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I've similar questions on how to repair solder pads however all the questions so far only talk about solid PCBs.

For some reason the solder pad came off this ribbon cable after I had soldered it onto the board. Is there anyway to fix this pad or is this cable just faulty? The other bits are fine but the person who sold the cable says its my fault.

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Use a soldering iron and completely remove the stuck pad from your wire (and some of the solder, as well.) Clean up the wire, first. Now you need to examine, carefully, where that pad went before. I'd use an Ohmmeter to make sure. Use your eyes and work it out. Find any reasonable location that the trace went to in order to attach a wire and connect it with your broken wire. You should isolate the joint, too, with a heat shrink tube or electrician's tape so that it doesn't accidentally short out. There are still better ways. But there's not enough info to suggest more, I think. \$\endgroup\$ – jonk Aug 9 '20 at 10:09
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hi jonk thanks for replying. What more info do you need? The pad went exactly where the green arrow is pointing. the back of the bad is brown, the front is gold. There arent really any visible trace lines as the back of the ribbon cable is identical to the front. \$\endgroup\$ – Oonah Aug 9 '20 at 10:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ You will have to work it out, visually. The image I see is not sufficient for me to tell you anything much. Then use your Ohmmeter to confirm your thoughts developed visually. You need to know where that pad went. It went to at least one other pin or device on that board. So you need to track that down. \$\endgroup\$ – jonk Aug 9 '20 at 10:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ the conductive layer peeled away from the substrate for some unknown reason ... it can be glued back into place, but the electrical continuity to the circuit cannot be re-established ... as @jonk has already said, find an alternate location for attaching the wire \$\endgroup\$ – jsotola Aug 9 '20 at 11:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ At a guess, the pad probably connected to the diagonal trace, like the one above it. That trace will be coated in a fine layer of flexible insulation. Any repair attemts will need to be extremely delicate, or they will destroy the flexible PCB beyond repair. \$\endgroup\$ – Simon B Aug 9 '20 at 13:00

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