Car electrical problem (how to reattach a ribbon thing)
Discussion
Hello. Not sure this is the best place to put this but I don't see any other relevant forums so it's going here.
A friend has got me replacing all of the orange LEDs in his Astra H for blue ones. I'm pretty handy with solder so I told him I would give it a go. I've pretty much done everything now but yesterday I got to doing the dials.
Whilst disassembling the dial unit, I came across a ribbon wire thing (for lack of a technical term, its a thin piece of flexible plastic with electrical tracks printed on it. Suppose its an alternative to wires?), that was wrapped around the front of the casing, to power/control the trip computer and mileage screen.
Whilst taking it all apart, I unfortunately managed to pull the ribbon thing away from the circuit board. Not completely and it hasn't torn. I taped it back down and whilst the screen still seems to function, all of the text is garbled. I'm assuming that some of the connections aren't touching?
My question is : What is the best way to reattach it? Or is it f
ked?
I'm assuming it was just stuck down in the first place (seeing as it just pulled off with little force and didn't tear etc.) so is there any type of glue I can use?
Any help appreciated!
A friend has got me replacing all of the orange LEDs in his Astra H for blue ones. I'm pretty handy with solder so I told him I would give it a go. I've pretty much done everything now but yesterday I got to doing the dials.
Whilst disassembling the dial unit, I came across a ribbon wire thing (for lack of a technical term, its a thin piece of flexible plastic with electrical tracks printed on it. Suppose its an alternative to wires?), that was wrapped around the front of the casing, to power/control the trip computer and mileage screen.
Whilst taking it all apart, I unfortunately managed to pull the ribbon thing away from the circuit board. Not completely and it hasn't torn. I taped it back down and whilst the screen still seems to function, all of the text is garbled. I'm assuming that some of the connections aren't touching?
My question is : What is the best way to reattach it? Or is it f
ked? I'm assuming it was just stuck down in the first place (seeing as it just pulled off with little force and didn't tear etc.) so is there any type of glue I can use?
Any help appreciated!
illmonkey said:
There are many ways to connect them, but the most usual is this:
ping the black part out, insert cable as much as possible and clip the black bit back down.
It's not like that though. Maybe "ribbon" isn't the term I'm looking for.ping the black part out, insert cable as much as possible and clip the black bit back down.
It's a thin (as in less than 1mm thin) piece of clear plastic with electrical "tracks" printed on it. Kind of like a flexible circuit board rather than a "ribbon" of wires like in the photo above. It doesn't go into a connector on the circuit board. It was literally stuck on somehow.
I can't seem to find a picture on Google but I will keep looking.
This is the nearest thing I can find...
^^^ This is what the "ribbons" look like ^^^
^^^ This is what the connection on the circuit looks like ^^^
As said, there is no connector to insert the ribbon into. It was just stuck down over the connections. can I just glue it back down (making sure there is no glue on the electrical bits) or does is need some fancy procedure?
^^^ This is what the "ribbons" look like ^^^
^^^ This is what the connection on the circuit looks like ^^^
As said, there is no connector to insert the ribbon into. It was just stuck down over the connections. can I just glue it back down (making sure there is no glue on the electrical bits) or does is need some fancy procedure?
Pre-"tin" both surfaces (the end of the wire and the board) and then apply just enough heat to melt them together. Ensure the heat is applied to the board only briefly to avoid heat-damaging components or lifting the printed circuits off the board.
Having said that, you might find the board already has enough solder there so you only need touch it when you're attaching the wire(s).
A good suggestion above to use individual wires. The insulator on those ribbon cables can recede quite quickly as you successively heat up the wires.
Having said that, you might find the board already has enough solder there so you only need touch it when you're attaching the wire(s).
A good suggestion above to use individual wires. The insulator on those ribbon cables can recede quite quickly as you successively heat up the wires.
Deluded said:
So you are suggesting I solder directly from the circuit board to the ribbon itself? Rather than forget the ribbon altogether and replace it with wires?
Replace the ribbon with wires. Half an hour spent practising your soldering will have you neat. And make sure you use a damp sponge when you tin the tip 
Deluded said:
As said, there is no connector to insert the ribbon into. It was just stuck down over the connections. can I just glue it back down (making sure there is no glue on the electrical bits) or does is need some fancy procedure?
Your picture doesn't match the description. The picture shows a traditional copper/PVC insulated ribbon cable that is soldered onto the PCB, this would be a simple repair. Your descriptions suggest you have damaged what is known as a "flexible circuit" rather than a ribbon cable, which is made from a flexible (often translucent) plastic substrate with conductors either printed on, or etched out. If there is no connector these are either soldered or bonded onto the PCB. If the latter and you have broken the bond, then 3M make some special tape specifically for attaching them, but it's very expensive.Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff