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From: Ian P on 29 Jul 2010 17:42

"Paul Hovnanian P.E." <paul(a)hovnanian.com> wrote in message
news:eemdnWmaANgfXMzRnZ2dnUVZ_tCdnZ2d(a)posted.isomediainc...
> Ian P wrote:
>
>> In the course of doing some modifications to a very expensive Sony 3 chip
>> HD camcorder I have accidentally cut through 3 tracks on the edge of a
>> mylar? flexible cable. On the good side the damage is very accessible but
>> the bad bit is the tracks are only 0.1mm wide on a 0.2mm pitch! Ideally
>> one would just replace the flex pcb but in practice that would involve
>> dismantling the camera and lens to get to all the places the pcb branches
>> out to, and in some places it actually goes into the lens mechanism
>> itself.
>>
>> I am considering abrading off the top mylar coating to expose the copper
>> then bridging the breaks with some very narrow pitch zebra strip. My
>> other
>> idea is to make my own miniature insulation displacement/piercing
>> connector using a stack of razor blade bits sandwiched with insulation
>> layers.
>>
>> The last option would be to use wire links and solder but I think this
>> could only be done with some sort of mechanical micropositioning rig in
>> view of the small sizes involved.
>>
>> I would be interested to hear any thoughts or experiences if anyone has
>> any.
>
> I've had some luck repairing individual breaks with a conductive repair
> pen.
>
> Given the pitch you are working with, you might have to expose spots on
> each
> trace that are separated by a few millimeters along the length of the
> traces to prevent bridging them with the ink.
>
> I'm not certain how well the conductive ink stands up to continued
> flexing.
> Gluing some stiff backing behind the area of the repair might be a good
> idea.
>
> --
> Paul Hovnanian paul(a)hovnanian.com
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Have gnu, will travel.

If I can repair the broken tracks I will locally stiffen the ribbon so that
it will not be subject to flexing anyway. Your idea of staggering the links
(which I might do with wire and soldering) means that I have a bit more room
to work with.

Ian


From: Grant on 29 Jul 2010 17:42
On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:17:56 +0100, "Ian P" <elanman99(a)yahoo.com> wrote:

>In the course of doing some modifications to a very expensive Sony 3 chip HD
>camcorder I have accidentally cut through 3 tracks on the edge of a mylar?
>flexible cable. On the good side the damage is very accessible but the bad
>bit is the tracks are only 0.1mm wide on a 0.2mm pitch! Ideally one would
>just replace the flex pcb but in practice that would involve dismantling the
>camera and lens to get to all the places the pcb branches out to, and in
>some places it actually goes into the lens mechanism itself.
>
>I am considering abrading off the top mylar coating to expose the copper
>then bridging the breaks with some very narrow pitch zebra strip. My other
>idea is to make my own miniature insulation displacement/piercing connector
>using a stack of razor blade bits sandwiched with insulation layers.
>
>The last option would be to use wire links and solder but I think this could
>only be done with some sort of mechanical micropositioning rig in view of
>the small sizes involved.
>
>I would be interested to hear any thoughts or experiences if anyone has any.

I feel for you, it's a serious oops moment to recover from.

Contact Sony for an idea of cost of fix, so you can place importance
of fixing yourself in your mind? If you can afford the fix at least
there's a way out.

You've got stuff to practice with, but I can't see how you're going to
reliably connect to that fine pitch. Are there accessible places where
the cut tracks get wider? Do the cut tracks terminate to accessible
places where you can create another, separate cable to bridge the
breaks?

IOW, sidestep trying to repair the damage by creating an alternate
circuit.

Seems to me it's a cable replacement, but that could be sub-assembly
replacement if the flex also gets glued in place to some smaller parts.

Take it easy, it is not a rush job.

Grant.
From: Ian P on 29 Jul 2010 17:44

"William Sommerwerck" <grizzledgeezer(a)comcast.net> wrote in message
news:i2seib$u4b$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>> Thanks for your advice. As you postulated this pcb is integral with the
>> lens and although I have the full service manual for the camera it give
>> no
>> information at all on the lens which is a bought in item (not removable
>> though). The job is not really commercial, for a friend or myself but it
>> a
>> sort of combination of all three. I caused the damage though and I need
>> to repair it because there is not really any alternative.
>
>> I have in the past repaired and modified boards and components and used
>> thin wire just as you described, this cable though has track and spacing
>> widths that are really challenging, and I don't have any microscope.
>
>> I have lots of old bits of similar flexible boards and cables so I am
> going
>> to experiment with them.
>
> I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe you should "bite the bullet"
> and
> have Sony do the repair. It's going to cost a lot of money, but it might
> be
> worth it, simply in the grief saved.
>
>

I am not sure that Sony would want to repair the camera now because I was in
the process of carrying out electromechanical modifications so its a bit non
standard.

Ian


From: Ian P on 29 Jul 2010 17:52

"Grant" <omg(a)grrr.id.au> wrote in message
news:vvs356tu89pe9lidcr37ohdtdf9ofkfm7f(a)4ax.com...
> On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:17:56 +0100, "Ian P" <elanman99(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>In the course of doing some modifications to a very expensive Sony 3 chip
>>HD
>>camcorder I have accidentally cut through 3 tracks on the edge of a mylar?
>>flexible cable. On the good side the damage is very accessible but the bad
>>bit is the tracks are only 0.1mm wide on a 0.2mm pitch! Ideally one would
>>just replace the flex pcb but in practice that would involve dismantling
>>the
>>camera and lens to get to all the places the pcb branches out to, and in
>>some places it actually goes into the lens mechanism itself.
>>
>>I am considering abrading off the top mylar coating to expose the copper
>>then bridging the breaks with some very narrow pitch zebra strip. My other
>>idea is to make my own miniature insulation displacement/piercing
>>connector
>>using a stack of razor blade bits sandwiched with insulation layers.
>>
>>The last option would be to use wire links and solder but I think this
>>could
>>only be done with some sort of mechanical micropositioning rig in view of
>>the small sizes involved.
>>
>>I would be interested to hear any thoughts or experiences if anyone has
>>any.
>
> I feel for you, it's a serious oops moment to recover from.
>
> Contact Sony for an idea of cost of fix, so you can place importance
> of fixing yourself in your mind? If you can afford the fix at least
> there's a way out.
>
> You've got stuff to practice with, but I can't see how you're going to
> reliably connect to that fine pitch. Are there accessible places where
> the cut tracks get wider? Do the cut tracks terminate to accessible
> places where you can create another, separate cable to bridge the
> breaks?
>
> IOW, sidestep trying to repair the damage by creating an alternate
> circuit.
>
> Seems to me it's a cable replacement, but that could be sub-assembly
> replacement if the flex also gets glued in place to some smaller parts.
>
> Take it easy, it is not a rush job.
>
> Grant.

The subassembly in question is the lens. Parts of the cable are wrapped
round and glued to the lens body, and the only way to access it is to
completely dismantle the bulk of the camera, more or less reversing the
original manufacturers assembly procedure.

Ian




From: Michael A. Terrell on 29 Jul 2010 19:12

Ian P wrote:
>
> "Grant" ?omg(a)grrr.id.au? wrote in message
> news:vvs356tu89pe9lidcr37ohdtdf9ofkfm7f(a)4ax.com...
> ? On Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:17:56 +0100, "Ian P" ?elanman99(a)yahoo.com? wrote:
> ?
> ??In the course of doing some modifications to a very expensive Sony 3 chip
> ??HD
> ??camcorder I have accidentally cut through 3 tracks on the edge of a mylar?
> ??flexible cable. On the good side the damage is very accessible but the bad
> ??bit is the tracks are only 0.1mm wide on a 0.2mm pitch! Ideally one would
> ??just replace the flex pcb but in practice that would involve dismantling
> ??the
> ??camera and lens to get to all the places the pcb branches out to, and in
> ??some places it actually goes into the lens mechanism itself.
> ??
> ??I am considering abrading off the top mylar coating to expose the copper
> ??then bridging the breaks with some very narrow pitch zebra strip. My other
> ??idea is to make my own miniature insulation displacement/piercing
> ??connector
> ??using a stack of razor blade bits sandwiched with insulation layers.
> ??
> ??The last option would be to use wire links and solder but I think this
> ??could
> ??only be done with some sort of mechanical micropositioning rig in view of
> ??the small sizes involved.
> ??
> ??I would be interested to hear any thoughts or experiences if anyone has
> ??any.
> ?
> ? I feel for you, it's a serious oops moment to recover from.
> ?
> ? Contact Sony for an idea of cost of fix, so you can place importance
> ? of fixing yourself in your mind? If you can afford the fix at least
> ? there's a way out.
> ?
> ? You've got stuff to practice with, but I can't see how you're going to
> ? reliably connect to that fine pitch. Are there accessible places where
> ? the cut tracks get wider? Do the cut tracks terminate to accessible
> ? places where you can create another, separate cable to bridge the
> ? breaks?
> ?
> ? IOW, sidestep trying to repair the damage by creating an alternate
> ? circuit.
> ?
> ? Seems to me it's a cable replacement, but that could be sub-assembly
> ? replacement if the flex also gets glued in place to some smaller parts.
> ?
> ? Take it easy, it is not a rush job.
> ?
> ? Grant.
>
> The subassembly in question is the lens. Parts of the cable are wrapped
> round and glued to the lens body, and the only way to access it is to
> completely dismantle the bulk of the camera, more or less reversing the
> original manufacturers assembly procedure.


Look for a dead unit on ebay for parts.


--
Anyone wanting to run for any political office in the US should have to
have a DD214, and a honorable discharge.
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