Another bent pins story

[cvandijk]

Do you have a link to that kit? Can't find it on ebay, perhaps I'm using the wrong terms.

[pixelmanca]

I'm sorry that I wasn't more clear and precise in my initial post about the naming convention of what I recommended people buy for fixing bent pins. I've since gone back and edited my initial post and put in the correct name that will yield results when searching on ebay.

They are most accurately called: 'blunt tip injection needles' and there are lots and lots of listings for them on ebay from many sellers from the USA and China.

The needle sizes that I use all of the time are: the 21 gauge and the 18 gauge and I have used one as small as a 25 gauge on very thin pins and one as large as a 15 gauge for very very thick pins.

The kit that I bought almost 2 years ago is no longer being sold on ebay, but I've included a link below for a listing where you can buy 1x of 10 different gauge needles for $4.99, with free shipping here in the USA. If you select 'All Gauges' on the pull down in the listing you will receive 1x each of 10 different gauged needles and it is cheap so you can buy 2x or 3x 'All Gauges' "kits" to have a few of each size of needle on hand.

I would recommend buying more than just one of at least the most used sizes, because a couple of times I've had badly bent pins break off of a module and then the broken off part of the pin gets stuck inside of the needle, rendering the needle useless for further use.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dispense-All-10-Pack-Dispensing-Needle-1-Blunt-needle-tip-Luer-Lock/263667921557?var=562790163132

[pixelmanca]

[Marcin]

Nice only 5 bucks include US shipping for one set. Thanks for sharing.
Will take a practise with a hooks on cheap scrap

[pixelmanca]

Here's another item that had very badly bent long and thin pins, with many pins bent in the middle of the shank as well, that I was able to get back to looking pretty much good as new, after many many hours of work using the blunt tip injection needles over a few weeks of time.

It's a Fujitsu MCM from a GS8800 mainframe, circa 1998, that utilized SPARC technology. The MCM is a glass substrate MCM utilizing thin film technology on the top layer and I got it from a scrap dealer who had badly mistreated it.

Here's a picture of what the MCM looked like upon arrival, with thermal paste stuck to many of the pins, dirt and grime all over it and very badly bent pins everywhere:
(Click on the pictures to see the high resolution versions.)



After lots of long tedious hours of fixing the pins and cleaning it I now have a very beautiful and rare MCM that looks like new:

[Marcin]

Great job. Worth a spending a few hours for a such of beauty. That MCM have special long and thin pins - must be very fragile.

[pixelmanca]

It took a lot more than just a few hours of work Marcin LOL... it took me around 25 hours total, spread out over a few weeks, to get it to look like it does now.

Yes, the MCM is very fragile, being made up of a glass substrate and thankfully even though the MCM was badly mistreated before I got it, the glass substrate didn't have any chips or cracks in it. The pins are very long, around 11 mm and very very thin and I had to wear 25x magnifying glasses to be able to see things well enough to work on it accurately. But it was definitely a worthwhile project and it is one of my favorite MCM's in my collection.

Here's a few more pictures showing its condition when I received it:









Here's a few more pictures showing what it looks like now that its all fixed up:

[Vegeta]

[pixelmanca]

[rjluna2]

Wow

[debs3759]

Just spent 45 minutes straightening pins on a TI486DX4-100. There weren't too many, but my eyes aren't what they once were. Used the same blunt tip injection needles pixelmanca mentioned, and they seem ideal. I must find a bench magnifier to make it easier though

[Marcin]

Well done Debs. If you are able to post a photos before and after (include tools) then would be more interesting to see the results

[CPUShack]

[xi11west]

I always use a thin hard blade and a fine pliers to straighten pins. It's not that hard, and sometimes can be even satisfying. Some of the examples here are not really that bad to straighten.

[Marcin]

Next difficult opponent. Made three attempts to do not strain my eyesight Hard to autofocus camera on these tiny pins but result is OK. First I have used a seewing needle to separate and pull up the most badly ones. Then traditionally sharp short knife.

First time (on other CPU) I have used medic needle and it was great option for all type of bigger pins