Printed Circuit Ribbon Cable

[Jack Holzhauer]

Can a broken cable be repaired? Replacement is not possible in this case.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Sure, usually anyway.

A few members here have done such, just be very careful not to let even a single strand go astray.

[Jack Holzhauer]

Thanks for the positive response. But how does one go about doing the repair?

[Richard_Cranium72]

Cut the cable straight across, removing the bad spot.

Use an Exacto knife to separate the single wires, strip each one back about 1.5"

Get some "Heat Shrink" insulation from a local "Mill Supply" store, electronics dealer or maybe radio shack.

I like to use a tiny spot of silver solder on my wiring to make sure the do not pull apart,, a small spool of 425F , 5% Silver outta be $10 or so.

To strip each wire, use a cigarrette lighter to heat the insulation just prior to catching fire, pull the insulation off with your bare fingers, practice on the bad section of cable.

Don't allow the flame to actually touch the plastic, just the heat above the flame.

The lighter will solder the wires also.

Make sure to put the insulation on the wire BEFORE soldering it, do ya think I've done just that before,, uh-huh, sure have http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
Soldered the wire, smug thinking how slick I am, then realize the insulation is on the bench http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Good luck
DrVette

[Jack Holzhauer]

Thanks so much. I'll give a try tomorrow. I think I'll experiment on a couple of old hard drives first, though. Sounds like a little practice won't hurt.

[Eli]

"Make sure to put the insulation on the wire BEFORE soldering it, do ya think I've done just that before,, uh-huh, sure have
Soldered the wire, smug thinking how slick I am, then realize the insulation is on the bench"

ha ha No kidding eh? That's the kind of problem that makes you want to scrap the whole project. It's a simple mistake and it'll completely take the wind out of your sails after the first couple of times.

Always remember to slip the heat shrink tubing over one of the wires before you solder it, and keep it far enough from the joint when you solder so the heat from the iron doesn't shrink it prematurely. Good luck.

[RustyGT]

G/Day
If you are trying to repair the very flat ribbon cables, that look more like cct brd.
EG: Trailing cable from a dot matrix printhead.

It can be done, but will challenge your soldering skills.

The idea with these, is go in hot and get out quickly. Scrape back the insulation on the thin side, either side of the break.
Tin the copper, tin the wire, then join.
Be quick, be gentle.
With flat cables, use insulation tape to cover. Not electricians bulky PVC stuff.
There is much finer/stickier stuff available.

I've saved cables given up for dead, that they were permanently attached to expensive printers, is why we bothered.
Eg: Cash registers / Pos systems.
Cheers R.