Switched to hot plate soldering for flex cable repairs and never looked back.

Used to waste so much time with a regular iron trying to fix broken flex cables. After one job where I fried a ribbon on a Canon AE-1, I bought a cheap hot plate for $40 and now I can do a flex cable repair in under 5 minutes. Anyone else make the switch or still using a standard iron?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mia3d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly I used to roll my eyes at people using hot plates for flex cables lol. Thought it was overkill and that a good iron and some patience was all you needed. Then I tried fixing a ribbon on an old Nikon and cooked it clean off the board. Bought a $50 hot plate from Amazon that weekend and yeah I get it now. The even heat distribution just makes everything so much easier, especially on those thin polyimide ribbons that warp with a regular iron.

johnson.adam4h ago

Did you read that thing someone posted about using a clothes iron on low setting for flex cables? I saw it somewhere and thought it was crazy but apparently it works kinda similar to a hot plate just way less precise.