I am planning on sleeving some fans and misc wires in my case. How do you remove the 3-pin connectors on the fans? Do you think I could just stretch the sleeving (flexo) over the connectors? Also what about the little connectors on the cd audio cables that connect my optical drives to my sound card?

Depends on the size of the sleeving. There are tools available for removal of the pins from the connectors, but you can do it ghetto like I've done by using long thin needle nose pliers. Obviously the power needs to be DISCONNECTED before you do this, but if you look in the male end of the plug, you will see that the pins have 4 little blades that stick up over the plastic. Bend those down with the pliers and the wire will just slide out. (Make a note of the position of the wires in the plug for reinsertion) Once the wires are out, sleeve away. Prior to reinsertion into the plug, take a knife or thin regular screwdriver and pry the blades back out, otherwise the wires will fall out when you plug the connector in.

Make sure to use shrink wrap at the ends of your sleeving to holds the ends, keep it tight, and keep them from fraying. Zenzzo also has a technique for sleeving that makes it extremely easy, you can find it in the Guides section.

Pointy tweezers work well on the fan connectors

Attached Thumbnails