OT - Cable Identification

[TheScullster]

Hi all

Can anyone tell me what my cable is called? Bit of an accident on Saturday, managed to drop the bottom paper tray off the fax machine. I am now looking to source a replacement for the cable which has been damaged as a result. The machine is a Ricoh Aficio 5000L, but I think that there must be something out there cheaper (and more readily available) than the manufacturer's part. The cable is a bit like a ribbon cable, but each wire (there are 12) is separate and insulated. Each end of the wires terminate in a plastic female block with the connection line close to one edge of the block - again a bit like a ribbon cable termination but less pins (or at least holes in the blocks to mate with 12 pins). Failing this, it will be out with the soldering iron to try to repair the damaged item - many strands have been either stripped or broken completely.

Hope this is clear

TIA

Phil

[Rod]

From what I found, that machine has a parallel interface using, I assume, a "IEEE 1284 Parallel" cable. Not at all sure if that is what you mean?

These are available from shops or the web and also from the many millions of us who have moved on from parallel printers to USB and/or network and/or wireless/Bluetooth. I got rid of several just the other day...

[James Salisbury]

Hi, Can can you take a photo and post a link here?

[Bob Mannix]

But his detailed desription sounded nothing like a 1284 cable!

[George]

Of the cable that is? thats one helluva fax machine to have in the room?

[Rod]

True - my concentration completely wandered between first read and posting!

[meow2222]

There are too many possibilities from what you've told us. Would need a photo with a ruler sitting by it in both directions.

NT

[George]

Don't matter about cable its a close-up of the plug thats needed. Tsk!

[TheScullster]

wrote

OK guys

My first venture into posting images - hopefully it looks like this

the ruler bit, but the whole thing is 300mm between connectors. Each end connector is 25mm "long" x 4mm wide x 5mm high. As can be seen it's like a stranded ribbon cable with female pin connectors at each end.

Last post of the day Thanks for any successful indentifications Will revisit thread tomorrow

Phil

[tinnews]

I don't think that is any sort of standard cable, it's more like an internal custom cable. If the pins on the boards where it connects are on 0.1" centres then they're probably fairly standard SIL sockets on the end of the wires but I suspect you may have to either cough up for the 'proper' one or make up to a local electonic hobbyist who could make one for you.

[George]

Nah! from what I can see all he has to do is fit heat shrink cable over the damaged ones,solder the ends together then heat shrink the cable over the bare wire/s.

Job done. at a lesser expense. ;-)

[Mike Barnes]

It doesn't look like a standard cable to me.

Before doing anything else I'd try the soldering-iron repair, with heat- shrink tubing to insulate the joints.

[Al]

someone's crudely connected together. I'd expect to see a ribbon cable or at least a semi decent job of cable binding (and with colour coded cables). I guess this cable has been broken before and you're looking at some elses repair attempt ;-)

I'd be inclined just to repair what's there. I guess the ends correspond one-to-one so it should be easy to join up the right loose ends. If you don't fancy soldering, use some small terminal blocks :-)

Al.

[Harry Bloomfield]

George pretended :

That looks like a 0.1" pitch normal header to header linking cable. While the plugs are a standard electronics item and the wire a standard item, there is no guarantee the Ricoh have linked pin 1 to pin 1 and so on up to pin 12 - particularly as Ricoh have not used standard ribbon cable. Ribbon cable usually means they have to link the two plugs pin for pin.

You can buy the plugs (well sockets really), but they require a crimper to fit them.

Perhaps your best way forward would be to follow each wire between the two plug ends and see if they are in any sort of obvious order and if they are, or you can work it out from the broken ends - think in terms of soldering the broken ends and sleeving them.

[Clint Sharp]

In message , Al writes

You've obviously not seen the inside of a printer or photocopier in the last ten years then. That's exactly the sort of cable I'd expect to see having repaired hundreds of printers and seen the insides of many more as colleagues have worked on them.

Why colour code when it's assembled in a jig by a machine? If you're fault finding you don't need the cables colour coded either, you just count from one end of the plug.

Probably no room for terminal blocks, heat shrink over soldered connections would be my preference if I couldn't find a replacement.

[<me9]

Usually they have IDC headers, and a vice is all you need to fit them, as long as you ensure they are lined up properly.

[meow2222]

yep, its begging for a repair. Snip the wire ties off and you should find the cables are connected in order, so its easy to tell what goes where. Solder, crimp, screw, etc, and tape or sleeve.

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Inclined to agree but careful handling and inspection may hint at which end came from which end, deformation of the insulation, varying lengths of broken wire strands matching, where the wires want to lie, the breaks look to be at differnt distances from the plug at the RH end match the lengths, etc. Use small flags from tape and identify each end say letters on the cable side number on the plug make a table of possible matches.

Then see how the wires map to pins at each end, there maybe a pattern. Does that pattern work with the information gained above?

Then solder and insulate each wire as required.

[TheScullster]

Thanks to all respondents. Have browsed various electronic sites but not found a "perfect match" for the end connections. They appear to be 2mm pitch pin spacing rather than 0.1" but still don't conform to maplin/RS kit. Looks like time to get the soldering iron out :(.

Phil