50" LG tv with a slightly torn ribbon cable ~ Any repair method?

[kca]

Hello all ~

I have this LG 50" plasma tv that is in perfect working condition except for the fact that it has one (and only one), singular torn ribbon strip on one (and only one) of the 8 orange ribbon connectors that feed from the Y-Sustain to the screen itself.

So, as a result, there is one, singular thin black horizontal line that goes across the entire screen. Distracting enough to render the picture unwatchable for all intents and purposes.

What I am wondering is if anyone out there has ever had any success in fixing one of these ribbon cables wherein the damage is so relatively minor. Is there any way to make a viable and stable connection between the two sides of the thin metal ribbon that's now torn so that they behave in a unified manner once again?

What I am imagining is that perhaps if I were to carefully scrape back the plastic coating of that singularly torn orange ribbon cable both on the left and right-hand sides (and nothing more) and then use an orange ribbon cable that I've already cut out of a non-working set to "tie" the torn one together .... perhaps by using a cold solder iron ..... would that even come close to working??

For those of you not familiar with a cold solder iron, it looks like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZlVV-5vVKI


{Note: If there is already a thread here that addresses this type of question/problem, please point me to it. I have tried to do several searches before posting here but was not able to find any explanation or demonstration of such a repair.)

I'll try to get some pictures up here soon but the explanation above really explains the situation.

Thanks in advance ....

~ kca

[diif]

Re: 50" LG tv with a slightly torn ribbon cable ~ Any repair method?

I've repaired one, I managed to rip three or four traces. I did post it on here a few years back, I've just tried to search for it but i can't find it, but then it's late and i've had a glass or two of port.

If i remember right, rested the flex against a small piece of aluminium as a firm surface and to act as a heat sink. I carefully used a small piece of very fine sandpaper to wear the flex down to the copper. I tinned the copper and with a couple of traces I was able to just bridge the join with solder. A couple of others I used a single strand of mains cable to make the join.
I used a regular iron t12, down low.
Are you sure the cable is torn and it's not just a buffer ic that has a failure ?

[kca]

Re: 50" LG tv with a slightly torn ribbon cable ~ Any repair method?

Thanks for that detailed reply, diif. It's good to know that it is actually possible.

I am pretty sure it's the ribbon cable and not the IC that's the problem. It ran with the entire picture showing except for that singular, black horizontal line I mentioned before. I didn't run it long that way. Maybe for only 15 - 20 seconds before I shut it down, fearing that the entire buffer board might be lost .... not to mention the Y-sus.

I've posted some pictures below which are all of the same ribbon. I think the tear in the ribbon I have is very similar to yours, diif. As you can see from the photos, it looks like maybe 5 of the small wires were in the path of the tear, though on screen it only looked like one black horizontal line and not 5 or more. So, I'm assuming that the rip you see in the photos only went as deep as the first wire such that only that first wire in the sequence was actually torn. The others were on the verge of being torn.

But, now that we are discussing it in detail, does anyone know of there is indeed a 1 to 1 correspondence between each of these very tiny wires and each thin black line that may appear on the screen? In other words, let's say 5 of these tiny wires (all adjacent to one another) were actually torn. Would there be 5 distinct black, horizontal lines on the screen or might these 5 “blend together” into one black line that may appear to be the result of one torn wire but is actually an amalgamation of all 5 torn wires on the ribbon cable?

[kca]

Re: 50" LG tv with a slightly torn ribbon cable ~ Any repair method?

This link is the closest thing to the repair I am envisioning that I have been able to find so far online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2pf8iUgqqQ

Any thoughts or corrections / alterations you'd suggest, diif? Or, anyone else, of course.