How do phone cords get kinks in them?

Hi Thinkpads_user, good point regarding the second kink.

And yeah, you're right I believe that it can be caused by wear and tear/twisting, but I'm interested in the exact mechanism that can do it, as it doesn't seem to replicate in my experiments.

Thanks,

James

Hi

Is this what you're talking about?  If it is, I was just able to put one in the middle of a cord and then remove it.

Let me know.

Hold two coils, one in each hand, and twist opposed, and the cable will kink. I just did it. Then hold one coil and move the kink down the cord. I see people doing this while fiddling and then just hanging up the phone. ... Thinkpads_User

That's right!

Hi, it's like that, but the coils on either side of the kink seem to twist in opposite directions (which is how it appears in your photo, but when I twist the cord in the way you say, it makes a kink, but the two lengths of cord are still both spiralling in the same direction.

Does thhat make sense?

James

The kinks are introduced over time by a person picking up the telephone, talking, and putting it back after, during the conversation, rotating it by 360 degrees opposite the way the cord is coiled. People a creatures of habit so the 360 degree rotation is not random, hence is cumulative.

OK ..

You're right.  The twisting move I made leaves the cord curling with the same handedness on both sides of the kink.  I've actually found that if you tug on each side of the kink with a stretching motion, the kink will unravel itself.

I tried just coiling the cord in the other direction, but as you found, you have to start at one end and move the kink into the cord.

So, I don't know.

Then I read the story associated with the picture I posted and found it quite amusing.  Here's the link:

http://www.ebtx.com/mech/knots.htm

Check it out.  From the story, it looks like there is a way to make it happen without starting a one end.

Hi uucknaaa, the second section down in your link is exactly what I am talking about!

I don't understand it at all, and unfi=ortunately, neither do they.

Thanks,

James

Hi WaterStreet,

If I may just say so, in defence of uucknaaa re your second point - the linked post, while indeed amusing, is also very much on topic, it relays the experience of another person who has found a similar issue to mine, and has done different experiments. It is not a solution to my question but it does facilitate the debate and explain my question rather better than I did.

Thanks,

James

You can accidentally introduce these kinks by stretching part of the cord straight and releasing it, like if the telephone falls off the desk or if you keep the handset to your ear while reaching down for a dropped item or to get something from a drawer. From the initial 'mess' this leaves in the cord it is a simple matter for someone who fidgets while on the phone to introduce left or right twists while probably unconciously trying to get the whole thing to coil in the same direction. Once the cord has been distorted in this way the inner conductors lose their initial even twist and the cord wont lay neatly coiled in either direction so people will continue to fiddle and create more distortion.

Thanks uucknaaa.