fixing v. small soldering problem

[BeePee]

Hello,

I've got a USB camera device with a broken ribbon cable, between lense and board, which was stuck down and has been lifted up. This has broken a bunch of the connections betwen lense and the board. Any suggestions for how to fix it? It's really small, that's the main problem. The width of the orange cable, where the connections are, is about 12mm. It's a really cheap camera but I want to have go at fixing it.

If it doesn't work, it won't be a surprise, but I want to have a go: So, how might I be able to do it? I've tried just holding it down really rightly, it might have slightly helped/changed the image captured, but it was still totally broken really.

Thanks.





best image uploading site

 

[jaggerwild]

Buy a soldering pen some flux some solder and have a go at it, only way to learn is to do it. that said if you want to save it, best to learn on something else then come back to the camera after you have sharpened your skills some. Do go at it with little to no experience would mean youll probably melt the ribbon cable etc.

 

[eidairaman1]

a solder station and very steady hands are needed, devices like this are normally soldered by machine.

How much would a replacement be in this instance?

 

[infrared]

Glue it down, put some flux on it, then using a chisel tip with a dab of fresh solder, drag the iron along in the direction of the traces. If you get any bridged connections just put more flux on it, clean iron and drag across the bridged connections again. This method should be pretty easy even if you're a bit shaky

 

[P4-630]

@silentbogo

 

[silentbogo]

Any cheap soldering iron will do. Just remember to use a good soldering flux, not that stinky mixture of rosin and isopropyl or sticky chinese crap.
If you have a few ripped/cracked pads (can't zoom in on the picture), then you can attach a thin transformer wire over that pad.
It's actually quite easy, just need a steady hand and, once again, good flux.

 

[BeePee]

Excellent stuff that video, almost makes it look easy. Plus thanks for the transformer wire advice. All makes it look quite possible. I knew it as worth asking. I do have an old crappy soldering iron. The flux, that is the soldering wire/metal stuff right?, sure it is, I have is quite thick though, so I reckon I'll need to get some really thin stuff (I assume it must come in different diameters). Great, thanks for the replies.

> How much would a replacement be in this instance?

Probably somewhere between £5 and £10, but I just want to have a go at fixing it. Thanks.

 

[silentbogo]

Excellent stuff that video, almost makes it look easy. Plus thanks for the transformer wire advice. All makes it look quite possible. I knew it as worth asking. I do have an old crappy soldering iron. The flux, that is the soldering wire/metal stuff right?, sure it is, I have is quite thick though, so I reckon I'll need to get some really thin stuff (I assume it must come in different diameters). Great, thanks for the replies.

Any iron will work. I fixed my first flex cable on an MP3 player display with an old sovied 60W iron with a wide flat tip.
That metal stuff is your solder. Flux, is what you apply to wires and pads before soldering. You may want to visit a local hobby shop or something like that, and get a small tube of liquid/gel flux, or maybe even a flux pen (looks like an office highlighter filled with semi-transparent liquid). It will probably cost around £5 you'll pay for replacement part, but if you plan to do more soldering in the future - it will last forever. A 10ml tube lasts me 2-3 month with excessive daily usage. For a home user - that's an easy year's supply.

 

[infrared]

^Top advice.

The flux, that is the soldering wire/metal stuff right?

As silentbogo said, the solder is the wire, and the really thick stuff is usually for plumbing so you don't want to use that. Most electronics solder has a flux core but it's nowhere near as good as having decent flux gel, it makes soldering much easier and neater.

 

[BeePee]

OK, great, thanks. Is flux in use in the above video?

 

[silentbogo]

OK, great, thanks. Is flux in use in the above video?

Definitely. You can't see it, because it's most likely that clear no-residue stuff from a flux pen.

 

[de.das.dude]

I did something similar way back in the day, i used a bit of glue to stick the ribbon cable down. Since you are lucky to have solder on both the PCB and the cable, should be easier.

Get a nice pointy soldering iron, preferably 20w, and some good solering wire. The leaded one with flux core. None of that pansy lead free crap.

 

[BeePee]

OK, great, thanks v. much all.

 

[infrared]

You're welcome! Let us know how you get on.