any way to fix the ribbon cable?!?!

[bones2]

damnit projector was almsot done and i cut a bit of the ribbon cable that goes from the lcd to the control board, unbelievable i just knew someonthing like this would happen. is there any way to fix it or am i out of luck

[Lentroo]

Well, if you know how to solder, it's possible it could be mended (or replaced with a suitible flat flex cable that you can buy from an electronics store).
Good luck

[SHOdown]

Originally posted by bones2
damnit projector was almsot done and i cut a bit of the ribbon cable that goes from the lcd to the control board, unbelievable i just knew someonthing like this would happen. is there any way to fix it or am i out of luck

Here is how I repair them. In fact I will go ahead and repair one now and take pictures as I go along.

This is a cable from a Kenwood flip-face deck I repaired the other day (I replaced the cable).

[SHOdown]

Secure the ribbon cable with blue Scotch/3M Safe -Release Painters Masking Tape. It has a lower adhesion than masking tape and will not further tear your cable when trying to remove it.

[SHOdown]

Carefully scrape the top protective layer from over the broken traces only and back from the break point by as short a distance as you feel you can reasonably solder to, but no more than 1/8" on each side of the break.
An X-Acto knife is a good choice for this if you do not have a favorite scraping tool.

[SHOdown]

Confining your scraping motions toward the break will decrease the chance of further tearing.

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scraping completed

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Carefully "tin" the exposed copper traces on both sided of the break.

You may get a bridge of solder connecting two or more parallel traces. Do not attempt to remove any solder bridges' you may get between the traces, with any method other than solder wick or you will only cause yourself grief.

Place the wick on the solder bridge, then heat the wick with your soldering iron (use a low wattage <25 watt iron and a small tip) to draw up the excess solder.

[SHOdown]

Now comes the tricky part. Locate the finest gauge of solid copper wire that will fit within each trace and strip back the insulation. The best tool for this is a sharp pair of flush cutters.
Carefully close them on the insulation just enough to score it on both sides, then turn the wire 90 degrees and make a second set of scores. Now close the cutters gently into a pair of scores and draw it towards the end of the wire. The insulation should come off, leaving bare wire behind. It takes a delicate touch, but once learned it will save you much time.

Strip a length of wire long enough to do several traces, and then tin the wire.

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Lay the wire along a trace with the end going no further than the uncovered portion of the trace. Touch the iron to the end of the wire briefly to tack it into place. Now move to the other side of the break, and carefully solder the wire to the trace. Unless you are already a master at soldering, this will take patience. Stick with it.