# amphenol style connector pin removal ?



## oldgoldman (Mar 27, 2014)

hi all

i searched the forum but didn't see anything specifically on best ways to remove pins from what i'm calling military style connectors .. 

soooo .. i cut aluminum housing off with sawzall in vise

removed rubber plug

i tried then just pulling them with pliers ( will need another rotator cuff surgery shortly ) .. didn't work well .. time consuming and PITA

tried spraying silicone to loosen them .. worked a little .. maybe

tried freezing them .. didn't work

then hit them with the torch .. you could see the rubber piece expanding .. just when they began to burn doused in water to stop smoke .. 

the resulting burnt rubber piece had lost it's structure and the pins pulled out easily with pliers

the "burnt" pins clearly lost their bling though ( see picture versus non-burnt pins ) .. obviously covered in greyish / blackish film from burning

am i messing with the yield doing it this way ?

looks like i'm getting more boards with these connectors so i want to optimize the de-population process now .. 

any thoughts or comments on yield damage / process appreciated ..

best
ogm


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## necromancer (Mar 27, 2014)

i seen a video on youtube where a guy used a press to pop the pins out.
i do not remember the video name


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## Smack (Mar 27, 2014)

amphenol connectors


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## GotTheBug (Mar 27, 2014)

What does the back of the plug look like? Any access to the back side of the pins? If so, it seems a punch and a blow with a hammer would pop it out pretty easily.


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## ferrous (Mar 27, 2014)

http://youtu.be/JPg7Sy4z5bk

if you watch this it might help hes done some of those connectors
don't ask me how he can work with long nails i would go crazy


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## necromancer (Mar 27, 2014)

ferrous said:


> http://youtu.be/JPg7Sy4z5bk
> 
> if you watch this it might help hes done some of those connectors
> don't ask me how he can work with long nails i would go crazy



this is the video i was talking about that i couldn't find. (thanks ferrous)

and yes, he needs nail clippers. guessing he is not married :lol:


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## oldgoldman (Mar 27, 2014)

thanks smack for the clarification .. AMPHENOL !!! that will help the research

also .. the video helps .. i'll see if a thin nail punch in the arbor will do the trick enough for easy removal ..

i'll get more from the shop tomorrow .. try and advise results .. if not a video ..

assuming based on the high melt temp of gold .. versus a vulcanized rubber, that there is no damage to the yield if one does use a burning method to loosen the pins by melting the rubber / plastic a touch ..

all my best
ogm


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## Irons (Mar 27, 2014)

There's a tool made especially to remove the pins.


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## pgms4me (Mar 27, 2014)

IRONS, you are correct,The only way to do those is with the pin removal tool made for the exact pi/connector type you have. Some of those mil connectors have a special type of neoprene rubber that is too tough to deal with. Burning or heating makes a potentially dangerous and terrible mess. I tried several press type ideas,but they dont punch through. You can cut away the material around the pins with small good,sharp nippers but it takes forever on the ones I tried. The rest I had have been sitting in a bucket for a few years now. Only a few of them anyways. maybe best for ebay.


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## oldgoldman (Mar 27, 2014)

okay .. update .. i couldn't wait until tomorrow to do battle again so i raced down to the warehouse and grabbed some more.

so this time immediately after re-flowing with the heat gun, i immediately pulled pins with needle nose pliers while the aluminum housing was still hot .. 3 out of 4 connectors came out like butter.

pins in one male connector refused to come out however and snapped .. this may be the type pgms4me was referring to .. they are the ones in the left corner with the black rubber in the middle .. those refused to slide out.

however .. i left that connector in the vise and held the heat gun about 6 inches or so from the connector .. after 15 seconds or so .. they slid out .. 

so keeping the heat gun in one hand and pulling with the pliers worked great .. and very quickly ..

maybe just a little heat is enough to break the bond . and it rarely if ever gave off any fumes that i could detect .. no burning.

they are really pretty ..


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 27, 2014)

I once got involved in a 50/50 partnership arrangement with a guy in L.A. I was the technical guy and he was the money guy. Over the years, he had collected about 200, 55gal drums of these same ITT Cannon and Amphenol military connectors. This is what financed the refinery. We bought a "Mini-Monster" shear, for about $6000, from some some place in Texas. It was a small V-shaped shear that could be controlled with a foot pedal to crack an egg as slowly as you wanted. The shear split the aluminum shell open on these connectors. Once opened, the pins simply fell out of the plastic/rubber. We cyanide stripped the gold from the pins and that was that.


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## oldgoldman (Mar 27, 2014)

GSP .. i love stories like that .. awesome !!

One ridiculously massive pile of stuff .. one special tool .. one bankroll ..


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## goldsilverpro (Mar 27, 2014)

Think big. It's out there if you look hard. The small thinking on this forum drives me nuts.


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## necromancer (Mar 27, 2014)

goldsilverpro said:


> Think big. It's out there if you look hard. This small thinking on this forum drives me nuts.



do you have any leads that i can make a few 100 grand from ?? :lol:


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## Blissman22 (Mar 28, 2014)

Just a friendly heads up about this style pin. Notice the silver on the bottom. It's not actually silver, remove this and discard it is actually a spring mechanism to help hold on to mating connector. Under this is more gold you will notice 3 to 4 slits that grab mating pin. There is more gold up inside also. I give this tip for anyone wanting to reverse plate this style pin. If these are actually Amphenol pins the gold thickness spec they run is 5 to 7 microinches. Since most of us can only find these in a used situation expect thinner gold. Happy and safe refining to all.


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## oldgoldman (Mar 28, 2014)

Blissman .. you are right !! if I have time, I'll pop off the tin / aluminum endings .. sometimes they come off .. sometimes they don't .. they are all from amphenol marked casings..

GSP .. agreed .. it's scary to think big for most, because there is risk and unknown involved .. 

like my art business .. i know some of my vintage circuit board scrap was stunningly beautiful .. i'm not an artist, but i knew it was art and somebody would pay bank for it .. i pushed and pushed and learned and experimented and dreamt big .. my wife thought i was nuts for 2 years .. 

now i'm in magazines and i sell pieces for $5,000 that cost me $5 in material .. thinking big


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## necromancer (Mar 28, 2014)

oldgoldman said:


> now i'm in magazines and i sell pieces for $5,000 that cost me $5 in material .. thinking big



maybe a new thread with some of your work, would love to see it !!!


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## oldgoldman (Mar 28, 2014)

hi necromancer .. i updated a post in the sale section of forum that has some pictures, information .. and my website

see circuit board art post ..

best


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