Blue VGA connectors

[Nicktaylor]

I have a job lot of looms. they were very good value for money but do need to do a few repairs to some of them. The vga terminations are Blue (vdc). I cant work out if they are repairable and cant get into the shell. I have removed the screw fixings.There are two tiny holes on the collar of the plug. I cant believe they are sealed! I have new terminations for the ends but basically as there are one or two colour pins u/s so it could be a simple resolder!

Any ideas?

[AHYoung]

VDC blue vga cables are moulded and if the ends are broken, they are broken. its unlikely that they came unsoldered but its probably a break in the cable possibly near the end where it gets the most flex. You could try cutting a metre off and soldering on a 15pin d, if you have the connectors you just need a backshell which are easy enough to source. it will be a test of your soldering skills though.

[Pete McCrea]

We just weigh them into the scrappy when they're dead. Tooo much of a kerfuffle to try and re-make them.

[alistermorton]

. it will be a test of your soldering skills though.

 

Hint - solder the middle row first.

 

 

 

[Stuart91]

I agree with all the posters above that HD15 connectors are a pain, and virtually impossible to solder reliably. We use moulded leads exclusively, because I found that even "professionally" soldered leads (custom built by a major IT supplier) had a very limited lifespan.

 

Two options for old VGA leads (apart from scrapping them):

 

VGA wall panels are available with screw terminals, rather than having to solder onto the tiny pins. It might be possible to reuse some leads in an installation?

 

I wonder if it's possible to just solder BNCs onto individual cores, and use the cables that way? Breakouts from HD15 to BNC are readily available. Might be worth the expense if they are long, good quality cables that just happen to have mangled ends.

 

 

If the OP wants any more broken VGA cable to add to his collection, I have a large bucketload in the workshop, just let me know...

[AHYoung]

every other week I cut the end off a vga cable when some kak hander has bent at least one pin. the blow of binning a expensive cable is softened by the fact that they get used up in installs otherwise it would be outrageously expensive, The easy fix would be to get a single gang vga plate with phoenix connectors and put that on the end of the cable with a conduit backing box and grommet. Its going to be easier and ultimately more reliable, but inless its a 30 - 40m cable, its not going to be worth the bother...

[revbobuk]

My preference with VGA cables is to end with a back-to-back m-f adapter, which acts as a 'sacrificial' end to the cable. They're often (wrongly) called gender changers. Or end the cable with a female HD-15, instead of the more normal male, and keep a m-m adapter (which really is a gender changer) in the end of the cable. That way it's the adapter that gets bent, and the cable doesn't get wrecked.

[AHYoung]

the same fuds that bend pins also immediately remove and loose the "port savers" as they are known - obviously as they offer an impediment to correct pin bendage

[sleah]

the same fuds that bend pins also immediately remove and loose the "port savers" as they are known - obviously as they offer an impediment to correct pin bendage

 

What I've done occasionally with gender benders, that would work equally well with port-savers.... is to wrap 'leccy tape round where they join.

Not especially elegant, but it hides the fact it is an extra connector, deters people from detaching the two and stops them falling apart if they don't screw together very well.

[Nicktaylor]

I have to admit I gave up in the end. Replacing the cables with some premade ones in my looms

[matt-e]

We bought a load of the Maxblox screw type HD15 connectors from Canford to revive some of our damaged Van Damme VGA cables. They sell the housing too. The housing isn't the easiest to work with but it does the job. The screw type makes for easy assemble and repair on-site if required.

 

Take a look here:

 

http://www.canford.co.uk/ProductResources/ig/5606.pdf