USB Cable issues

[Kyi195]

So I was planning on making some custom cables for my phone and such.  The cable I plug into overnight is just a tad too short and makes using my phone a bit painful if I'm laying in bed thanks to where the outlet is.  Also I was going to make another for my car that's about a foot long since the one in my car is too long.  So a while ago I ordered some USB headers from AliExpress.  They came in in about the time I expected.  then when they actually showed up I stopped by Gorilla Paracord and ordered a bunch of paracord because if I'm going to be making my own cables I want them to look neat instead of the basic rubber-sleeved USB cables.

Well tonight I finally had everything (cannibalized some USB cables I grabbed from work that were all about 15' long).  I started with a really short test cable to make sure that the wiring diagrams I was using were correct and that I knew what I was doing when I was soldering.



Note, the grounding cable popped off post test.  It stayed connected during my test and the cable as a whole worked well.  Thanks to that I went about tearing apart a longer bit of cable from my first donor cable and began work on the first cable for actual use.  Everything went well until the end when the power strip I was using couldn't support the hair drying I was using to shrink the little shrink-tubes.  But when I moved inside I got the tubes set right.



Well, unlike the test cable, when I plug it into my phone it starts off saying that it's charging and then after about 30 seconds my phone drops connection with my sim card and says that there isn't one installed.

I was just wondering if there were any pointers to making your own USB cables, like, for the microUSB connector to run pin 4 into the pin 5 ground or something.  Since pin 4 is for some sort of ID or something I don't think that's what should be done but then again, this is also my first cable that I made so I could be completely wrong.  Anyways.  If anyone has any tips on this, I'm all ears and anything is welcome.

[dorkvader]

I've been making my cables for a while. It's relaxing. Right now I'm maknig that has all 4 connectors individually sleeved in a fancy braid.

I recommend taking a clear picture of the micro USB end of the cable, showing the soldering. Since you used actual USB cable as the cable, the wires are at least coloured. The "pin 4" of the USB mini / micro is for USB OTG and should be disconnected (ignored completely) in a normal application.

What I ended up making to troubleshoot USB soldering and cable making was a "usb test cable" that breaks out the USB into easy to get to wires (I got a USB extension cable, cut it in half and broke out the ends). I use this to test with a DMM the properties of the cable. You can tell a lot by setting it to ohms mode and bending it a little.

finally: and this is obvious I think: quit using the cable until you get it figured out.

[Kyi195]

Oh it was very relaxing.  Reminds me of when I used to do stained glass stuff.  Just these cables will have a use and wont take up as much space as a full glass piece  )

Regarding the pics, these three are probably the best I'll be able to get.



Basically just little dollops of solder to connect the wire to the ridiculously small pad (the tip for my iron was almost too big for it) with no overhang to the other pads.  Also some elec. tape around the wires to help guard against any sort of shorting since I stripped the wires just a tad too far down.

Regarding the ignoring of pin 4, that's good; rules that out.  Also, I currently lack access to a DMM so, for now atleast, I can't do that, though I do have a USB extension cable I could easily make a breakout cable similar to yours out of.

And also, don't worry about me using the cable.  Until I get it working without a hitch, it's definitely not getting put into use.  I'm perfectly fine using my existing cables and I'm waiting for the new Nexus 5x to come out before I consider getting a new phone.  These are just for my convenience, not because I lack the cables