Removing film cables from connector from Lumix digital camera.

[Ted Ladewski]

Trying to remove the film cables from this pc board. There doesn't seem to
be anything obvious that will release the connector. Can it be as simple as
pulling very hard? Any other ideas?

http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/PCboard-Lumix.jpg

Thanks for your help.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

 

[David Farber]

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.
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/PCboard-Lumix.jpg

Thanks for your reply.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

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.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

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?

 

[William Sommerwerck]

Does anyone have any idea -- other than that "something"

Good grief:

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...educed.3...209.452.0.667.4.2.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.

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<< to be displaced (but one never knows). I
don't see >>any<< justification for yanking it.

Thomas Hardman's forgetfulness in putting things back where they belong, not
to mention getting the front panel to fit correctly, are >>normal<< for
anyone working on products of this sort. You'll drive yourself crazy.

I watched the Canon 5D2 teardown/reassembly. (I own one.) Give the larger
size of this camera's components, and its modular construction, I'd feel
much less uncomfortable tearing into it than a pocket camera. Nevertheless,
I would never do it, unless I had a good idea of what was wrong before
opening it.

It appears lens jamming is most-often caused by dirt. I'm lucky; though I've
owned cameras with telescoping lenses, this has never happened to me.

The following is a serious suggestion. I'm not trying to trick you into
damaging the camera. Turn the camera on, and >>slam<< it (back facing down)
against a soft pillow. This is potentially dangerous, as you might damage
the LCD.

 

[David Farber]

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...educed.3...209.452.0.667.4.2.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0.

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<< to be displaced (but one never
knows). I don't see >>any<< justification for yanking it.

Thomas Hardman's forgetfulness in putting things back where they
belong, not to mention getting the front panel to fit correctly, are
yourself crazy.

I watched the Canon 5D2 teardown/reassembly. (I own one.) Give the
larger size of this camera's components, and its modular
construction, I'd feel much less uncomfortable tearing into it than a
pocket camera. Nevertheless, I would never do it, unless I had a good
idea of what was wrong before opening it.

It appears lens jamming is most-often caused by dirt. I'm lucky;
though I've owned cameras with telescoping lenses, this has never
happened to me.

The following is a serious suggestion. I'm not trying to trick you
into damaging the camera. Turn the camera on, and >>slam<< it (back
facing down) against a soft pillow. This is potentially dangerous, as
you might damage the LCD.

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.

 

[David Farber]

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

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.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

And thank you for clarifying the situation.

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

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).

 

[mike]

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. ;-)

 

[David Farber]

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.
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/Lumix-disassembled.jpg

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.

 

[David Farber]

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.
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/Lumix-disassembled.jpg

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.
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/Lumix-pc-board-close-up.jpg

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I decided there was no way this clamp had any movable

parts. I grabbed the cable and rocked it back and forth
firmly, but not too hard, and it came out.

<smug, self-satisfied, supercilious smirk>

 

[William Sommerwerck]

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.

That's good news -- especially after I gave you such a bad time.

I sincerely hope it continues to work properly. Too often, products "play
nice" while you're messing with them, then revert when you leave them.

 

[N_Cook]

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.
http://webpages.charter.net/mrfixiter/images/Electronics/Lumix-disassembled.
jpg

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.

Whenever I come across non-ZIF ribbon terminations I always wrap about 4
turns of proper cloth reinforced upholstery tape (not duck/duct tape) , half
inch wide, around the ribbon before re-inserting it, and then leaving it in
place

 

[William Sommerwerck]

I had a PC like that. Had to take all the bits off the

motherboard every 6 months or so or it would crash
like fury!

Ditto for the Apple ][. Most of the chips were socketed, and temperature
cycling gradually caused them to work loose. I had to periodically shove
them back down. Skrunch, Skrunch, Skrunch! Not at all prepossessing.

 

[David Farber]

Whenever I come across non-ZIF ribbon terminations I always wrap
about 4 turns of proper cloth reinforced upholstery tape (not
duck/duct tape) , half inch wide, around the ribbon before
re-inserting it, and then leaving it in place

Thanks for the great tip.