Re: Permission to ask a COMPLETELY off-topic question…?
Your problem isn't the cable shape, it's the failure of the manufacturer to use appropriate strain relief at the point of attachment. Wherever the join point is, you get the most stress. If it doesn't have appropriate strain relief, it will break.
Thinner cables are not better, only cheaper in as much as they use less material especially if the core is copper or similar. The thicker the gauge the better the transmission and the better the heat dissipation. Also, it helps with stress.
I once worked for an outfit that specified an odd flat cable. The cable has 3 strands of of 12 or 14 gauge wire for power, and 6 strands of 22 or 24 gauge for communications. As a flat cable, it was impossible to pull through the house for wiring. So the manufacturers bundled it into a round cable. Also, the comms weren't twisted, so they tended to work as antennas that were especially good at picking up cross talk from the power strands. So they got a shield folded around them. This was about 20 years back and the cable sold for about $1.20/ft when normal power sold for about $0.03/ft. Anyway, we started having problems with some of the installs. The number 5, and especially the number 6 comm cables were failing to communicate. The problem was traced to breaks in the cable. The breaks in the cable were traced to stressing the bundled cable as it was pulled through the house. Somewhere around the 22nd time you bent the cable in the opposite direction of the previous bend, the outermost comms wires broke. The recommended work around was to use shorter cable runs and install more splices (special adapter box, which made three of the vendors happy because they'd sell more kit).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
