this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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I have a moderately long HDMI cable running to a screen that has worked for quite a while. Recently the screen lost its connection. I replaced the cable with the exact same model of HDMI cable, and its all good. The cables arent frequently inserted or removed, and they are otherwise in good condition. I have no idea how or why this could happen. Any ideas?

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[–] carl_dungeon 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Corrosion? Connectors sometimes get a little crusty over time, especially from humidity. I keep a can of deoxIT handy, it works wonders. You can spray a little in the connector and the socket and plug/unplug a few times. I’d be curious if your old cable would work again if you tried that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Worth a try, but not a particularly humid area. I did plug them in an out a few times while i was investigating, maybe worth trying some more.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

this could be for a lot of reasons. the cable might have some kinks in it from pushing furniture into it, bending it a little too much, or even just sitting bent for too long.

u could try to plug it back in and then bending it throughout its length at various spots and seeing if it comes back, to locate where the issue is.

but its certainly not unheard of for old cables to just get a small breakage somewhere. it doesnt always have to be the connectors.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Cable sits fairly flat across the floor, relatively unmoved, but safe from beeing stepped on or damaged. I did move the cable around a bit while testing, but no luck.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Is your HDMI cable good quality? Is your tv good quality? Dissimilar metals on either will result in transfer of materials over time and degredation of their ability to transfer signal at the rates expected for HDMI. Normally just a reseat of the cable should fix this but extended use could result in permanent impairment of the interface.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

They are default cables that came with Dell monitors. So, no idea quality wise. Reseating didnt help unfortunately.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

Probably reasonable quality if they are dell supplied ones. Apologies, when you said they were long I thought they might have been some funny make with potentially questionable standards interpretation. If the cables aren't moving around, under tension or being squished/crushed they should be one of the last things to fail, and a reseat should fix most issues.