E1-522 Keyboard flat ribbon cable installation.

john_mcw

I replaced my speakers on the laptop and was re-assembling the laptop but had some difficulty getting the keyboard flat ribbon cable inserted into the connector on the main board.

Is there a special tool or technique to doing it at all?

I had it connected a few times but some of the keys [ie: Q to U, A to K etc] on the left half of the keyboard did not work.
Re-inserted the cable and got those to work however lower case not working.

Before opening the laptop - all the keys worked as they should without problems.

See attached photo of the cable I am referring to.

Cheers and best regards
PS I wish I had just bought headphone instead of opening it to replace the speakers now!

Edited to hide sensitive information

JackE

Yes, there should be a thin wedge latch (thin white plastic piece shown below) that you push in and lock/press the ribbon  contacts firmly against the corresponding conntacts on the mainboard KB connector. The wedge is quite fragile and sometimes breaks off and easily lost causing poor contacts. The solution is scotch tape if the wedge can't be found. 

john_mcw

OK finally done.
Firstly my main board connector is white with no side locking - seems the ribbon cable is just slotted in and that is it.
Anyway, the connector was a bit loose on the board although all track solders were fine so I put a small drop of superglue between the plastic housing and the PCB. Feels a lot more secure now.
The flat ribbon cable, upon inspection with a magnifying glass, seemed to have a couple of the tracks with bits of the track material missing.
I cut off the end of the ribbon cable about 2mm and then inserted the cable into the socket and all works well now.
I also used some tape to lock the ribbon cable and connector together.

I would recommend the following:-
[1] Don't remove this cable in the first place if at all possible
[2] Secure the connector to the PCB with superglue - the original is a bit flimsy and looking at it, would not take much to getting dameged.

Cheers

JackE

Yes, there should be a thin wedge latch (thin white plastic piece shown below) that you push in and lock/press the ribbon  contacts firmly against the corresponding conntacts on the mainboard KB connector. The wedge is quite fragile and sometimes breaks off and easily lost causing poor contacts. The solution is scotch tape if the wedge can't be found. 

john_mcw

Hello JackE, thank you - your reply is very much appreciated.

I will have a look at the wedge catches on the ribbon receptacle in the morning.
I don't recall seeing them though but now, with a photo guide I will have a good good look.

If they are there, and I did not use them, well that could well explain what's going on.
Let you know how I go.

JackE

You sometimes have to use a toothpicks to push both ends of the latch in place. It helps to have two pairs of hands doing this. One pair to keep the ribbon fully inserted into the mainboard KB socket while the other pair pushes the latch ends to lock the ribbon in place. It can be frustrating to get all the contacts on the ribbon and the mainboard aligned. Once you get it properly inserted, you will be very reluctant to ever remove the ribbon from the socket again.   

john_mcw

OK finally done.
Firstly my main board connector is white with no side locking - seems the ribbon cable is just slotted in and that is it.
Anyway, the connector was a bit loose on the board although all track solders were fine so I put a small drop of superglue between the plastic housing and the PCB. Feels a lot more secure now.
The flat ribbon cable, upon inspection with a magnifying glass, seemed to have a couple of the tracks with bits of the track material missing.
I cut off the end of the ribbon cable about 2mm and then inserted the cable into the socket and all works well now.
I also used some tape to lock the ribbon cable and connector together.

I would recommend the following:-
[1] Don't remove this cable in the first place if at all possible
[2] Secure the connector to the PCB with superglue - the original is a bit flimsy and looking at it, would not take much to getting dameged.

Cheers

JackE

Thanks for reporting back.

StevenGen

Below is the Aspire E1-522 keyboard disconnection cable guide photo, this is from the E1-522 SG manual, the two side latches is what releases the flat keyboard cable, if some of your keys don't work then it is a sign that you have damaged the cable and its not making full contact with the plug, spray some electronic circuit plug/board cleaner and try to rejuvinate the plug/cable connection and see if that will assist? If not then get a new cable especially if you have tried to plug this cable in a few times as you could have damaged the cable pins contact points and/or its plug prongs. If you have a magnifying glass then look at the cable and plugs condition, if you haven't then take it to a technician that has micro soldering tools and who can diagnose the problem for you.