[SOLVED] Can I unbend my CPU's bent pins?

[Petcriant]

I accidentally bent some of my CPU's pins by dropping it on the floor.
Is there some way to fix this?

 

[jay32267]

You try and straighten them the best you can and hope for the best.
Whatever you do....you don't want to put it in the socket and cause a short....so make sure you have them reasonably straight before you even try it.
If you can't get them reasonably straight...I wouldn't even try it.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Hard to see from the photo, but typically I use a mechanical pencil for this purpose.

Take a mechanical pencil and clear any lead from it. Take the pencil and stick the hole down overtop the pin, and then move the pencil to bend the pin back straight.

If any pins are broken off, it is typically a lot harder to repair.

 

[drea.drechsler]

The mechanical pencil has worked marvelous for me too...I use a Pentel .7 mm as it has a long metal tubular 'tip' the lead comes out.

But there are usually some pins that are laying too flat to get the tip over. For those I use a long needle that can slide between the rows and underneath the flat pin, then pry it up just enough so the pencil tip can slip over it and then straighten it.

Bend them slowly and as little as possible so don't overbend or bend back and forth trying to straighten one up as it's easy to cold work the metal and make it brittle. Instead, once you have the pins reasonably straight slide a credit card between the rows, both directions, to get them in alignment. Don't be too aggressive with that as it's easy to push a pin back over and that could be disaster if it's cold-worked as straightening it AGAIN could be all that's needed to break it off.

Working under a magnifying hobby lamp is great if you have accesss to one.