"Plastic" ribbon cable repair
Alan Horton
Recently had a Sharp Microwave turn up where the owner had burnt through
the plastic ribbon lead to the touch pad, opening one carbon track.
Not keen to part with the cash for a new touchpad, he asked if it could be
repaired.
Scrathing through the plastic coating to allow access to the track, I
applied several coats of Rear Window Demister repair paint (by Loctite in
Aus) which worked a treat. It also fixed my wagon's demister with plenty
left over for the next one.
stan blazejewski
"Alan Horton" <hor...@southcom.com.au> wrote:
Unfortunately, you'll find this to be an unreliable repair. I tried
this a number of times & each returned within 2 months..
The problem seems that the 'paint' goes conciderably hard after a few
weeks which is fine for glass (it's intended purpose) but for flexable
plastic, the longivity isn't there.
PS even that new (read expensive) 2 part stuff for remote buttons
isn't perfect. Granted it lasts longer (about 6-8 months) but this
does not help your reputation even though it is out of 'your'
warrantee period. In the repair buisiness, reputation is everything
(if you plan to stay in business).
--
Australia isn't "down under", it's "off to one side"!
stan...@netspace.net.au
http://www.netspace.net.au/~stanblaz/
Lionel Wagner
The only truly reliable repair is to bypass the broken tracks with
a piece of wire soldered directly into points "A" and "B" on each
board.
--
{ Audio/Visual Technician, City of Ottawa. }
Lionel Wagner....{ Vice President, Ottawa Science Fiction Society. }
{ Editor, InfoRunner newsletter. }
{ (not married, no children, time for this) }
Gordon S. Hlavenka O-
"Alan Horton" <hor...@southcom.com.au> wrote:
> >Scrathing through the plastic coating to allow access to the track, I
> >applied several coats of Rear Window Demister repair paint (by Loctite in
> >Aus) which worked a treat. It also fixed my wagon's demister with plenty
> >left over for the next one.
stan blazejewski wrote:
> Unfortunately, you'll find this to be an unreliable repair. I tried
> this a number of times & each returned within 2 months..
> ...
> PS even that new (read expensive) 2 part stuff for remote buttons
> isn't perfect. Granted it lasts longer (about 6-8 months) but this
> does not help your reputation even though it is out of 'your'
> warrantee period.
This is only one data point, but I fixed a microwave oven keypad using
one of those "Circuit Works" conductive pens, and it's still holding
after more than three years. The repaired area does flex a bit.
--
Gordon S. Hlavenka www.crashelex.com gor...@crashelex.com
Grammar and spelling flames welcome.
Some of us still think it's important.
Jason D.
>"Alan Horton" <hor...@southcom.com.au> wrote:
>> >Scrathing through the plastic coating to allow access to the track, I
>> >applied several coats of Rear Window Demister repair paint (by Loctite in
>> >Aus) which worked a treat. It also fixed my wagon's demister with plenty
>> >left over for the next one.
>
>stan blazejewski wrote:
>> Unfortunately, you'll find this to be an unreliable repair. I tried
>> this a number of times & each returned within 2 months..
>> ...
>> PS even that new (read expensive) 2 part stuff for remote buttons
>> isn't perfect. Granted it lasts longer (about 6-8 months) but this
>> does not help your reputation even though it is out of 'your'
>> warrantee period.
>
>This is only one data point, but I fixed a microwave oven keypad using
>one of those "Circuit Works" conductive pens, and it's still holding
>after more than three years. The repaired area does flex a bit.
Same here, I have same type of stuff that fixed my LTE 386s/20 (o/c
25mhz/w cpu swap) keyboard about 7 conductors were all broken and this
fixed it. Soft and flexible. Funny, it looked same type that compaq
used to print out those circuit boards for keyboard.
Jason D.
Gary Tait
In article <5pmqdt$q...@freenet-news.carleton.ca>,
ck...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Lionel Wagner) wrote:
#
#stan blazejewski (stan...@netspace.net.au) writes:
#> "Alan Horton" <hor...@southcom.com.au> wrote:
#>
#>>Recently had a Sharp Microwave turn up where the owner had burnt through
#>>the plastic ribbon lead to the touch pad, opening one carbon track.
#>>Not keen to part with the cash for a new touchpad, he asked if it could be
#>>repaired.
#>>Scrathing through the plastic coating to allow access to the track, I
#>>applied several coats of Rear Window Demister repair paint (by Loctite in
#>>Aus) which worked a treat. It also fixed my wagon's demister with plenty
#>>left over for the next one.
#>
#> Unfortunately, you'll find this to be an unreliable repair. I tried
#> this a number of times & each returned within 2 months..
#> The problem seems that the 'paint' goes conciderably hard after a few
#> weeks which is fine for glass (it's intended purpose) but for flexable
#> plastic, the longivity isn't there.
#>
#> PS even that new (read expensive) 2 part stuff for remote buttons
#> isn't perfect. Granted it lasts longer (about 6-8 months) but this
#> does not help your reputation even though it is out of 'your'
#> warrantee period. In the repair buisiness, reputation is everything
#> (if you plan to stay in business).
#>
#The only truly reliable repair is to bypass the broken tracks with
#a piece of wire soldered directly into points "A" and "B" on each
#board.
#
But what if the keypad is made out of the same material as the ribbon
connector?(Most I've seen are.)
Gary Tait, VE3VBF
stan blazejewski
ck...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Lionel Wagner) wrote:
>
>stan blazejewski (stan...@netspace.net.au) writes:
>> "Alan Horton" <hor...@southcom.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>>Recently had a Sharp Microwave turn up where the owner had burnt through
>>>the plastic ribbon lead to the touch pad, opening one carbon track.
>>>Not keen to part with the cash for a new touchpad, he asked if it could be
>>>repaired.
[snip]
>The only truly reliable repair is to bypass the broken tracks with
>a piece of wire soldered directly into points "A" and "B" on each
>board.
There's only one problem here, the touch pads are usually ALL plastic
so we have no "A" to solder to!
There is another option. If there is enough ribbon cable to work with
AND there's sufficient room, the ribbon cable could be cut & cleaned
at the break, the original socket removed & fitted onto the 'new'
cable end & then normal leads run to the printed board.
But you have to ask yourself .... is it worth it?
Derek Schwab
> There's only one problem here, the touch pads are usually ALL plastic
> so we have no "A" to solder to!
>
> There is another option. If there is enough ribbon cable to work with
> AND there's sufficient room, the ribbon cable could be cut & cleaned
> at the break, the original socket removed & fitted onto the 'new'
> cable end & then normal leads run to the printed board.
> But you have to ask yourself .... is it worth it?
Is it possible to "clamp" something on the cable and solder a wire to
it?
--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Derek Schwab
The Silverball Room
silve...@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/3708/index.html
Halloween Site
http://members.tripod.com/~silverball
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::