6 WIRE BRAIDING
Take the 6 wires from the motor, and arrange them into 3 pairs. To braid them, first consider there's a center pair, and two outer pairs. Basically, the outer pairs alternate crossing over the center pair. For example...
	Grab the left outer pair, and cross them over the center pair, so they become the new center pair. Now grab the right outer pair..
	..and cross them over the center pair, so they become the new center pair. Now grab the left outer pair..
	..and cross them over the center pair, so they become the new center pair. Repeat as necessary.
Tips Every once in a while, run your fingers up and down the braid while squeezing, to even out the braid. Cut the wire ends after braiding, not before. Otherwise the wires won't line up when you wire up the connector. Put heat shrink over the end of the braid before you solder up the connector. Once soldered, twist the connector around until all the wires are tight, then pull the heat shrink down over it, and shrink it. The heat shrink should make a good strain relief for the connector.

8 WIRE "FLAT" BRAIDING (Works with 4 wire motors too)
	Start out with 4 pairs of wires. Consider the inner pairs and the outer pairs.
	The inner pairs cross each other and jump over and around the outer pairs, thus becoming the new outer pairs. Repeat as necessary. Be consistent in how you do the cross overs.
Tips Every once in a while, run your fingers up and down the braid while squeezing, to even out the braid. Cut and strip the wire ends after braiding. Otherwise the wires won't line up when you fan them out to the connector. After wiring to connector, you can rotate the connector several turns to take up any slack between the braid and the connector.

8 WIRE "3D" BRAIDING (I like this best - works with 4 wire motors too)

Start with the left-outer wire. Cross it under in the inner two, then up, and back over to the left, leaving it to the right of the new outer-left wire (ending up "in one" from where it was). Repeat this same technique on the right-outer wire; cross it under the inner two, then up, and back over to the right, but leaving it to the left of the new outer-right wire (ending up "in one" from where it was). Keep track of which side you're on at all times; you're either working on the left-outer wire, or the right-outer wire, getting it under the inner two, then up and over them, landing in one from where it was. My mantra is to say outloud the wire color I'm working on and its position before and after I twist it, e.g. "Red on the outside, Red on the inside.." This helps keep track of things incase the wires slip around, and keeps track of which side you're working on as you alternate from left to right.

Tips Pull the wires tight each time you cross over, so that the braid ends up as shown in the old drawing above at the right. Every once in a while, run your fingers up and down the braid while squeezing, to even out the braid. Cut and strip the wire ends after braiding. Otherwise the wires won't line up when you fan them out to the connector. After wiring to connector, you can rotate the connector several turns to take up any slack between the braid and the connector.

The end result of the above for a four wire motor ends up looking like this:

© Copyright 1997, Greg Ercolano. All rights reserved. To report documentation errors, send email to