Stranded Wire With High Resistance

Gideon Analytical Laboratories received two 42-inch cables. One cable labeled with a mark where an intermittent open occurred and the other a new cable for comparison. Radiography cannot reveal any anomalies. Resistive measurements were taken along the wire to determine the location of the high resistance. The polypropylene was removed and several wires were inspected for holes or mechanical damage (kinks, exceeding bend radius, cuts, scoring, etc.) to the outer insulation. There was no damage found on the insulation. An examination of the interior cables revealed copper strands kinked inside the insulation, as illuminated in the SEM micrograph below.

The kink was produced prior to insulating the wire with plastic. Not only did the copper have a bend but also aluminum was found, which should not be present, on the copper. This clearly says it was not the cable/connect supplier who caused this problem and clearly was a manufacturing problem.

With the aid of failure analysis performed by Gideon Analytical Laboratories, a plethora of electronics companies received candid results about the origin failures in the field. Gideon Analytical Laboratories is an expert in problem-solving serving the electronics industry for over 23 years and over 60 years of combined experience.