[sdiy] what's the trick with these ribbon connectors?

[Steve Lenham]

Hi,

I'm going to respectfully disagree with those who say it is just a fixed 
connector.

If that is the case, why in the photo does it clearly have spring 
contacts? They are the last thing that you would choose for a reliable 
permanent connection. Every hard-wired ribbon connector that I have ever 
encountered has either:

a) IDC (insulation-cutting) forked contacts, or

b) individual crimp terminals on each conductor with a solder tail that 
goes straight through the PCB.

Those spring contacts are not going to lock the cable in place and 
neither is it soldered to the PCB. So something else is holding the 
cable in place and I suggest that a friction clamp arrangement is most 
likely.

But I have been wrong before ;-)

Cheers,

Steve L.


On 11/11/2014 20:16, Laurie Biddulph wrote:
> They look like a 'transition' connector and are permanently soldered to
> the board. They provide a fixed pcb-to-cable connection. One end of the
> cable (the one in your picture) is fixed, the other end is usually
> removable
>
> Best Regards
> Laurie Biddulph

>
>
> On 11/11/2014 10:42 PM, Steve Lenham wrote:
>> On 11/11/2014 10:20, Adam Inglis wrote:
>>> In attempting to repair my Roland R8 drum machine, I came across a
>>> ribbon connector that I was unfamiliar with.
>>
>>> what is the trick with these things?
>>
>>> http://www.adambaby.com/images/tech%20pics/R8ribbonconn.JPG
>>>
>>> cheers
>>> Adam
>>
>> Without seeing the top it is hard to be sure, but this looks like one of
>> the connectors which has a movable top section which is pushed down to
>> lock the stripped ends of the ribbon in place. To unlock and remove the
>> cable you generally need to prise up the locking part to release the
>> pressure on the conductors.
>>
>> It isn't always obvious which part moves and which part doesn't.
>>
>> HTH,
>>
>> Steve L.
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>
>