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Keyboard Ribbon Cable Repair

spiderd

Jun 23, 2014
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Jun 23, 2014
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Hello guys, so I was trying to repair my laptop and I broke the keyboard connector and as a result the actual keyboard ribbon cable needs repairing, the end of the cable are carbon silver tracks which have been worn off, I wondering is it possible to repair the cable by add the carbon back on ? What sort of equipment would I need etc ?

Picture of the cable is bellow:
5b4idf.jpg


Regards
Ali
 

davenn

Moderator
Sep 5, 2009
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Hi there
welcome to the forums :)

there is conductive silver paint you can buy
most larger electronics suppliers should stock it
Mouser, Digikey, Element14 etc

It wont be a permanent repair, but may extend the life of the system a bit longer :)

cheers
Dave
 

spiderd

Jun 23, 2014
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Jun 23, 2014
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Is it the Conductive Silver Paste Pen thing, is there a permanent fix for this ? Or is it best I just by the whole keyboard part lol
 

davenn

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Sep 5, 2009
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Is it the Conductive Silver Paste Pen thing,

Yes

I used to do lots of repairs to tracks on Atari and Commodore computer membrane keyboards in years gone bye
the repairs lasted 6months to several years, depending on how rough the owner was with their gear

buying a replacement is the only permanent fix :)

Dave
 

spiderd

Jun 23, 2014
6
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Jun 23, 2014
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Cool cheers, also I'm I stupidly broke the keyboard connector on the motherboard and I'm getting the replacement part for it including the Hot Air Gun but I need to know when I apply the hot air to the connector for a few minutes so the solder gets loose will the plastic melt ? Pic is bellow of what I will try to remove:

ws1pfo.jpg
 
Last edited:

(*steve*)

¡sǝpodᴉʇuɐ ǝɥʇ ɹɐǝɥd
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Jan 21, 2010
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Isn't that a socket for the cable?

Or was that cable permanently attached to it?
 

spiderd

Jun 23, 2014
6
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Jun 23, 2014
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Yes that's the socket for the keyboard cable it isn't permanently attached, ive damaged the plastic holder that was there before which gives the ribbon and connectors good contact so the keyboard can work properly. That's why I'm going to attempt to replace the connector but need to know if I apply the hot air to that area will it melt the plastic or is the plastic designed to take more heat than the solder.
 

kpatz

Feb 24, 2014
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Feb 24, 2014
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334
You can put Kapton high-temperature tape over the plastic part to keep it from melting.

If you're replacing the connector anyway, it would be a good test with the old one to see if it is heat resistant or not.
 
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