broken Ultracortex electrode wire / how to repair ?
ht_steve1976
Japan
The cord of the electrode was torn off as shown below. So I'm going to solder it back together and repair it, but I'm sure this repair method won't be a problem Ugh.
If you have any other good repair options, please let me know.
Comments
Can't see a picture, but it should be Ok. Just make sure to use heat shrink wrap or electrical tape around the wire where you do the solder repair.
Thank you for your reply. Sorry, this is the picture of the electrode.
Steve, hi.
The plan was to make replacement parts available. The wire is attached to a 'crimp nut', which will be difficult to make a reliable solder joint.
https://openbci.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1356/need-replacement-crimp-nuts-used-on-ultracortex-iv-electrode-holders-snapped-electrode-wire
Quite a few other complaints about this breakage. The 'longterm' solution is to 'unplug' before doing significant numbers of turns. But for those who have already broken the wire, there needs to be a replacement available. Either the entire electrode holder with wire. Or just the wire attached to the crimp nut. Or even just the crimp nuts (although when I asked about crimp nuts being available in the past, this was apparently impossible as they are custom made.)
https://openbci.com/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/1634/ultracortex-electrode-holder-wire-broke-off-at-crimp-nut
Mentioning @Conor, @openbci, @joeartuso, @Shirley. Perhaps the replacement parts are already being sold by just emailing contact at openbci.com ?
Regards, William
My lab recently conducted experiments, and the wires of Spikey units were cut off.
** The wires should've been disconnected from the color wires, but they were twisted while connecting.
How can we fix the Spikey units?
Can we solder the wires to the metal parts?
Oh goodness! @wjcroft thoughts?
@ianbhak, hi. I merged your new thread into this existing one. Please see previous comments. Mentioning Richard @retiutut.
Richard and @Conor, @Shirley, @joeartuso. It would be GREAT to have a solution in the Shop for this common issue. It has come up repeatedly. Perhaps to supply the electrode holder + wire assembly. OR, just the wire-nut, wire, female header connector piece. I would vote for the latter as it is smaller and less expensive for all concerned.
Along with the item in the shop, some kind of STRONG suggestion needs to be made in the Ultracortex documentation, that unplugging the holder from the wire harness is NECESSARY when large number of turn adjustments are made repeatedly. Otherwise a broken wire is almost guaranteed.
Since this has come up here on the forum repeatedly in the past couple years -- I'd like to hear a reply from Brooklyn staff about the long term solution(s). For @ianbhak's immediate need, can he email contact at openbci.com and purchase an electrode holder? What is the price in case others ask?
Best regards, William
@wjcroft @retiutut
Thank you very much for all your help. I directly contacted them(@Conor, @openbci, @joeartuso, @Shirley) about this problem. I will wait for their reply.
Steve, I suggest you email directly contact at openbci.com and ask if a replacement is now available. Even if it is not currently listed in the Shop.
William
@wjcroft
Thank you very much. I got a message from joeartuso. So I will ask him/her the detail!
Steve
Steve, great. Can you do a followup comment, so that future users who have this same issue, know how to purchase?
Regards, William
Sure. I heard we should send the email to [email protected] and tell them the details below.
1. Number of replacement UCM4 spikey units needed
2. Your shipping address
@wjcroft the warning about disconnecting before repeated turns has been added to the Ultracortex doc
@ht_steve1976 please email [email protected], we'll keep an eye out for your email.
-Shirley
If you have a soldering iron, you can easily repair the broken wire. Simply strip a bit of insulation off the remaining wire and solder it to the back of the electrode holder.
You can even make your own electrodes connectors from a few spare parts. For example, here is a bare wire, a 2.5mm jack screw salvaged from an old computer frame, an electrode comb, and a bolt
Solder the wire to the back of the jack screw (or back onto the factory crimp connector where it broke)
For added strength of your connectors, apply a little bit of hot glue to coat the wire insulation and the end of the electrode bolt, this will distribute the twisting force through the plastic coating on the wire and it will not all be concentrated on the connection point.
To make it prettier, you can finish it with a heat shrink wire wrap.
I tested this home made electrode taped to my forehead, as well as inserted back into the factory spring mount, and it seemed to work as well as the factory made electrode measuring on the opposite side at the same time (similar noise level etc...).
If you strengthen all of your electrode wires with hot glue, they should last much longer. They are still not indestructible, but they can more easily tolerate the half turn here and there that seems to be required to get a good fit and signal from the headgear.
More detailed write up of this procedure is published online here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQDpAxbxF8b4SrDUc8FZYQy8bQZ8rE0lekc0LDePOzqH-q28oEmAqKoaIixS5OQzPQT3uN-zqeb7nQF/pub
Hi, i faced the same problem . what is the fastest solution for it?I need to start collecting data in 3 days ?
Hi @Gaia, please email contact at openbci.com and ask about ordering replacement crimp-nut+wire+dupont-female parts.
If you want a temporary solution to get you going this week, you can look at the previous posts in this thread, such as the series by grahambriggs in October 2020.
@Shirley, is there any way these replacement wires could be listed on the Shop?
William