Pete Theisen wrote:
> Eben King wrote:
>
>>>>> I ran a screw through a brand new USB 2 cable, long story.
>>>>> Exploratory surgery reveals that the insulation is penetrated and
>>>>> maybe half of the shield wires are broken, but the copper wire and
>>>>> the aluminum wrapped thingie are untouched.
>>>>>
>>>>> Is it shot or not? If it was a shielded audio or TV cable I would
>>>>> just tape it up and not worry about it but I don't know a lot about
>>>>> USB.
>>>>
>>>> There are (up to) four conductors, two for power and two for
>>>> signal. The shielding's probably to keep the signal from leaking
>>>> out and other RF noise from leaking in. If the wires are intact I'd
>>>> just tape it up (preferably with some nonconductive tape, but you're
>>>> only talking about 500mA @ 5V) and use it like normal, but don't put
>>>> too much stress on that part of the cable.
>>>
>>> Thanks, I think I'll do that right now.
>>>
>>> I wrapped it with some aluminum AC tape first to replace the shield,
>>> now non-conductive tape over that. If my keyboard and mouse both
>>> start getting flaky at once I will know why.
>>
>> Uh, wait, what? Highly conductive things next to possibly-frayed wire
>> is a no-no. If you must use Al tape, use something else inside it.
>
> Hi Eben,
>
> Only the shield is frayed, I thought I could repair the shield. On the
> other hand, I have a Sperry SP-5A multimeter, is there a way to check if
> everything is OK?
Testing now . . . done.
I would expect the wires to test continuous with themselves, isolated
from each other and isolated from the ground. I would expect the shield
to test continuous with itself and isolated from the wires. This is the
case. Am I home free?
-- Regards,Pete http://pete-theisen.com/ http://elect-pete-theisen.com/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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