Please help me identify conductor

Is there enough clearance for conventional wires? Conductors are conductors are conductors, if there is adequate room to install them.

Charles, There is room, but no access. It really needs to be that "tape" stuff. Thanks, anyway!

AFAIK you can't buy these off the shelf. They are basically flexible printed circuits. Often the connecting end is electroplated. I would replace it with hook-up wire.

Dear Mike,

The style of "wiring" that you describe was originally invented by DuPont and called Parlux. It was used when extreme flexibility was desirable. It was originally a dull yellow.

Typically copper traces are deposited on one side, and the connectors accept the thickness of the plastic strip and have matching electrodes to connect to bare areas of the traces. Typically the traces were then coated with a plastic layer to embed them. The areas that are mated often have a thin layer of silver coating to make for a superior connection.

There are two ways to connect to them:

1. Assure rigidity, scrape until you see bare copper, flux and use a very low wattage soldering pencil

Note: these traces have no strength They were never intended to be soldered

Thus the reason you need to make the area rigid.

For example, if one of these strips tears, and is not used for its repeated flexibility -- such as power to print head electronics

Tack down both torn pieces, facing each other as they were. Carefully scrape to copper on both sides. Then bridge using a single strand of wire out of say a wire that is 10 x 30 (10 strands of 30 guage tinned wire)

This is an exacting process

1. The second way to make the bridge requires that the copper be exposed, but uses a copper immersed in cement to make the bridge.

Again, this needs backing

Again, this will be rigid

The product that makes these bridges is Permatex (sold by NAPA) "Quick Grid Rear Window Defogger Repair Kit." Product Item# 765-1460

Neither repair will be pretty.

If you wish to go from these "traces" to standard wire -- again -- use the same technique, but now glue the standard wire to the backing you use. Make sure that the tips of the bared wires never move. I would typically use 5 minute epoxy, but, sometimes you must roughen the parlux with, say, a 220 or 330 grit sand paper, or the epoxy will just peal away. A lacquer such as nail polish may work because the acetone/toluene and/or the methyl ethyl ketone will dissolve plastics, but, now, too much lacquer at once will simply cause the entire piece to turn to putty. So, carefully put down a thin layer, see how it behaves, then another layer, then, finally, put the parlux piece to the backing material. That material should be rigid. It can be, say, a piece of plastic cut from a yogurt cup lid.

Be careful with modern nail polishes. They now contain nylon, and take much longer to harden.

In general, these strips are unique to each piece of equipment. Replacements are only available for high end electronics, say Sony, where such strips are used to go from board to board.

Careful. Many of the connectors that accept these strips have "locking." There is usually a collar around the plastic that accepts the strip. You must raise the collar, and that unlocks the contacts. You place the strip in, then lower the collar, and now the connector locks to the strip.

I've even seen tiny motors, that cause the vibration in cell phones sold by "All Electronics" with such strips as the DC connection to the motor. The catalogue listed them as "solder connectors." Again -- these are not intended to be soldered. They are intended for the locking connector. So, to reliably connect to such a connector from such a motor one must again glue a backing strip that holds "both sides" -- then complete the brige with either very thin wire strands or using the defogger repair cement.

There were no standards I know for the width or spacing of these traces, so expect each situation to be unique.

Regards,

Curtiss Priest snipped-for-privacy@mit.edu

They are often called " Flexiprint ". What has happened to the one you have ?

Arfa

Thanks to all for your fast, and thorough, responses. Looks like I'll be buying him a new bank. Again, Thanks! Mike

Mike: Check out the Digikey catalogue page link here:

You will find 8" and 10" long multi conductor ready-made flex cable strips. If you picked out the 6 conductor version (about 3/8 " wide) you could adapt it in as a replacement. (Use two or three of the conductors to replace each of your existing conductors). It is possible to solder to the ends of these cable cables if you use care and as low of temp as possible. Digikey also sells small 1mm spacing connectors by Hirose that accept the ends of these cables as an alternative to soldering to the cable itself. You can use the Hirose connectors and carefully solder to the connector leads and the glue the connectors in place at the flex end points.

Good Luck

- mkaras

Can't you just solder in some wires? You can get some pretty thin wire, stuff made for wire wrapping, or magnet wire might work.

"W. Curtiss Priest" wrote in news:JZydnX5 _U4Rd21PYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

Radio-Shack sells a conductive 'Pen' that lays down an ink that contains silver in a polymer base. It CAN be used to lay down traces and to connect things like this.

Google also gives this:

It can also be soldered to.

He could conceivably use clear mylar tape.

Cut a piece long enough, fold it over, so that it is half width and the sticky side is stuck to sticky side.

Draw your conductors as needed.

Cover with another piece of tape (perhaps half width?), leaving some exposed at each end to which to make connections.