Can I Trim a Flat Flex Cable to Fit My A/C Unit?

[cs003]

Hi,
I apologize if this isn't the right forum for this. I tried to pick that which I felt was most appropriate.
My question is about 'flat flex cable'. Somebody I know recently purchased an A/C unit which uses a flat flex cable to connect the control board to the motor and such. They would like to mount the control board away from the unit, however that would require a longer cable. I am not familiar with this type of cable. I've done some research and the only thing I can tell is that the "pitch" is the spacing between contacts. But does this mean the gap between contactors, or the spacing from center to center of the contactor strips? Really all I know right now is that it has 17 contactors.
Basically if I know the pitch and let's say the only cable I can find has 20 contactors, but the same pitch is it safe to assume that they could simply trim 3 contactors off the ends in order for the cable to fit into the connector?
If anyone is familiar with this type of cable and can give me some info on it (like definitions of common terms like pitch, and other dimensions...) and even some good resources to find and buy this kind of cable I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
C

 

[MRFMengineer]

Pitch is the center to center distance.

Yes, you could probably trim down a 20 pin.

The style of contacts probably matters. Take a look at www.digikey.com and you could probably find diagrams there to help you out.