Hi guys:
I've got an application where I'd like to strip the ends of a ribbon cable, insert them through holes in a PCB and solder them in permanently. The holes are spaced at the same pitch as the ribbon wires. Is there an easy way to strip the ends without using a specialty tool?
Don A. Gilmore Mechanical Engineer Kansas City
I just drag a hot soldering iron across the top and bottom of the cable. Press hard enough to get down to the wires inside. You then yank off the molten bits with your fingernails. Put some flux and tin the wire ends, and make sure there are no wire strands sticking out that can short out. It's not pretty and it's rough on the iron, but it works. Clean and tin the iron's tip right away.
I try to never do it that way. I stamp on a standard 0.1" dual row female connector on the ribbon cable. Then lay out the board for dual-row posts. That way the board can be removed easily for service or modifications.
The other end of the cable is split using an exacto blade and the ends stripped with a simple hand wire stripper. Wires are soldered to buttons, pots, connectors or whatever making a kind of custom harness.
See photo for an example...
Luhan
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