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In this video, from around 4:18 onwards, you see the cable of an OLED display being soldered.

  1. How is this soldering happening; i.e., how does the solder "flow" to the PCB pads given that the contacts on the cable present a physical barrier?

  2. Also, what is this type of cable called? I've seen it on many LCDs, such as TFTs and OLEDs. Can this type of cable be soldered the other way, i.e., upside down to what it is in the video (since that allows me to re-orient the display as I need)?

boardbite
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2 Answers2

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  1. Some solder is already there, on the PCB - so he only need to melt it. He covered board with thin layer of solder in the very beginning.

  2. It's flat flex cable or "Flexible flat cable".

Regarding soldering in another way - if it has connections on both sides, they are electrically connected and you reroute the PCB to match mirrored pinout - you are likely good to go.

BarsMonster
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    So, it's similar to QFN soldering except the person is applying heat tangibly onto the "chip" (in this case cable) contacts. – boardbite Oct 21 '13 at 21:46
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  1. From what I could tell, it looks like that connector is similar to a desoldering braid. Before he starts soldering the connector, it looks like solder is put down on the bare pins for the OLED cable. Then, by applying heat to the back of the pad, solder is sucked up through a mesh.

  2. Ribbon or flex cable. That connector in the video should work on either side.

Jake Robinson
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  • This seems to be the case. In fact, it also looks like #2 (the fact that there are pads on both sides of the cable) is the reason why #1 worked out. – boardbite Oct 21 '13 at 21:45