How to Wire a Standard VGA Cable
Instead of making a trip to the store, you can wire your own VGA cable. Wiring your own cable allows you to customize the length to suit your needs. Creating your own VGA cable does require some electrical knowledge, such as using tools and terminology.
Items Needed
- 15-conductor cable
- male HDD 15 D-sub solder connectors
- soldering iron
- 60/40 tin/lead solder
- helping-hand soldering tool
- D-sub hoods
- Decide how long you want your cable to be.
- Cut the cable to your desired length.
- Strip off 1 inch of the outer casing at each end of the cable. Take care not to cut the inner insulated conductors.
- Align the individual conductors on each end by separating them and straightening them out. Make sure they are in the same order on each end.
- Turn on your soldering iron and preheat it.
- Strip off one-quarter inch of the insulation from each conductor at the ends of the cable.
- Place one D-sub connector into the helping hand soldering tool. Make sure the solder connections are facing up and the connector is level.
- Insert a conductor into the center soldering pin of the connector. Gently feed it into the full depth of the socket.
- Find the point where the wire meets the socket. Place the tip of the soldering iron there. After one second, apply the tip of the solder to the same place while holding the soldering iron steady. When the solder fills up the cup and coats the conductor, remove both the soldering iron and the coil of solder at the same time.
- Repeat these steps for all 15 conductors. Connect each one to a separate pin of the D-sub connector. Check each pin as you work for a good connection.
- Do the same to the other end of the cable. Check to make sure the exact same color is used for each pin so they connect directly across from each other. Pin one connects to pin one, pin two to pin two and so forth.