PCMCIA port repair

Vypr · 31 January 2017, 20:47

I currently have 2 Amiga boards with broken pins on the PCMCIA ports, a 1D4 board and a 2B.

I got the 1D4 machine back in '97 for the princely sum of £30 at Cash Converters. Unfortunately shortly after I managed to mangle a couple of the pins in the port. I went to eBay and got a 2B board for about £50. Unfortunately I managed to break one of the pins on that too. (Incidentally, Does anyone want a port mangling SquirrelSCSI card?)

I picked up another 1D4 for £70 and am happily using that, however I felt a bit guilty about mangling the two other boards and wanted to fix them.

After a bit of scouring I found these at RS Components, a bit pricey at £14 each but they seemed to be the right dimensions.

TE Connectivity Right Angle PCB Mount PCMCIA Connector, with Solder Termination

So two were duly bought and work proceeded.
First I removed the broken PCMCIA ports with the aid of a screwdriver, a desolder station, a solder sucker and in the case of one of the boards, a dremel (to cut the pins off).

With the broken port removed, the results looked like this:

Some gentle persuasion got the pins into the holes, I had to be careful to make sure they were in alignment as a couple of pins shifted in transit and had to be carefully bent back into position.

10 minutes of soldering and leaning and the port was in place.

The port sat perfectly lined up with the slot in the case and I inserted a PCMCIA network card, booted up, opened Prepcard and crossed my fingers:

SUCCESS! Two boards returned to full working condition after sitting unused for over a decade.

My next step is to attempt to recap my boards.
I have 4 in total, one of which is completely non-functional so I will test my soldering skills on that first.

prowler · 31 January 2017, 22:26

Great job!

Thanks for posting the details.

Daedalus · 31 January 2017, 22:38

Good work!

powrslave · 01 February 2017, 20:18

And if in the USA I found this
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...195-ND/1025098

Maybe Vypr can confirm if it would work

ptyerman · 01 February 2017, 20:56

What are you asking for the port mangling Squirrel? I may be interested in it.

Vypr · 02 February 2017, 11:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by powrslave

And if in the USA I found this
http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...195-ND/1025098

Maybe Vypr can confirm if it would work

Looks like it should work, the pins are long enough to go through the board and the length is the same. It's also a helluva lot cheaper than the RS one.

XsamX1987 · 24 February 2017, 19:46

Very nice and a clean job, question what is a Squirrel card and why do you think it kept buggering up your pins ?

Vypr · 27 February 2017, 10:59

SquirrelSCSI card is a PCMCIA card that allows you to connect external SCSI devices like scanners and CD-ROM drives. They are notorious for bending pins in PCMCIA ports as they don't quite line up with the pins on the Amiga so if you're not careful, pins get bent.
My Squirrel card actually has one of the pins still stuck in one of the holes..
I think it's completely buggered now as while it was in storage it appears one of the cats used the storage box as a toilet, when I opened it up to see if I could pull the stuck pin out, the connectors inside stank to high heaven and are pretty badly corroded.

XsamX1987 · 08 March 2017, 17:12

Thanks for explaing and dam cats

09 March 2017, 00:19

Thanks for the repair log and the part reference.
I will do the pcmcia port change someday to one of my A600 boards.

31 January 2017, 20:47	#1
Vypr Registered User Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: East Kilbride, Scotland Posts: 451	PCMCIA port repair I currently have 2 Amiga boards with broken pins on the PCMCIA ports, a 1D4 board and a 2B. I got the 1D4 machine back in '97 for the princely sum of £30 at Cash Converters. Unfortunately shortly after I managed to mangle a couple of the pins in the port. I went to eBay and got a 2B board for about £50. Unfortunately I managed to break one of the pins on that too. (Incidentally, Does anyone want a port mangling SquirrelSCSI card?) I picked up another 1D4 for £70 and am happily using that, however I felt a bit guilty about mangling the two other boards and wanted to fix them. After a bit of scouring I found these at RS Components, a bit pricey at £14 each but they seemed to be the right dimensions. TE Connectivity Right Angle PCB Mount PCMCIA Connector, with Solder Termination So two were duly bought and work proceeded. First I removed the broken PCMCIA ports with the aid of a screwdriver, a desolder station, a solder sucker and in the case of one of the boards, a dremel (to cut the pins off). With the broken port removed, the results looked like this: Some gentle persuasion got the pins into the holes, I had to be careful to make sure they were in alignment as a couple of pins shifted in transit and had to be carefully bent back into position. 10 minutes of soldering and leaning and the port was in place. The port sat perfectly lined up with the slot in the case and I inserted a PCMCIA network card, booted up, opened Prepcard and crossed my fingers: SUCCESS! Two boards returned to full working condition after sitting unused for over a decade. My next step is to attempt to recap my boards. I have 4 in total, one of which is completely non-functional so I will test my soldering skills on that first.

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31 January 2017, 22:26	#2
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Great job! Thanks for posting the details.

31 January 2017, 22:38	#3
Daedalus Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dublin, then Glasgow Posts: 6,334	Good work!

01 February 2017, 20:18	#4
powrslave A1200 Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: USA-East Coast Posts: 111	And if in the USA I found this http://www.digikey.com/product-detai...195-ND/1025098 Maybe Vypr can confirm if it would work

01 February 2017, 20:56	#5
ptyerman Registered User Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Worksop/UK Age: 59 Posts: 1,328	What are you asking for the port mangling Squirrel? I may be interested in it.

24 February 2017, 19:46	#7
XsamX1987 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 212	Very nice and a clean job, question what is a Squirrel card and why do you think it kept buggering up your pins ?

27 February 2017, 10:59	#8
Vypr Registered User Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: East Kilbride, Scotland Posts: 451	SquirrelSCSI card is a PCMCIA card that allows you to connect external SCSI devices like scanners and CD-ROM drives. They are notorious for bending pins in PCMCIA ports as they don't quite line up with the pins on the Amiga so if you're not careful, pins get bent. My Squirrel card actually has one of the pins still stuck in one of the holes.. I think it's completely buggered now as while it was in storage it appears one of the cats used the storage box as a toilet, when I opened it up to see if I could pull the stuck pin out, the connectors inside stank to high heaven and are pretty badly corroded.

08 March 2017, 17:12	#9
XsamX1987 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 212	Thanks for explaing and dam cats

09 March 2017, 00:19	#10
doraemonppc Posts: n/a	Thanks for the repair log and the part reference. I will do the pcmcia port change someday to one of my A600 boards.

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