Tell me more ×
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for electronics and electrical engineering professionals, students, and enthusiasts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

My Roland cube has stopped working, the guitar input connector for the main channel has been faulty for a while but now its gone completely. I opened it up and it looks like the connector is badly damaged.

I want to take the connector from the clean/line in channel at the back. Its the same connector as the main channel. I have a soldering iron. I am a noob.

Here is a photo of one of the sockets:
photo of PCB

How do I remove these connectors? Can I do it with just a soldering iron?

share|improve this question
I cleaned up your question a bit. "Socket" in this context usually refers to a connector into which an IC is inserted on the PCB, while "Connector" refers to something you'd plug a wire into. Stack Exchange has an account with imgur; we prefer to host images there rather than ImageShack (where someone else could delete it). – Kevin Vermeer Feb 4 '11 at 20:09

1 Answer

up vote 4 down vote accepted

What you need is:

  • Soldering Iron
  • A desoldering tool or some solder wick
  • Some solder

First you need to locate where the pins are soldered to the board. You need to remove all the solder from these joints.

If you have a desoldering pump (it looks a bit like a syringe with a sprung piston inside it and a release button on the side), this is the easiest way. Heat the pins until the solder has melted, keep the soldering iron on the joint, then at the same time touch the tip of the desoldering pump to the pin and press the button. This will instantly suck all the solder off the pin and into the tool.

If you have solder wick, this absorbs the solder by soaking it up into the wick. This won't remove it all though.

When you've got most of the solder off all the pins, nudge the pins with the tip of a screwdriver to release them from any final solder bonds, and you should be able to lift off the socket unharmed.

Do the same to the faulty socket, replace with the good one, and resolder.

Job done.

share|improve this answer
hey dude, i did what you said and it worked! its all working now thw new socket has 1 less pin i think mby its earth but who cares it sounds good !! – brux Feb 4 '11 at 20:06
Just as a note, it might be difficult to heat up a joint when there is remaining solder in it (like you can't use the pump to get it out). In that case you might add more solder so it stays liquid for a little bit longer. Same goes for wick, you may need to add a bit of new fresh solder so it reflows better. – Hans Feb 4 '11 at 20:09
1  
@brux It could be something like a detect switch, to tell the unit that a cable is plugged in. – Thomas O Feb 4 '11 at 20:17

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.