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Fixing Broken Connectors

This machine has some very odd electrical connectors.  Some of them were smashed and broken and needed replacing.  Fortunately the person who sold the bowler to me allowed me to cut replacements from other spare machines he had.  I needed to replace 3 connectors which had 10, 14 and 22 pins.  The replacements sat around in a box for a few weeks until I finally got around to working on them.

The first step in replacing the broken connectors was to remove the cut wires from the replacement connectors.  I went into this thinking that it would be an easy 10 minute job.  An hour later I was full of burns and toxic smoke. 

    Wishful thinking!  A welding torch probably would have been more appropriate for removing this solder!

The de-soldering tool I used didn't produce enough heat.  I figured out a technique of setting the iron on the solder for several minutes and then pumping the suction bulb several times to build up heat.  Later I got smart and fired up my soldering iron.  I used the soldering iron and de-soldering tool at the same time to add as much heat as possible to the connection.  This cut the time down to 30 seconds per connector!

After getting the new connectors ready I worked on each of the broken ones.  First I labeled the wires and then de-soldered them.  I was going to cut them off but later decided that I'd have problems getting the length of the wires correct.  The shielding on the wire is also cloth and I was worried about how cleanly I could strip it.

After de-soldering, I put the wires into the new connector and soldered them.  They look good as new now!

    Connector after replacement.