the cord and damages some of the wires. This past Sunday we seemed to have lost the blue channel - the color was waaaay off. How do you store yours Daniel? Do you just coil it by hand, or use a cord reel? thanks for the responses!