Christopher G. Mason

Tonight when working on my IIgs, I noticed my FDHD drive wasn't reading
much of anything. Pull the cover and it appears one of the wires came
out of the back of the DB-19 plug (pin 18, read data, duh!). Any easy
way to fix this? Looks impossible to solder as Apple seems to have gone
the cheapest route with this cable. Will the IDC DB-19 connector from
ultimateapple2.com crimp onto the cable without modification?

A2Aviator

You can also jam a "rod" into the connector, heat that up and run
solder down it, and then solder to that- or dig some plastic away from
the side... A piece of gold pin from a 20 pin Disk II card would do
it. Remove one of the ground pins from the connector and that would be
plenty long to shove in there.

Sacrifice a 19 pin Disk II card - use the whole cable assembly off
it.

I'd have it soldered back on if it were in front of me.

Christopher G. Mason

On 9/1/2010 11:21 PM, A2Aviator wrote:
> You can also jam a "rod" into the connector, heat that up and run
> solder down it, and then solder to that- or dig some plastic away from
> the side... A piece of gold pin from a 20 pin Disk II card would do
> it. Remove one of the ground pins from the connector and that would be
> plenty long to shove in there.
>
> Sacrifice a 19 pin Disk II card - use the whole cable assembly off
> it.
>
> I'd have it soldered back on if it were in front of me.

Actually I just remembered.... I did exactly that a few years ago on
this very wire...didn't seem to do a good job though. I'll have to get
the soldering iron out tomorrow, re-strip the wire, and get it all fixed
up. I have plenty of donor cards I can snap a pin off of. Is the cable
removable from the card end? Seems like its on there pretty good.

A2Aviator

The cable can be removed at the card end, by de-soldering, or if you
are well versed, you can pop the top off the card end of the IDC
(Insulation Displacement Connector), and crimp in a different cable.

I just recalled, the 19 pin Disk II cards may have different pitch
cable, and it may not actually work. There should also be a tool that
can pop those pins out of that female connector - if that were
available to you, well .. then.. perhaps there is an older
electronics supply store that has people who know whats really going
on .. and might have said tool that you could pop a connector out.

Peel back some of that wire, slide a piece of heat shrink up it, do
your repair and when your happy with it, push that down and shrink it.
You may even wish to shove in a sewing pin and snip it off, then slide
the heat shrink over it. That will provide a splint so it can't bend
at that contact point again.

Another source of a 19 pin ribbon is a PC Transporter, if you've got a
dead one.. or unwanted one.

I will say this though, do NOT use anything but the proper tool, or a
properly working bench vice to crimp IDC ribbons. Unless you are
extremely well versed at it, you WILL screw it up.

The ball-pein hammer and wood trick does not work. Pliers do not work
on anything larger than about 8 or 10 pins. (two rows). The connector
on the card can be crimped using a popsicle stick on the back side.

Christopher G. Mason

On 9/2/2010 11:58 AM, A2Aviator wrote:
> There should also be a tool that
> can pop those pins out of that female connector - if that were
> available to you, well .. then.. perhaps there is an older
> electronics supply store that has people who know whats really going
> on .. and might have said tool that you could pop a connector out.
>

I have a terminal removal tool somewhere.... just have to actually find it.

> Peel back some of that wire, slide a piece of heat shrink up it, do
> your repair and when your happy with it, push that down and shrink it.
> You may even wish to shove in a sewing pin and snip it off, then slide
> the heat shrink over it. That will provide a splint so it can't bend
> at that contact point again.
>
> Another source of a 19 pin ribbon is a PC Transporter, if you've got a
> dead one.. or unwanted one.
>
Got one, but it works right now.

> I will say this though, do NOT use anything but the proper tool, or a
> properly working bench vice to crimp IDC ribbons. Unless you are
> extremely well versed at it, you WILL screw it up.
>

I seem to have recalled doing a few PC floppy and IDE cables using a
bench vice without any issues, they all seemed to have worked. A
Superdrive card popped up on ebay (for an insane $400+), and lo and
behold, it has an IDC floppy port on it! I guess Apple got cheap with my
card's connector, but its nice to know it can be retrofitted.

Christopher G. Mason

OK, looks like I'll be going for an IDC DB-19 soon. I tried jamming a
pin down and flowing the solder and then reconnecting the wire. It
*kinda* works, but it simply isn't reliable. I also lack the advanced
soldering skills, and more importantly, the patience right now to get it
100% fixed and working.