Splice in a Leslie Cable?

[Dutch]

Hello Forum members,

Forgive me if this question has been asked before; I did a search but found nothing: Is it okay to have a splice in a Leslie cable?

I have a Hammond D-152 connected to a "new" Leslie 122 using the typical 6-conductor cable. I recently moved, and my new home arrangement requires that my Leslie cable be about 10 ft longer, my current one being 16 ft. I know I can buy a suitable, longer cable online, but they are quite pricey. It would be WAY cheaper for me to add 10 ft to my existing cable, if possible. I am aware of the twisted pair in the cable that carries the signal from the pre-amp, so if I were to splice those two conductors first, then rotate the additional length of Leslie cable so as to twist them at the splice (as they are in the rest of the bundle), then splice the remaining wires in the usual manner, would that be okay? I very capable of splicing wires like these using solder and heat-shrink tubing, and removing and re-installing the end connector(s), but I'm not sure there isn't something else I'm not aware of that would nix this idea. Please advise.....

And thank you in advance!

-Dutch

[geoelectro]

There's no problem extending your cable. I would go ahead and do it. Match all the colors and you're fine. The AC pair should be 16 to18 guage. It OK to use the same guage for all of it.

geo

[Goff]

Or 6 pin connectors to add the extra 10 feet.

You would then have two usable cables and not have to open the sheath. :-)

[Hamman]

I think this is the best option! That or terminate both ends in a electrical box with wire nuts. When thinking cheap....don't forget the cost of what a fire can do! ;-)

[muckelroy]

Goff is right, though it is a bit more costly than splicing.

Most of the cost of cables themselves is from the connectors. People who make and sell cables will often buy bulk cabling, cut to length, and put connectors on both ends.

[Goff]

muckelroy said:

Most of the cost of cables themselves is from the connectors. People who make and sell cables will often buy bulk cabling, cut to length, and put connectors on both ends.

That's what I did.

Bought 60 feet of 6 conductor and made two 30 footers.

And yeah that's four (4) connectors at $20 + a pop.

The thinking is LIABILITY.

The Leslie cable system, although lucky for us, the old 6 pin Amphenol has been grandfathered in, is in the 21st, an NEC code violation, in that the States do not allow audio and AC on the same cable.

Reason is, the one chance in a million an accident happens involving such a cable, and you have audio and AC within that single cable and all that gets mashed together, you have 120VAC on the audio.

The fried roadie picking up a mic cable is the example.

Granted the system works, but the legal side of this is where the NEC code gets us as in case of a fire, your insurance can claim it is your fault because of the cable using audio and AC within the same cable.

May want to reconsider scrimping on this and err on the side of caution and do this properly.

What splicing will do in this case is remove the tough sheath as well as the rope support that runs alongside the cables inside the sheath giving strength and abrasion protection to the 6 conductors running inside. And although heat shrink tubing will be used, there is now a break at that spot in the cable not as structurally sound as the original.

Would be ok if splicing an audio cable apart from an AC cable but not when they are combined.

We can read a synopsis from Belden on the matter:


http:// https://www.belden.com/blog/broadcast/ac-dc-and-cable


Note, the above article by Steve Lampen also mentions the no-no of running audio and AC on the same cable through a wall.

A 30 foot single-length Leslie cable is good to have in that for concert work it gets the job done without linking cables together.

The nice thing about a concert is it's only for a few hours and there are cable ramps at the asking.







If you've ever been to a concert stage setup during line-check and seen the dozens of people and flight cases stepping and running over any cabling in the way, you will get the idea.

You can't always tell without an Xray machine if the conductors inside were affected by something heavy going over it.

Best to keep the cable protected as much as possible. :-)

[Brendon Wright]

That cable ramp is a beautiful thing...

[David Anderson]

I would not do a cable splice for the reasons mentioned above by others. It's trying to save a little money at the risk of making a much bigger, more expensive mess.

[Dutch]

Thanks for all the input, guys! I think I will proceed with making/buying a 10 ft cable. All things considered, it appears to be the best solution for my set-up.
Best regards!

-Dutch