Our newsletter this month deals with a mystery, one of those expensive "learning experiences" that doesn't show up until many cables are already shipped and installed. If a cable fails hipot testing, but passes when checked with a VOM, what do you do? Read along if this is something you have faced.

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Insulation Compression Damage

Blindsided by Shorts

A cable assembly house received twenty rejected cable assemblies that were used in a high-end GPS for motor homes. They had been removed from nonworking GPS systems. The customer was demanding they solve the problem. The assembly was quite simple, some highly flexible wires tie-wrapped to a PCB and solder terminated on one end and connectorized on the other. When QC retested them on a Signature 1000M (low voltage tester) one failed with a short while the others passed. It seemed that the "serious problem" was not really that "serious."
One concern, production on this assembly originally started with a hipot test, but many were failing. Since the customer did not require a high voltage test it had been abandoned. All of the returned assemblies were then re-tested on a Signature Touch 1, and they all failed the high voltage test, although it did not appear that anything could be wrong. The connectorized end had wide pin separation and no exposed strands. The PCB was well cleaned and the soldered terminations were well spaced. The assemblies looked great. So what could be the problem? If this sounds like something that has happened to you, read more about recognizing this month's failure.
Insulation Compression Failures

Upcoming Tradeshows

See us next at these shows:

• APEX, Los Angeles, CA February 20-22 Booth # 1026
• Wire Harness Manufacturers Association Conference, San Francisco, CA April 12-14
• Wire Processing Expo, Milwaukee May 23-24 Booth # 1445

For more tradeshow information see our Trade Show Schedule.