I've bent the ID pin of the USB3.0 connector! What can I do?

[kimmetje]

Hi All,

Unfortunately I am discovering the hard way the fragility of the pins. It seems whilst pushing down on my connector it wasn't facing the right way and whilst I thought it was going in fine, in actual fact it bent down the pin.

Unfortunately, I therefore seem to have managed to break one of the pins in the connector which allows for a front-panel USB 3.0 connection.

Based on the user guide it seems that the pin broken is the one controlling ID.

I was wondering whether the connection will still be useable - and if not, whether there are any repair solutions?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone could provide.

Regards, Kimmetje

 

[clutchc]

Can you provide a pic of the damage? Is it bent over or broken off?

 

[unksol]

if its just bent and you can get under the tip you can try and bend it back. if you get it more or less straight the plug will force it back straight. otherwise you're gonna need someone who can solder

 

[kimmetje]

I'll get a pic over later today.

It's completely broken off tough and I don't think there's anyway to get it back up straight, so unfortunately there is no way to bend it back into place.

Do you guys think I could take it to a nearby PC shop and get a new pin in place there?

 

[clutchc]

If it's broken off, then yes, that's about your best hope. They will have to unsolder the existing receptecle from the board and solder on a new one. But that's a job that can be very delicate. If you need USB 3.0 (and all else fails), you can always install an add-in card for USB 3.0 depending on what slots are available... PCI, PCIX1, PCIX4...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000073&Description=usb%203.0&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

... or some thing like this if it needs to be internal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999233 Search Newegg (or elsewhere) until you find what you need for your purpose.

 

[kimmetje]

Thanks for that! Touch wood I might be able to get out of this more elegantly in the form of Amazon saving my bum. They're offering to replace and send me a new board... Just waiting to get the e-mail confirmation from them. If that's indeed the case, then I'm a very lucky man!

 

[kimmetje]

Best answer selected by kimmetje.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr