GREETINGS
I guess you are here because you are wondering why Nikon ever made those cables for the SC-17, SC-28, SC-29 so long. The reasons are simple, Nikon still thinks these cables are used for off camera "statue of liberty" shooting, handheld off camera or on a separate light stand device.
These units (17) are micro soldered, formerly out of Japan and the newer 28 and 29 series are stamped Nikon JAPAN, and re-stamped, made in, you guessed it, China. This is not plumbing soldering. This is breadboard and smaller work and if you have done this, the work is do-able though in very confined spaces and one drop of solder can ruin your entire day. About 69.96 worth.
NOTE: Please, I say it again, If you have not done this before, your ego will not bail you out, and you need to take a real assessment of your qualifications. Ruining an expensive piece like this is foolish. The 17 series was much easier only five wires and removable strain reliefs. Not the case with the 28 and the 29.
I have removed the section on doing these yourself on the 28-29 because I was suggesting you try it yourself. That backfired because I felt if I could solder so could others. Wrong, I overestimated the capabilities of those folks who thought they could solder. Toilet installation and breadboard work are not the same thing. And I got deluged with a mess of bad cables cut in the wrong places, missing screws, busted plastic keys and pinouts over-soldered, Many I could save after hours of work, some unfortunately are dead.
Here are some tips if you decide to try it. I changed my policy. If it fails do not come to me. I will only accept uncut and unopened/non-disassembled un-screwed with product.
THESE ARE HINTS ONLY:
SC-17 Only - The part that goes on the camera is the part we shorten, not the part that goes on the flash. If you screw this up, toss the remnants in the garbage and buy another. SEE BLACK DOT.
Cut or mark with tape the length you want the cable finished to be.
The other cut is about one inch above the strain relief, so you will have working room to remove the excess product.
After you cut the cable you will see that there are several wires exposed and a combination strain and ground wire that looks braided.
Remove the screws holding the camera module together slowly and carefully and take the top off.
2B) Do not strip these guys, use a 00 phillips and go slow. Do not use an electric screwdriver, they are too fast and will melt the plastic threads and you strip them out. They were never meant to be undone and very thin threads. Notice that one side has a lip that fits inside to lock the combo together. This is the key to putting it back together. You lip it and then the two screws hold it in place. Many come to me with broken lips. This is because the lip is weak and losing any materiel here is not a good idea. I will have to epoxy the whole thing.
Gently lift the strain relief out of the holder and make sure you understand it's location and orientation. Using a needle nose pliers, pull out the wires one by one GENTLY from the inside being careful not to
disturb anything soldered to the part. You might use two needle nose pliers to prevent the pulling on anything delicate. Those wires are soldered to those four little tits that are spring loaded. These are the contacts that connect the wire to the camera hot shoe.
Note: Too much solder as you can see on those tits will stop them from springing and throw the thing out, it's gone. Cut off the strain relief starting with the innermost color.
Using the needle-nose pliers gently pull the grey cable cover out of the strain relief. If it is hard or stuck, soak it in hot water to release the glue they use.
This is what you should be looking at. If not, wrap it all in a plastic bag and send it to me with forty dollars and we'll fix the mess. Maybe. If I do it, an SC-17 costs $25.00. If you screw it up, it's $40.00 minimum if I can fix it.
The ground tray will simply slide up and out. Remove the black heat shrink, just slide it off and de-solder the braided ground cable.
Leave the excess solder intact. You might add a small drop to freshen it. Rosin type, no acid, and 60/40 Lead is OK. You can use a lower temp antimony/tin 95/5 but the 60/40 is just about right. This stuff is 22/24 gauge wire and like a magician will vanish with too much heat.
Avoid silver solder as the heat needed for silver solder is too much.
In this picture we have cut the wire to the appropriate length, stripped it back an inch and a quarter, cleaned the terminal ends and pre soldered them.
WARNING: This is not a job for the plumbing solderer. We do not sweat the joint, it is more like a touch with pre-tinning. This is delicate fast joints or you will melt the wire.
You trim the braid to the length needed to work with, tin it, as shown and slip the protective cover or shrink tube back in place.
HERE IS THE MOMENT OF TRUTH and FRUSTRATION: You need hairspray to get the wire back into the strain relief you will have to lubricate it with either hairspray or soap as a lubricant. Hairspray is used by bicycle shops all over the US to replace rubber handlebar grips because as soon as it dries it turns to glue.
If you are not comfortable with hairspray due to your shaved head or the use of Pantene Mousse, use soap, not Dawn. Solder the end of the braid to the horseshoe as it was before.
In the final steps you de-solder a color and with the shortest least amount of solder on the tip relocate the new wire of the same color that was replaced.
This is why you pre-tin everything. Those tits sticking up are very small and have springs inside. Too much heat and you throw the whole thing away. I use a forceps as a heat catcher so as not to burn the wire. No spare parts support.
In the illustration I am using a solder holder made for bread boards that I customized, cut down and made slits to fit the part perfectly, since I do hundreds of these things. But any type of jig or holder will do if you are comfortable with it.
TOOLS: I use WELLER and UNGAR temp controlled solder guns 25-30 watts with needle tips and almost any known brand of clean soft 60/40 clean rosin solder. Radio shack is fine but tends to smoke a lot. I also clean after with 96% 0r better ISOPROPYL LKG 99% Brand alcohol, (never ever use rubbing alcohol) I also have Xcelite pliers and nippers for the tight stiff, a GB stripper for the 22ga. wire, a bunch of bench knives or X-actos several 000 forceps.
THESE ARE HINTS ONLY - NIKON SC-28, SC-29
If I do it, the cost of the "mo-hel work" for the SC-28-29 $40.00 is what I charge plus shipping of $5.00. If you do it and mess it up, I will estimate it if I think it can be saved. There are no parts available for these units.
Here is the first step that makes this process different on the SC-28 and SC-29. On the SC-17 the strain relief is a separate added component and held in place by a soluble glue. Highly reusable. On the 28 and 29 models, the harness is a molded one part component. This means cutting using Dremel and side cutting drill bits.
The strain relief will have to be recut and reshaped. This shaping guarantees no two will ever be the same. "A" Modified Strain relief, "B" Shortened Length, "C" Removed strain Relief Parts.
Basically the process is the same, you open the part, camera side, shorten the cable and re-solder, then put it all back together. Sounds simple enough BUT:
You now have seven or eight wires to contend with splicing in a 7/8 inch work space.
The contacts are buried three layers deep and with pre wired cables easier to build, hard to modify. Small screws, small parts and springs, a disaster looking to happen if you don't lose all the parts, thats why they Loctite them in.
The nightmare, getting a strain relief back on so it looks good. From the illustrations, get out a straight industrial razor blade. I place the molded strain relief on the table and hit it with a hammer slightly after the first indentation. With a series of Dremel cutters and stones, I reshaped and enlarged the opening.
This is not the place to experiment as I have had difficulty finding that part to replace. In fact I couldn't. The other solution is the rubber grommet but they are too thick to fit in without modifying the plastic case and that can lead to ruination.
Clean all the joints with a cue-tip and the Isopropyl. End jointing is slipping the shrink tube start with 5/8 in length, 1/32 dia. over the two parallel wires shrinking it and while hot I take a pair of heated flat sided pliers also a little hot from the heat gun and press the ends to seal the tube. Remember, this is 22-24 gauge wire and Chinese. It will go invisible or melt right in front of you eyes with too much heat. I learned the hard way.
Do this to all the wires. You don't have much room to work in and solder the patch cord end to the ground end, and reassemble the four screws, making sure all clear the wires and you don't crimp or create any shorts. With a continuity tester make sure the individual leads are not making contact with anything else. Just select one point and make sure it only lights or buzzes only one corresponding spot on the other end.
THE LAST WORD AND WARNING:
This is not solder 101 or "Soldering for Dummies". If this is beyond your scope, pass, and let me do it. You can easily make a sixty to eighty dollar cable into junk if this is not your forte.
• You may get it to the point where I cannot fix it or it becomes unreliable.
• The SC-17, I would call a three to four in difficulty on a ten scale. Nine out of ten for the SC-28 and the SC-29.
• Use the tools and solders I suggest.
• Turn around time is based on what else I have to do. There are more expensive ways to do this with a higher failure rate. Small dins and more connections.
• But seriously I'm not about to spend more on a cable than to shoot off cable with a transmitter. The more complex the rig, the more St. Murphy-Lawe is involved. Though I am big fan of direct wiring, more and more is edged toward transmitters and that will be the next headache.
I do not wish to make this process any more complex than it is, I have seen all these hit and run complex answers to elaborate multi connections and unfortunately I have also seen them fail. Thats the bottom line in Canon and Nikon lighting systems.
Some aftermarkets are quite good and the same effects can be achieved with those clones similar to the SC-17. Also for a low cost alternative to needing a really long extension, see ZEBRA CABLES. They have low-cost alternatives from the Chinese and so what the SB-28-29 is made in China too, probably in the same plant. Some I saw actually looked quite nice from PRO. They are great at mold stealing.
AL JACOBSON