Staring at a stubborn LRU connector, I had to pick my poison

It was on a Garmin G500 install, and the main data cable had a bent pin. I could either try to straighten it with my fine tweezers, or cut the whole connector off and re-pin it. I went with the re-pin, which took about 40 minutes with the crimp tool and a new backshell. It worked perfectly, but I'm curious if anyone has a better trick for fixing a single bent pin without taking the whole thing apart.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sam3d ago

Man, re-pinning was the right call. I've tried straightening those tiny pins before and they just snap off or bend again when you plug it back in. If you really want to try, a dental pick under a magnifying light is your only shot, but it's a gamble. Honestly, your 40 minute fix is way better than a broken pin and a whole new cable.

robinson.jake3d ago

Used to be the guy who would try to straighten every pin, convinced it was faster. Ruined a perfectly good SATA cable that way, and the pin just folded over again. Your point about the gamble is spot on, it's never a real fix. Spending the time to do a proper re-pin actually saves so much headache later. Changed my whole approach on those tiny connectors.