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Metal cap connector came off and now I can’t solder anything on it. How can I fix this?

Applies to Ringo (MAKERphone), a discontinued CircuitMess kit. What to do when a metal cap connector has come away from the board.

A
Written by Albert Gajsak

If one of the gold connectors around a hole in the board has come away, the pad itself is gone, so the connection has to be remade to the copper beside it. That is a frustrating thing to find, and it is usually repairable, but it is delicate work: the area is small, and a slip can lift more copper or damage the parts around it.

If you have not done fine soldering before, or you are not certain what you are looking at, do not start on it. Message us here, or email [email protected], with a few photos of the board and we will tell you what we see.

If you are confident with a soldering iron, the repair goes like this:

  • Scrape away the small patch of dark lacquer beside the connector. That layer is a protective coating and does not conduct, so the copper underneath has to be exposed.

  • Heat the pin and feed in a little fresh solder, so the joint bridges the pin to the copper you have just exposed.

  • Test it. If there is no signal, or the signal comes and goes, the bridge is not making full contact. Clean the area again and redo the joint.

The photograph below shows roughly what the finished repair should look like.

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