Damaged ribbon cable - is it possible to repair?

I came across this wireless heating programmer that was unusable due to a split ribbon cable. This normally spells doom, but I had an idea for a potential repair.

Outro music: Calvary by TrackTribe

[garymucher]

Nice repair idea. I used to repair circuit boards for aircraft black boxes and we had circuit board repair kits. And these kits had strips of copper runs to repair burnt board traces. Those copper runner strips would work great to repair the ribbon cable... Thumbs Up!

[JamesChurchill]

The real trick for this is 3M Z-Axis conductive adhesive tape - Adafruit carries it. Only conducts through the thickness of the tape, not through the length or width. As long as the traces are aligned properly, the tape will handle the connection without shorting to adjacent traces.

[MatroxMillennium]

I'd never thought about using a Cricut for this type of repair but I can think of several times it would have been useful. Will have to keep this in mind!

[Murphydeffa-oqlm]

You can use silver conductive epoxy. One used to repair car window heaters. Just mask off areas between. Also make sure its thin layer or it will crack. Done it on similar things.

[electronraygun]

Pretty clever repair! I must get one of those machines that you used to cut the tape. I tried a similar repair on a keyboard membrane that was damaged. I used some acetate sheet too but I had to hand cut the copper tape I used. I tried 3D printing a clamp to apply pressure that I screwed into place but it still wasn't reliable for me. Perhaps aluminum tape works better. In the end I got a conductive ink pen, which I used to splice my diy cable to the remanents of the original and then I soldered wires and a pin header to my DIY cable. Then I was able to plug in the keyboard and this enabled me to avoid the stress on the flat cable as it passed through the case at an angle, with the top case pressing on it upn closing it. Its been fine ever since but I suspect it wouldn't last long if I had to remove the membrane often and handle it. Still its simple enough to redo it if I have to, if a little time consuming.

[tookitogo]

FYI, in the electronics industry this is not called a ribbon cable, because that term was already taken by the older type that is simply many insulated wires stuck to each other. This kind is known as a “flat-flex cable” or FFC.

[stevesoldwedel]

Nice job. I love to see repair-minded stuff like this as opposed to it simply being thrown away, even if the device itself is just a proof of concept.

[kevtris]

it's a bit small for this type of repair, but rear window defroster repair products work. it is basically a conductive paint meant to bridge broken heater wires on the window. it works for things like keyboards where the features are larger.

[K.P.Alexander]

Pretty genius idea and proof of concept!
The only modification I would suggest is gluing the tape segment a little further down to hold it in alignment for the clamp.

[sublimationman]

Since I have 3D printers, I would have printed a small rectangle with a slot in it barely big enough for both the original cabe and your home made one so you would say slide it over the original good part and then have to squeeze the new bit in with it thus assuring a tight fit to each other and keeping them properly aligned. Assuming you don't have a 3D printer though. Worked and that's what matters in the end.

[janusu]

Thanks for this. I damaged the ribbon on one of my iPods. I think I'll give this a try before resorting to buying a replacement click wheel. Conductive glue and copper tape suggestions noted from other commenters below might be the way I go.

[kurtmiller]

oh mate, youre a many guys, including me, will destroy that thing in anger, because we lost our man

[JoeMuc]

Good job, nicely done! My attempts to repair ribbon cables in CD player optics, based on soldering, were horrible and didn't last. Wish I had the skills and tools to do it like this.

[DrQuadrivium]

Naughty... You are not supposed to repair over complicated, overpriced consumer electronics. It hurts the hearts of the corporations' shareholders. Buy new. Buy more.

[dougbarry]

Nicely done, makes me want a cnc cutting machine. Perhaps a dab of superglue on the clamp ends or something to hold it in place against the plastic would provide some mechanical resiliance. Also, classic mistake from Honeywell (all manufacturers do it though) putting a hole with a critical connection behind it in a place the uninitiated would shove a screwdriver! Thanks for sharing.

[Fridelain]

I used wire wrapping wire (single strand, silver plated copper) to connect the two halves of one that broke. Used a needle to punch a couple holes at an angle, and threaded the bare wire ends though, making contact for a couple mm with the conductors in the flat flex. Got the LCD display working again. To this day one of the hackiest repairs I've done, that was my third attempt at fixing it with limited means.

[karlfell]

Sometimes curiosity is the only motivation you need.

[neofloripa]

The aluminum tape maybe will react with the conector pins if they are not gold, or nickel plated, galvanization will ocour if the conector pins is made of brass.

[fhwolthuis]

Nice job, I think it will work fine in this static application

[Xydail]

I repaired a lot of ribbon cables in my time. There are two types.
The first type is some kind of electronic ink. It is used in some Macbooks, a lot of keyboards and carseats. The only option you have with this is to make your own metallic ink which is not really accurate.
The other type and the one you have is called FFC. You can take some higher quality flux like amtech, small speaker wire in the desired thickness and bismuth solder like mechanic x. Then you can use a fine tip like a JBC C210 under a microscope and solder to the leftover pads. It helps to use a fiber brush to clean it up a bit. Wrap in kapton tape for stability.