Removing film cables from connector from Lumix digital camera.

If the white connector is soldered to the PC board, then it follows (as night the day) that the cable must force-fitted to the connector. (This is not uncommon.) Otherwise, the /cable/ would be soldered to the board (not the connector), right?

Notice the ears? They're almost certainly holding points for pulling out the cable. Grab them, and pull gently.

If this doesn't work, I will deny ever giving you advice. In fact, I am disclaiming this post, a priori.

Hi William,

I actually posted this message trying to help fix my friend's Lumix DMC-FH20 camera. When the camera is powered on, the lens cycles in and out and subsequently it displays a zoom error on the screen and that's about as far as you can go. When it's powered off, the lens retracts, then it extends, and the power goes off. So unless you take the battery out while the lens is retracted, the lens will be extended when powered off. Since the lens seems to be opening and closing fully, I thought I would see if I could find something obvious within the mechanism. Anyway, did you mean to say that I should hold onto the ears and pull the cable or hold onto the ears and pull something on the connector? That flex cable is extremely thin and I don't think it would take much force to damage it.

Just for reference sake, here is the link to the photo.

Thanks for your reply.

DMC-FH20

far

is

seems

pull

As I said in my post, the cable is almost certainly forced into the connector. Pulling on the connector would do no good. (Some connectors of this type have a "retainer" around the cable, but I don't see one here.) So... pull the cable.

Or not. It doesn't look loose. I don't think pulling it and reinserting it (would else would you do?) will have any effect on the camera's behavior. I would have the camera professionally serviced.

David, the white bit almost certainly moves somehow. Probably hinges upwards, or hinges upwards after moving it back towards the ribbon cable. I would NOT just try and pull the cable out.

The simple fact that one part of the connector is white and the other black, means they are two separate parts and have been fitted together to clamp the cable in place. Any push in connector would go into a single moulding.

Gareth.

This looks similar to connectors on laptops - not surprisingly. The cable is probably clamped in place and to release the clamp the very ends of the connector will move a little bit towards the cable. This releases the clamp and the cable will slide out easily. Be gentle, the plastic is not strong! (Dont ask how I know!!!).

David

This is what happens when we're asked to give advice to someone with essentially no service experience, but we can't actually see the "device under repair".

I don't see anything that suggests a clamp release. And I've seen products were the cabling is, indeed, connected simply by shoving it in.

REGARDLESS... This yet another example of someone who wants a quick 'n easy fix. Does anyone have ANY idea how removing and reseating this cable will fix the problem? (The problem is probably a bad switch or connection in the lens.)

I urge the owner to close up the camera, and either throw it in the trash, or take it to an authorized service shop. And if the owner does discard the camera, he should smash it first, so that someone cannot find it and have a working camera for the cost of the repair.

I'll tell you how I know - years ago I rendered my Playstation useless by breaking something similar to this. On an unfamiliar connector, it's often not at all easy to figure out what you are supposed to do, and how hard you are supposed to do it, until you suddenly exceed the limit of the second question.

Doh!

Gareth.

If you don't mind my beating this horse to death...

WHAT, EXACTLY, IS THE POINT OR PURPOSE OF REMOVING THIS CABLE?

Does anyone have any idea -- other than that "something" might happen that will magically fix the camera when the cable is reinserted?

Good grief:

Gareth.

I admit to surprise at learning that simple vibration can dislodge these cables. Considering how everything is (sort of) squashed together, this is unexpected.

I've been servicing equipment on and off (more off than on for the past 20 years) for almost 55 years. I wouldn't generally open something with so many small parts in the hope I "just might" find something fixable.

The cable shown doesn't >>appear>normal>slam

Hi William,

I'm sorry if I didn't make it more clear from the outset what the point of all this was. A friend asked me to look at his digital camera. The camera would power up with a "zoom error" message on the display. We looked for simple solutions like sand or dirt in the zoom mechanism but since the lens seemed to be zooming in and out freely, I decided to try and dismantle the camera. The reason for removing the flexible cables is so that I can remove the lens mechanism (whose cables are attached to the pc board) and see if there is some other obvious reason. The cost of the camera was less than $165 so it's really not worth sending it away for repair.

Thanks for your reply.

Hi David,

I am familiar with those connectors that use a sliding mechanism to clamp the cable in place. Those have been around forever. It doesn't seem to be designed like that. I've pushed and pulled gently in every direction and if it isn't one solid piece, I can't figure it out how to unlock it.

lens

remove

And thank you for clarifying the situation.

if

It's possible the cable is soldered to the board, with the "connector" serving as a strain relief. However, soldering the cable would make the unit difficult to repair. (Hmmm...)

Do you have a good magnifier? A careful nosing around might reveal something not apparent in the photo (which, by the way, is of excellent quality).

It's hard to see clearly from the picture but at the very end of each side of the connector are little pieces which stick out towards the cable. These look at though they could be the locks which slide towards the cable to release the clamp. They definitely look as though they are not molded to the main part of the connector.

David

Have a trawl through the Youtube videos on digital camera repair, chances are there is footage of someone extracting a cable from the same design of connector.

Gareth.

there are hinged clamps that you need to flip up. there are sliding clamps that you need to slide out. If you get them mixed up, you break the connector. There are at least two types that don't have a clamp. One has a thicker backing plastic that sticks out far enough to give you something to push on when reinserting it. Another is low insertion force and does not have the backing plastic. You reinsert it by grabbing the two tabs and gently rocking it into place. You might want to quietly chant a prayer to your favorite deity while you do it.

The pix doesn't have enough resolution to tell, but the slots in the top piece and the parting line in the top corners and the metal parts suggest that the top section might slide back.

In any case, you DO NOT want to kink the cable.

It becomes pretty obvious the second time you do it. ;-)

I decided that there was no way that this clamp had any movable parts in it. I grabbed the cable and rocked it back and forth firmly, but not too hard, and it came out. Here is what the camera looked like disassembled.

You can see that there are three receptacles on the pc board. It was very tricky putting the cables back in (two for the lens, one for the monitor). Usually, the cables have some reinforcement on the end that you can grab onto and then push so it seats firmly in the socket. I gave up trying to do that. This is the thinnest cable I've ever worked with. However, there was the slightest of ridges at the border between the lightly colored part of the cable and where the exposed terminals begin. That allowed me get some advantage. I lined up the cable with the socket and used the pc board to support it. That was important because the only way to slide it in was to stick my two thumbnails on either side of the cable where the ridge was and push it in little by little. After about four attempts I finally got the monitor to come on but the video was staticky. I then used the same trick on the cable from the lens assembly and then the picture was normal. Then, after reassembly of the rest of the unit, it powered up with no more zoom error. I guess it was just one of those things you take apart, put it back together and we'll see how long it works.

Thanks for all your replies.

One more picture of the pc board.