6 replies to this topic

[DannyTip]

You can get specialist pin removal tools but ive removed them in the past with a pin/needle if you can work out where the tangs holding the connector in are.

 

This page may help http://www.vehicle-w...uldingterms.php

Edited by DannyTip, 12 September 2013 - 12:31 PM.

[KernowCooper]

If you carefully look at the terminal block there will be slots and if you insert a very fine split pin in there the terminal will release.

[tiger99]

Sometimes the removal tool is just a piece of tube of the correct dimension, optionally with a nice handle. It was not a car connector, but something similar, a PC Molex connector for disk drives, that I had to do recently. I could have bought a complete new connector and pins, not very expensive, but instead I went to Hobbycraft and bought a suitable length of brass tube. I now have a useful tool, and the spare brass tube also found several other uses.

 

If you have a vernier caliper, you could measure the OD of the pin and see if you can find a suitable piece of tube. Or, with other types or connector, Kernow's trick, a new one on me, seems like a good idea. But I may buy the tools in DannyTip's link, as they seem very useful. I had never seen such a neat set before.

 

I will advise one precaution, if the pins are plated, try at all costs to avoid scratching it, as future reliability may be impaired. So a soft metal or hard plastic may be ideal. If you have to use a hard tool, make sure that it is smooth, and polish with at least 1200 grit abrasive if needed.

[Dan]

  I've always used a bradawl to do this, and I've never found one that was impossible to remove unless it was bonded in or potted!  If these are later multi plugs you may have to remove locking strips that run through the plug first.

[dklawson]

For round pins/sockets I have always used bits of thin-wall tubing slid over the contact and pressed down into the connector to release the locking tab on the contact.  For rectangular spade connectors, look for the slots Kernow mentioned.  I use needle nose pliers to push short bits of steel wire down into those slots to release the locking tab on those contacts.