Repair a Hdmi cable

Alright, here is the situation: you just installed a 5 meter Hdmi cable in the walls of your office. (or home) Then you come to the discovery that someone stepped on the Hdmi connector. Connector kaput....  What can you do?

- Well there is the option of breaking open the wall and replace the Hdmi cable. NOT... 
- Or pulling a new cable through the walls with the old one but this situation involves a corner,
  which makes that option impossible as well.

- Then there is the "getting a new connector and solder it on cable" option, unfortunately I could not find someone who did this before.

So here is my motivation to share my experience with you since this is my second time that I have done this....
Here goes....

Step 1: Tools you need

This is what you need:
(give or take)

- Solder Iron
- Solder
- Desolder wire
- Second Hdmi cable (optional)
- Hdmi to hdmi connector (optional)
- Hdmi connector
- Tyraps
- Sissors
- Extra power cables
- Multi meter
- Aluminium  (optional)
- Crocodile clamp assist (thing)

2/3 hours...
Some soldering experience...

Comments

[bruce_]

I wrote too soon. Conrad.com does not ship to the US or Canada.

[bruce_]

Thank you. That was easy. I sifted through thousands of sites before I asked. They're not so easy to find in the US.

[ewout]

you can get them every where on the internet, I just order them from conrad.com becuase I know it s a good company in all.. But I guess any website who has them on sale will do...

[bruce_]

Thanks for the instructions. The hardest part seems to be obtaining a connector. Any suggestions?

[ewout]

Some minor updates to the instructable and my english thanks for the comments...

[camforman]

This would be helpful if this was an especially long cable, however, if you find the correct shop you can find a good 6ft HDMI cable for about 1$ per foot. Since people shop around for TVs but not the accessories, I suspect the big stores make more money selling an HDMI cables than the 40" flat screen. I buy my cables from the local "geek" shop. You know the kind of places that sells computer parts that require a screw driver to install.

Also watch that your solder is for electronics as the plumbing grade stuff leaves corrosive residue that is difficult to wash off. This residue will destroy the fine wires in a few years with any humidity. The residue is also slightly conductive and can hurt battery life in battery powered devices.

The hot glue tip from Pignanelli can be extended to also make strain reliefs. Hot glue is also nice because you can still solder inside of the glue if you have made a mistake.

[mblazer]

I would recommend regular 63/37 solder. If the 'Tin' you call out is for lead-free solder is problematic in a hobby environment.. It needs higher temperatures and can easily lead to bad solder joints. Also, a fine tip soldering iron is a must.
Make sure to connect the shield wires! HDMI uses very high frequencies to transmit the video. Improper shield may cause trouble down the road or cause interference with other electronics. Remember: "Hope is neither a plan nor a course of action".

The pinout is at: http://pinouts.ru/Video/hdmi_pinout.shtml

[c0lin]

You still need to open up that panel to replace the second cable if anything goes wrong. Not done correctly in the first place and not done correctly the second time.

Get one of these: http://www.infinitecables.com/pop/wpk-hd1-d.htm

[MadCobbler]

That is a great find. It could easily be adapted to fit the Euro style outlet. The next time someone stepped on the cable end you just unplug from the wall and pop on a new cable!

[braindon]

I agree wholeheartedly! The added cost of a wall plate is significantly less than replacing cables or soldering new ends, especially in high traffic areas.

[ewout]

Your maybe right for a other situation but there is no way that plate would fit next to the power sockets, the dimensions are all wrong. It was probably made for the US not europa. And you still need to buy a Hdmi cable and solder a connector, since everthing was already in place I think this was the best option...

[braindon]

No certainly a good fix for the situation, and a good writeup. I just hate soldering these types of connectors!

[Pignanelli]

@"The other end shoud still be connected to ground so that doesnt really matter. (I hope)"

...a philosophy that hopefully our highway bridge designers do NOT use. :D

(Seriously,) when I do these types of connectors, if I have to recycle or repair one not made for that, hot glue (sticks) is a good solution to insulate and protect the soldering and wires. Not always the most attractive, but usually effective and durable.

[ewout]

But I do like the Idea....