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Connect an arc welder to opposite pins and see where the smoke escapes from...

:shock:

I have a tiny ribbon cable inside a MIDI device. It looks something like this:

The ribbon got pinched by a screw interrupting the path of two of the conductors. I checked each conductor with a continuity tester to see what was still working. All are, but the odd thing is that each conductor seems to have a path to the one next to it. So while putting one end of the tester on conductor #7, it shows as continuous with conductors 6, 7 and 8.

What's up? This was working fine before the cable got a pinch.

If the ribbon cable was still attatched to the device on one end the connection of 6,7 & 8 may have been internal on the MIDI device. Sometimes this is done in order to be able to handle a larger current to be sent thru the ribbon cable than one trace will handle. Maybe a common ground?

The tip fit well inside each contact without touching the plastic boundaries.

I'm not even going to touch this one.

the Outlaw wrote:

I'm not even going to touch this one.

I haven't heard that since Thailand.

Author:	Atomic Taco [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Ribbon cable
I have a tiny ribbon cable inside a MIDI device. It looks something like this: The ribbon got pinched by a screw interrupting the path of two of the conductors. I checked each conductor with a continuity tester to see what was still working. All are, but the odd thing is that each conductor seems to have a path to the one next to it. So while putting one end of the tester on conductor #7, it shows as continuous with conductors 6, 7 and 8. What's up? This was working fine before the cable got a pinch.

Author:	the Outlaw [ Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
:twisted:

Author:	Atomic Taco [ Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:19 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
New cable exhibits the same behavior, but the device is 100% working now. Not sure if the pinch in the old one was actually causing it to fail, but it works now so I'm happy.

Author:	chpalmer [ Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Connect an arc welder to opposite pins and see where the smoke escapes from... :shock:

Author:	N7QOR [ Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
chpalmer wrote: Connect an arc welder to opposite pins and see where the smoke escapes from... :shock: I will never forget the first time I was told to "blow out" a fault in old school security system window foil (remember that stuff?) by connecting each end of the (closed) foil lood to 110VAC, and plugging it in :shock: I said something about blowing the foil right off the windows, and he said "no, NO, you just plug it in for like a HALF a second..." I have met many over the years who actually did this. I never had the balls.

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Author:	Jim [ Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Atomic Taco wrote: I have a tiny ribbon cable inside a MIDI device. It looks something like this: The ribbon got pinched by a screw interrupting the path of two of the conductors. I checked each conductor with a continuity tester to see what was still working. All are, but the odd thing is that each conductor seems to have a path to the one next to it. So while putting one end of the tester on conductor #7, it shows as continuous with conductors 6, 7 and 8. What's up? This was working fine before the cable got a pinch. If the ribbon cable was still attatched to the device on one end the connection of 6,7 & 8 may have been internal on the MIDI device. Sometimes this is done in order to be able to handle a larger current to be sent thru the ribbon cable than one trace will handle. Maybe a common ground?

Author:	Atomic Taco [ Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Jim wrote: If the ribbon cable was still attatched to the device on one end the connection of 6,7 & 8 may have been internal on the MIDI device. Sometimes this is done in order to be able to handle a larger current to be sent thru the ribbon cable than one trace will handle. Maybe a common ground? No, I pulled it out completely and was using the leads from my multimeter to test each conductor. But 7 would be continuous with 6, 7, and 8; 1 with 1 and 2, 9 with 8, 9 and 10... every single one was continuous to its adjacent leads. And it wasn't me touching the wrong things; I had each lead from the multimeter on opposite sides of the cable.

Author:	Jim [ Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Very strange :roll:

Author:	Rich [ Mon Jul 18, 2011 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Perhaps he was using a fat probe. :bowrofl:

Author:	Atomic Taco [ Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:20 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
The tip fit well inside each contact without touching the plastic boundaries.

Author:	the Outlaw [ Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Atomic Taco wrote: The tip fit well inside each contact without touching the plastic boundaries. I'm not even going to touch this one.... .

Author:	Wilrobnson [ Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
the Outlaw wrote: I'm not even going to touch this one. I haven't heard that since Thailand.

Author:	the Outlaw [ Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:45 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Ribbon cable
Wilrobnson wrote: the Outlaw wrote: I'm not even going to touch this one. I haven't heard that since Thailand. I don't even want to know.

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