Repairing An HDD Need To Identify A Board Part

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parityboy

Limp Gawd
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Nov 13, 2010
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On the image below, of the four metal contacts behind the Molex power connector, the one furthest right is broken. Does anyone know what they are called and where I might get replacements?

Many thanks. :)


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parityboy said:
where I might get replacements?
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I'd give Digikey a call. Their support is great, and they usually are willing to help the little guy as parts are marked up pretty high versus their cost.
 
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parityboy said:
the four metal contacts behind the Molex power connector
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Sorry if this is moronic, but do you perhaps mean the four solder pads of the molex connector? with thick exposed wires connected to them? Right below the brown plastic?
 
if you mean that the tab is broken loose just re-solder it. otherwise if its not repairable, like if the tab broke off the pin, just find any old molex powered hdd and salvage one from there.
 
If this is the problem I would not try to replace the whole connector it will be too difficult without the right equipment to remove and resolder the part of the connector for the IDE pins. I would just solder a molex extension onto the power pins leaving the broken molex untouched.
 
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michalrz said:
Sorry if this is moronic, but do you perhaps mean the four solder pads of the molex connector? with thick exposed wires connected to them? Right below the brown plastic?
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Yup, that's what I meant. :) Had no idea what they were called. :) (y)

pendragon1 said:
if you mean that the tab is broken loose just re-solder it. otherwise if its not repairable, like if the tab broke off the pin, just find any old molex powered hdd and salvage one from there.
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drescherjm said:
If this is the problem I would not try to replace the whole connector it will be too difficult without the right equipment to remove and resolder the part of the connector for the IDE pins. I would just solder a molex extension onto the power pins leaving the broken molex untouched.
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Many thanks for this. I'm not sure that the Molex pin actually broke, I think the part that's on the solder pad broke where it holds the pin in place (by tension I think). If I look where the rounded pin came out, the tail of it is actually flat and goes through a tiny slot where it meets the curled-over part of the contact sitting on the solder pad. If I knew what these contacts were called, I could probably replace the broken one.

drescherjm, you're right - it's basically unrepairable. I've gotten the drive to spin up by soldering a female Molex connector directly onto the solder pads, but I was hoping to be able to restore the drive to be able to be used in an external case. It would appear that such an opportunity is lost.
 
parityboy said:
drescherjm, you're right - it's basically unrepairable. I've gotten the drive to spin up by soldering a female Molex connector directly onto the solder pads, but I was hoping to be able to restore the drive to be able to be used in an external case. It would appear that such an opportunity is lost.
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Sure you can! Install the drive, and solder a jumper wire directly from the drive to the enclosure PCB.

You can even make it non-permanent by using an insulated blade connector.
 
no you can do what Dew said or even solder the pin back on to the solder pad. theres nothing really complicated to it, no special equipment aside from solder and an iron. you already soldered a molex cable to the pads....
 
So what exactly is broken? Is that picture of the affected unit? The tabs look ok. You're not talking about the male pins INSIDE the molex connector are you?

We would need to see whats actually broken to give you a better diagnosis and action plan.
 
westrock2000 said:
So what exactly is broken? Is that picture of the affected unit? The tabs look ok. You're not talking about the male pins INSIDE the molex connector are you?

We would need to see whats actually broken to give you a better diagnosis and action plan.
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If you look closely at the rightmost connector of the four (sitting on their respective solder pads), you will see that where the previous three curl over the edge of the PCB and downwards to meet the back of their respective male Molex pins, the last one is broken and does not curl over. There is therefore an air gap between that connector and its respective Molex pin (due to the breakage, the Molex pin is no longer held securely in place and is now loose). If I knew what those connectors were actually called, I could order a few and replace the broken one.

Question: am I completely mistaken? Are the parts sitting on the solder pads actually the tails of the very same Molex pins? Are they basically long and flat and then bent into shape during assembly of the PCB?
 
If you look closely at the rightmost connector of the four (sitting on their respective solder pads), you will see that where the previous three curl over the edge of the PCB and downwards to meet the back of their respective male Molex pins, the last one is broken and does not curl over.
Click to expand...

I believe I see that now that you described this. I did not notice that before.
 
parityboy said:
Question: am I completely mistaken? Are the parts sitting on the solder pads actually the tails of the very same Molex pins? Are they basically long and flat and then bent into shape during assembly of the PCB?
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yes that's why I said to just resolder it in the first place!
 
pendragon1 said:
yes that's why I said to just resolder it in the first place!
Click to expand...

Well, I actually tried that and failed miserably. The gap is too big to fill with solder and/or too narrow to fit a soldering iron tip without burning away the plastic. No matter, I can use the drive for offline archival purposes, or even implement Dew's suggestion. :)
 
what gap? if the pin isnt broken, just come loose, then you put a ball of solder on the pad and melt it as you push the pin down. you need tweezers, solder and iron. this vid is for the ide side but its the same idea. but if you got it rigged up and working that's good.

 
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