Wire problem help?

Hi all,


I have been trying to extend my laptop LCD wires to move it away from the laptop,as it only has about 15cm reach at the moment.

It is very hard to do as the the wires are very tiny.It was going ok until I ran into a problem with the last four wires.The last four wires are small enough as it is but when I riped off the ends I found that there are two wires inside and some metal wire stuff around them.

My problem is i'm not sure if the metal stuff around the two wires (white and purple) is a wire aswell or if it's some sort of protection layer? Another question I have is,will using bigger wires to extend the little original wires cause any harm to the signal?

Here is a couple of pics to help.

Cheers for any help!

 

Comments

[karnuvap]

You need to connect all three - both the inners and the shielding (which may or may not be grounded - usually is; but not always).

Suggest you get a small piece of stripboard with three traces and first fix the wire to the board with some strain relief. Then solder the wires to the traces and then solder your extension leads to the other ends of the traces. then heat-shrink the assembly.

[luther303]

That strip board idea isn't too bad of an idea.The only thing is these dam wires are so tiny that shreding the plastic off the ends without cutting the whole wire is nearly impossible.

[karnuvap]

Then don't try to strip them!

Just use the heat of the soldering iron to melt the shielding to expose the wire core. It is not pretty but it gets the job done.

[silverwindro]

Is not Wi-Fi antenna, is a coaxial cable used for image on the screen, the coaxial has property to insulate the signal to dont interfere with the other one, since them are in a big and thin group of cables.
You may try to extend your cable but you`ll have a much and hard work to do, best solution for you was the output of video signal but for that you needed another monitor.

[luther303]

I can't find anywhere that would have an exstension? It's a Dell Inspiron 1150.

[silverwindro]

I know, that`s why nobody made these "extensions" because there`s no need for that.
Anyway, carefully you can extend that cable but you have to check with a multimeter if the other side of it has the same connector, if so you cam mix the coaxial with the inner cable and you`ll have a strong wire, but you`ll have to shield that wire, the extended one, i saw there some shield insulated tape if i remember, but you can go that way.
Also don`t extend cable too much, because there is value and power loss by wire resistance, so you have to keep resistance low values.

[steveastrouk]

LCDs in laptops do not take a video signal.

[silverwindro]

The vga output to another monitor buddy, not a vga output to another lcd laptop. For the records.

[steveastrouk]

That's not what you said

"is a coaxial cable used for image on the screen"

buddy.

[silverwindro]

Good, did you figure out then what kind of cable is?
If not, then stop flaming!

[steveastrouk]

(removed by author or community request)

[luther303]

this is what i'm trying to extend..

[steveastrouk]

Can you see on yours where the coax cable goes ?

[luther303]

Those four coax cables that I am having trouble with are the the four wires on the left of the plug thingy in the left top corner of the pic above.

[silverwindro]

Listen luther, you should own a multimeter, and with the cable unplugged check with multimeter if you have circuit, if yes, then the coax cable and the inner share the same pin connector, so you may solder them together and you have to do a proper shield insulation after that.
But if you dont have a circuit, then is a problem that must be treated adequately.

[steveastrouk]

This might be the wi-fi antenna cables, not display wires.

Steve

[luther303]

It comes straight from the screen and plugs into the motherboard.

[steveastrouk]

In the same place as the display ?

[luther303]

Is it? I dont know much about computers. It's a Dell Inspiron 1150 this is the back of the screen.http://www.screencountry.com/img/screens/1_big/LP150E07_A3K1_inv.jpg

[steveastrouk]

Can I ask you why you're doing this ?

[luther303]

I am taking the laptop appart and putting it a case..So I want the screen to be in the lid of the case.

Like this,

[steveastrouk]

Open the display case and see where those wires go: like said, they look to me like wifi antenna cables to me.

[luther303]

I did most go to the screen the others go to the the inverter..Even if they are I still need to extend them.The problem is,the four blue wires have two wires inside them with this metal wire stuff around them,is it one wire or three?

[steveastrouk]

three,

[rickharris]

The foil round the wires is most likely a shield and should be earthed. If you don't get any problems don;t worry - If you do you need to continue this shielding the braiding from a coaxial cable should be ok.

[luther303]

Ok,I think this is a fail because these wires inside the wires are way too small..Every time I try and take off the ends they just snap off. I wonder,can you remove the wires from each connection and replce them with ribbon cable?

[rickharris]

use your soldering iron to burn off the insulation - You may need some fine abrasive paper to clean it up after.

[luther303]

Great, thanks, I found using a lighter to melt off the ends works well.

[steveastrouk]

No, because the LCD signals are so fast, they'll bounce off the joints.

You MAY be able to buy a longer cable, if you can identify the connectors.

Steve