does nothing happen even if you type in putty with Rx and Tx shorted ?
then it would appear to be broken.
Rx + GND = garbage is normal, Tx + GND = silent, would be normal too, even if it was working.
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both of them Tx ? 
well it seems I have a dud adapter as well as nothing happens , but how come it was showing readings before ?
typo, fixed 
reading <> writing, one pin in each direction, independent of each other.
How did you attach the leads to the HH5a circuit board?
Sounds like you may have fried something or a component has fallen off?
If soldered, I never apply the tip of the soldering iron for more than a second for above reasons.
Yes I think I may have fried the circuit board 
and the adapter, as the adapter was giving readings before .
I have taken the tape out now
fwiw, I did have one semi-bad experience where I lifted one solder pad because I ran out of my regular 60/40 rosin core solder, and had to use some cheap leadless solder which had a much higher melting point.
The adhesive in the tape may be conductive? Also, there is risk it could pull components off the circuit board too if it is extremely tacky variety when you remove it.
The wire that I used was from the dsl connection wires that they provide with the router
This type Amazon link
If anything I thought they were really thin.
Tape wasn't very sticky so maybe that could've resulted in it shorting or something.
Any come back from this or should I just bin this router ?
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fwiw, my vote is bin it....
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What about the serial adapter was that damaged by me or did it come like that ? As its not showing output when RX and TX are shorted together.