Replacing Atari STFM Floppy connector socket

[ndial]

Hi people

I came across a problem lately.
I need to replace the floppy (34pin) connector found on the STFM mobo as it doesn't work any more. The truth is that I tried to take the original floppy ribbon off the socket, but looked like being totally stack in it (!) so.... I pressed a bit harderthan usual and... now the upper part of the socket is f@cked up (and some ribbon pins, too) icard
To be honest, I really think the floppy ribbon was soldered on the mobo, rather than... attached on a 34pin male socket....!

Do I just need to de-solder the old one (carefully its pins from the back-side of the mobo) and just plug in and solder its pins of a new one like the one below? (a typical 34pins MALE socket):

I know it's a pretty easy question, but still need to be 100% sure.
I do have some soldering skills, no problem on that.

Thanks in advance

 

[AmmoJammo]

Got a pic of the original? Its possible it was in fact soldered to the board

Depending on the type of connector that was originally on the board, it might be easier to cut it into pieces and remove the pins individually... but based on your description, I don't think this is possible...

 

[ndial]

Sure, I'll post a pic when back home.

 

[AmmoJammo]

Every pic I've found appears to have the floppy cable still connected to the motherboard...
I don't think its meant to come off.. lol

 

[ndial]

Every pic I've found appears to have the floppy cable still connected to the motherboard...
I don't think its meant to come off.. lol

Yep, that's what I realized, apparently (the hard way :double)

Well, that's my point now, de-soldering the old and then solder a new one. Then, any single-floppy F-F cable (like the one found on the Amiga) would probably do the job I hope.
But still, have to be sure before continuing
I'll have a good (hi-res) close pic later this evening and post it here.

 

[AmmoJammo]

There's no reason it won't work..
But I'm not sure how you'll go about removing it..

So, good luck!

 

[ndial]

thanks m8

 

[ndial]

Pffff, it's been half a month now, and I didn't have the time to continue my...adventure on replacing the thing...
The 1040 mobo is still work a treat though, but without any Floppy icon in TOS environment!

Ok, I've found a little time last weekend, and here are the results...

The mobo. As seen, the floppy ribbon is...off (badly)

A closer look of the internal floppy head connector...damage...

The floppy header (base) connector (mobo) back...

As seen in the last pic, I have managed to take most soldering from around 15 pins, but still lots of work left...

I've used soldering copper alloy strip and also vacuum pump (aka Solder Sucker). I cannot do anything beyond that though!

Do I need other special tools here, or it's impossible to take this out?
:double

 

[roy_bates]

if you was closer to me i would do it for you.and done the job in about 20 minutes.

i would of broken the header up in to smaller pieces and removed it in bits then cleared the holes on the pcb then installed the new one.

you have to be very careful though doing it that way,you could cut traces on the main board.

or,you could apply flux paste to the under side and desolder the pins and pull them through the top side through the header one at a time.

or,you could remove the whole header in one go with a rework station/heat gun,but since its through hole that means you would have to pre-heat the board so you dont get bubbling on the silk screen etc.

but then again all these methods do require a level of skill and a lot of patients.
i could get it out and install a new one with all/one of the above methods.

the main problem you having is thermal transfer on the ground plane,but i would be using flux paste on this anyway.

 

[ndial]

Thanks m8 for the quotes

Well, cutting traces on the main board is something that really scares me A LOT cause I have done this a while ago on a A600 board... Hopefully, Keropi fixed that for me
I realize that a hot-air station would be the ultimate solution for it but it's a pretty expensive toy for me, really...

I'll continue do the job patiently with the pump and iron, though I wish I was (still) living in the UK (did that for 5+ years a while ago) and grab your great offer

I'll post here any progress reached

question: what would be the best way to brake in pieces the connector? Any hints?

 

[Turranius]

Done that a couple of times on Amigas for the IDE header. I just pull one at a time out from the top while soldering it from the bottom. They pop right out. Once a few have been removed, the plastic usually falls to pieces by itself.

Once they are all out, I remove the solder with braid (?) and clean up with IPA.

There is usually a hole or two that will not be sucked up. In that case I used a thin needle in the hole while heating it with the soldering iron to get a clean hole.

 

[ndial]

Done that a couple of times on Amigas for the IDE header. I just pull one at a time out from the top while soldering it from the bottom. They pop right out. Once a few have been removed, the plastic usually falls to pieces by itself.

Once they are all out, I remove the solder with braid (?) and clean up with IPA.

There is usually a hole or two that will not be sucked up. In that case I used a thin needle in the hole while heating it with the soldering iron to get a clean hole.

Well, it didn't cross my mind to pull out each single pin FROM THE TOP while heating with the iron!!!! I thought that the pins are "stack/glued etc" with the plastic floppy/ide headers! Sounds interesting enough! I'll give it a try back home today (hopefully)! Thanks for the tip man.

 

[AmmoJammo]

You can probably get the pins hot enough to melt their way through the plastic as you pull them... assuming they don't just easily pull out...

However, be careful, as it looks like you've half munted a few of the pads already

 

[roy_bates]

Thanks m8 for the quotes

Well, cutting traces on the main board is something that really scares me A LOT cause I have done this a while ago on a A600 board... Hopefully, Keropi fixed that for me
I realize that a hot-air station would be the ultimate solution for it but it's a pretty expensive toy for me, really...

I'll continue do the job patiently with the pump and iron, though I wish I was (still) living in the UK (did that for 5+ years a while ago) and grab your great offer

I'll post here any progress reached

question: what would be the best way to brake in pieces the connector? Any hints?

ive used a pair of wire cutters or flush cutters the break them up into little pieces,but you have to be careful to not hold them against the board when cutting.
have it a bit above the board or what i did was get some cheap ones and grind the point off the end then round it off so it was less likely to damage the board.

if you cant modify the tool

tape two pieces of cardboard/thin plastic to either side of the connector while cutting


sometimes you have to be a bit "inventive" to get the job done.

 

[ndial]

sounds great the way you found a solution, though I'll stick to the pulling-off the pin(s) while heating for the moment If nothing happens, then I'll find a way cutting this strong little fella always, carefully indeed... :huh:

I'm still angry with Atari though.... how the hell had this idea... even the (older) CPC had a floppy connector base header.... :wooha:

 

[roy_bates]

sounds great the way you found a solution, though I'll stick to the pulling-off the pin(s) while heating for the moment If nothing happens, then I'll find a way cutting this strong little fella always, carefully indeed... :huh:

I'm still angry with Atari though.... how the hell had this idea... even the (older) CPC had a floppy connector base header.... :wooha:

the cpc had the same thing with the ddi-1.although that was probably to save height on the pcb.

i reckon if your really careful,you could trim the tops off the header pins and pull the plastic off the top.and that would leave you with the pins only to deal with

did i say there is lots of ways to deal with it?