Australia's Science Forum

Does anyone have suggestions on how to send sets of wires to classes that might encourage some sort of order when they are returned instead of looking like last nights left over spagetti?

I have also tried soldering the wires, using washers and they still get pulled apart. Any other sugestions?

Hi Estelle
I hang my wires with alligator clips from a wire coat hanger!!!.Although this is not the perfect solution and I really don't know what is,at least the students can clip the wires back on themselves in some kind of order.

Hi Estelle.... the eternal problem Spaghetti wires
Until I find a better solution........ I have set aside different wires for different classes/uses. That way, if there's any chaos /damage, I can generally track them back to the class/ teacher.Here it is.

senior students ONLY:
I have wooden pegs on the wall in the prep room.I bought the stackable banana plugs from Dick Smiths & wired them up.When students are finished, they join them in lots of 6, which then fits neatly on the pegs.
*For the chemists... There is also a tub of alligator clips to add on to the banana clips or..but more often I give them the junior wet set( see below)

Junior classes:
I have 2 sets... a wet set(for solutions etc), and a dry set for circuits .
For the Junior Dry set: 3 icecream tubs...(ditch the lid.) Each tub is colour coded to match the wire colour. I have a yellow, red, and black.....(Its actually deep purple... but its the closest I could get!) All these tubs are then stored in a larger tote tray

For the junior wet set:Exactly the same ice cream tubs as the dry set.. but in these I give them the wires that are not the best ones.. eg they have previously been used for dipping in electrolite soln, bit tarnished etc. That stops the frustration of having all the banana plugs of ALL your leads being tarnished/eaten away with acid.
I also have a tub of alligator clips in this tote tray. I often offer this set to the senior chemists if I know that there may be "sloshing"

Estelle.. theres no guarantee that there wont be some tangles, but it has drastically reduced it for me... its easier to untangle a bunch of 30 wires that a box of 300!
keen to hear more ideas

Estelle, We have set up all our wires on racks of 16 This is because all our classes have a maximum of 8 groups because of the layout of the Labs.

The banana/banana leads are "plugged" into a piece of MDF ~20mm thick. Holes were drilled in 2 rows, (one for black, one for red plugs) using a bit just smaller than the plug so there is a tight fit.

The Banana/Alligator leads are stored on the same boards, with thw alligator clips dangling.

The Alligator/Alligator leads are clipped onto a piece of plywood, marked off into sections slightly larger than the clip.

With the boards, it is easy to see any empty holes/sections and for the teacher to advise that class will not be dismissed until all leads are replaced.

It has taken a bit of eductaion of teachers, but even they are trainable.

Used this method for years very successfully, handed down very gatefully from Lesly Lidsay formerly Plumpton HS
Packs of 10 in rectangle take away containers - don't make them to long say max 50cm, have a very large label on lid stating 10 electrical leads
I have returned them for use in the condition they were returned from a prac, (a dungeon dragon day)