How do I tell when I have a bad cable?

  • Thread starter Thread starter drstawl
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drstawl

drstawl

Banned
Just bought some cables (1/4" TS - 1/4" TS; 18' long from Rapco)
for $5 each at Guitar Satan.

Get them home and plug them in as direct out cables from the direct outs on my mixer to the ins on my Delta 1010.

I get zippola for signal. I replaced each of the suspect cables with another 1/4" TS to 1/4" TS cable I had laying around and it worked fine.

So I checked the suspect cables with my trusty ohmeter and they showed good contact where they should and no contact where they shouldn't.

What the Fuck is going on?
 
Where is knightfly when you need him?

I don't know an ohmmeter from an assh... never mind.
No sound, no good. Chuck 'em.
 
That's really strange.

There isn't something different about the connector themselves, too thin or?

With the ohm meter you checked the ohm reading as well as straight continuity right?
 
If the ohm meter reads zero's then you have straight continuity. Check the connections, and if they are moulded... well shame on you.:p Try them from a guitar to amp.


-Angermeyer


You probably want balanced cables from your mixer to your delta anyway, that may even be the problem.
 
"Where is knightfly when you need him? " -

Knightfly has been trying to get fkn EarthStink to work on the only dialup # they have that isn't toll call for the last week, finally marginal connection...

Man, DrStahl, good stumper - OK, you probably already checked this, but here goes - you should have 0 ohms between each tip, 0 ohms between each sleeve (the main shaft of the connector) and infinite ohms between tip and sleeve.

Sounds like you already checked all that, so the next step is to measure (physically) the connectors. Check each connector's actual physical length and diameter, to make sure Rapco didn't get a deal on some old military plugs that look like 1/4 phones, but have a slightly smaller diameter. I don't remember if the length is the same or not, it's been years since I've seen any of these but since you already cheated and did the easy part I'm grasping at straws here - If your no-worky types were physically shorter they wouldn't make contact inside the gear correctly; make sure they match the length of the ones that WORK, exactly -
Are you plugging into your inserts the same way with each cable? If you're using direct outs, I'm assuming you're plugging in til the FIRST click?

What about on the 1010? Are you plugging all the way in? Can you plug into the 1010 with one end, then wet your finger and touch the tip of the other end, and hear a hum? You should be able to. Set up with the good cables first so you can hear thru the speakers, then disconnect the mixer end and try this with the good cable so you know what to expect to hear, then use the shit cable and see if it changes - This would at least tell you which end of the connection you're having problems with.

When you're done with those checks, and if you LIKE your GC sales guy, buy a jar of Vaseline and go back to the store with that and the cables - otherwise, just take the cables... Steve
 
>Check the connections, and if they are moulded... well shame on you. Try them from a guitar to amp.

They work fine from POD to Delta or from guitar to amp, and actually worked fine when I tried them from mixer to Delta the next day... :confused:

And I wouldn't badmouth molded plugs 100%. There seem to be two kinds I've seen. One is a standard screw-on type that has a tight-fitting molded cover and those are fine. I've had two of those for over 25 YEARS and they still work fine!! The HOSA style molded plugs do blow chunks.

>Are you plugging into your inserts the same way with each cable? If you're using direct outs, I'm assuming you're plugging in til the FIRST click?

It's the inserts that have the one click-two click operation.

Direct outs are plugged all the way in.

My mixer has one of each on each channel.

This is really frustrating.

I know that in a perfect world I'd have an 8-channel TRS snake that would utilize the balanced connections on my mixer and the Delta, but my experiments comparing balanced/unbalanced connections so far have led me to believe I will be SORELY disappointed with the results. And I'm sure as hell not buying a cheapo snake. I've seen them at GC and they make me CRINGE!

I do have access to micrometers (tomorrow) so I'll check the physical dimensions as you suggest. But I don't think they're much different, if at all.

And it's not zero ohms because I don't have superconducting cables! Not even Monster claims that.... :D
I measured 0.16 ohms between the connected ends and infinite resistance between the unconnected ends.

As for the GC sales guy- I didn't ask them anything except to fetch me an item that's not on the floor or ring up the sale, so I can't blame them. The only thing I might ask them is to sharpen their pencils on the price of an item I can buy for less elsewhere.
 
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"I do have access to micrometers (tomorrow) so I'll check the physical dimensions as you suggest. But I don't think they're much different, if at all.

And it's not zero ohms because I don't have superconducting cables! Not even Monster claims that....
I measured 0.16 ohms between the connected ends and infinite resistance between the unconnected ends. " -

First of all, micrometers shouldn't be necessary - just holding a "good" connector up to a "bad" one should be close enough, expecially for body length. Diameter of the Mil connectors, which I really doubt you have, was just slightly under 1/4" and shouldn't make any difference anyway. It's the length I couldn't remember being different or not, and that could concievably change the contact surface mating between male and female.

Second, if we're going to split hairs I know it isn't really zero, it's just not ONE or FIVE ohms. Calling it zero is common among casual conversations. If I had really meant zero, I would have called it "less than 0.0001 ohms, or some other equally qualifying value, along with a tolerance, which must be included with any measurement to make it truly valid. What you measured is close enough that it should have worked. In all likelihood, unless you are using a $300 or more DVM with lead compensation or delta offset, a good percentage of that 0.16 ohms is caused by the meter leads or probe contacts anyway.

Third, I didn't realize you had separate inserts and direct outs, and incorrectly assumed that you were using inserts as direct outs by doing the first click thing...

And fourth, are you saying that now the cables work, or just that they did once when the pollen count was right and you only listened with your left ear while standing on your head, or what? If so, Rod Serling is on a different BBS, www.twilightzone.com I think...

Seriously, about the only other thing I can think of is that the connectors have a wierd kind of plating on them that doesn't make very good electrical connecton - If they're no more reliable than that, I still stand by the Vaseline recommendation... Steve
 
I probably have to defer to to Monty who claims that my cats are to blame...
 
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