0.1" solid conductor ribbon cable - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2015, 10:08:04 pm
content: I've built a few projects that used a standard cheapie 16x2 HD44780 and have been frustrated by my inability to find ribbon cable with 0.1" spacing so that I can easily separate the LCD from my board.Note that I do /not/ want the more typical 0.050" pitch IDC cable that crimps to 2xN 0.1" headers connectors.I feel like this sort of 0.1" spacing ribbon cable with solid conductors used to be quite common. You'd see it in consumer electronics and the like, where the cable would be stripped and soldered directly to a row of 0.1" holes on both boards.Am I missing some magic keyword?Best,Dave J

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2015, 10:22:32 pm
content: http://www.digikey.com/short/t0799q?Not obvious if it's solid core (only 1 hit for full solid) or soldered stranded (which I recall being very common in your examples).You wouldn't really want solid for any kind of cable in the first place, so you might be better off using a connector or dealing with the loose strands (strip and insert carefully?).Tim

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2015, 10:38:56 pm
content: Thanks! It's a bit disappointing that my only actual option for 16 conductor is 100' for $200. I guess that's a volume thing.I guess I could make do with the stranded stuff, particularly if I could figure out a way to very efficiency tin the ends so I can get them in PCB holes, but yeah, soldered stranded is probably what I'm thinking of.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2015, 11:15:23 pm
content: You could buy Dupont headers and female pins and crimp a couple of ribbon cables. You'd have two ribbon cables instead of a single wide one.Headers (you can find pins at the bottom at associated products):1x4 :http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/M20-1060400/952-2229-ND/3728193orhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0050579304/WM2873-ND/24054021x8 :http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/M20-1060800/952-2234-ND/3728198orhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0050579208/WM5347-ND/27314382x4 :http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/M20-1070400/952-2032-ND/3727996orhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/0901430008/WM8058-ND/760773orhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/A1-8D-2.54C/H123019-ND/39776052x8 :http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/M20-1070800/952-2037-ND/3728001orhttp://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/90143-0016/WM8062-ND/760777or others...of course, this means you'd also need to invest in a crimping tool (like engineer pa-20 or pa-09 for example) and then you'd be able to use much cheaper ribbon cable (like the awg20-24 ones), and pitch wouldn't matter because you'd just crimp pins on both ends and plug the pins into sockets. And you could also get 32-40 wire ribbon cable if it's cheaper and just split it into strips of 8 wires or whatever configuration you'd like

author: jwm_
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 14, 2015, 11:36:12 pm
content: These pre crimped wires from pololu are great. After getting some and a variety of headers I find all sorts of uses for em.https://www.pololu.com/category/71/wires-with-pre-crimped-terminals

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 12:37:10 am
content: Quote from: mariush on December 14, 2015, 11:15:23 pmThis is precisely what I do now and am hoping to avoid!Using two 1x8 is not a problem, it's the dealing with each pin individually and having to split the cable that I want to avoid. Also, the connectors on both ends add considerable bulk in a small box. With mail pins and female connectors, we're often talking about almost 1 cm or more of dead, inflexible height.I should have mentioned that I want this because of the labor time. This is not a high volume project, but it's not a one-off. I'd be doing like 20 of these.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 01:05:29 am
content: It's more expensive but you can buy ready made cables with one 2x8 connector on one end and loose ribbon cable on the other end (so you could solder directly in the 2x8 header or 1x16 on your LCD display) :1.http://uk.farnell.com/samtec/ffsd-08-s-02-00-01-n/lead-1-27mm-idc-2in-16way/dp/1932838(2" of ribbon)2.http://uk.farnell.com/samtec/ffsd-08-s-02-50-01-n/lead-1-27mm-idc-2-5in-16way/dp/1932903(2.5" of ribbon)For a 20 pcs run, it's kind of expensive, but it would save you a lot of time in crimping each cable individually

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 05:42:39 am
content: LifeProTip: do not search for "solid core ribbon" on Aliexpress.

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 02:37:00 pm
content: Search ebay or the other places for "dupont" wires. Typically you can get a 40 conductor ribbon with 40 individual female connectors on each end for about $2 or less (you can also get male-to-female, good for connecting things to breadboards, and male-to-male, good for basic breadboard interconnects). Youdon'tneed to buy ribbon, connectors, and housings separately and make your own. Peel off the number of wires you need, then individual pins can be arranged any way you want and super-glued together to form custom 0.1" headers of any configuration. I don't know what I ever did before stocking up on these.

author: anachrocomputer
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 04:44:42 pm
content: I used something like this recently to link PCBs together in a chain, to make a big LED 7-segment display. I found ready-cut short lengths of ribbon cable at Farnell and RS Components, all 0.1-inch (2.54mm) spacing.http://uk.farnell.com/te-connectivity/fst-21a-10/ribbon-cable-ptfe-10way-25-4mm/dp/1310332http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/flat-ribbon-cable/2992119/Looks like TE Connectivity have a range of the stuff, called FST.

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 06:58:59 pm
content: Quote from: sleemanj on December 15, 2015, 05:42:39 amI did not know if you were making fun of me for not trying Aliexpress or if you were serious.Now I know.

author: djacobow
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 06:59:48 pm
content: Quote from: anachrocomputer on December 15, 2015, 04:44:42 pmYes!! This is the sort of thing I was after.Magic keywords are: FFC / FPC Jumper CablesHuzzah!

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 15, 2015, 10:07:02 pm
content: Flat flex cable is another name I've seen used.Those "Dupont" cables with the pre-crimped connectors almost invariably use 0.05" pitch cable. That's okay if done well. DIY usually doesn't because it can be hard to get the wire length right so that the connectors end in a straight edge.Of course, some people don't care because it's mostly just a cosmetic flaw.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2015, 02:33:26 pm
content: Quote from: sleemanj on December 15, 2015, 05:42:39 amAlso, the results for searching "rubber feet" are not workspace safe.

author: macboy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2015, 03:36:04 pm
content: Quote from: rdl on December 15, 2015, 10:07:02 pmYes they are standard 0.05" ribbon cable. They are so cheap you can snip off every-other end, and use alternating ones, or just separate the conductors enough to make it fit. It won't look great either way. I value function over form in these cases.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2015, 02:33:57 pm
content: Quote from: sleemanj on December 15, 2015, 05:42:39 amWhat the hell? I mean, I'm gay and I've never seen things quite like that...