Need help removing IDE pins from HDD PCB

[Bluebloomer]

First topic, not sure if this is the right section, but I guess I'll find out..

Need some help to find a good way to remove the IDE pins from the HDD PCB. After disassembling the HDD I remove the IDE brackets with a Dremel tool but it's close to impossible to pull the pins out of the plastic / epoxy. Tried to heat it and that goes a little bit better, but at this point I allmost think it's not worth the hassle to pull those 40 pins out..

I could burn it, but the smoke and smell are not healhty, so those pins have to be removed some other way.

Does anybody know a better way to remove the IDE pins from a HDD PCD without breaking off the pins ? I think the epoxy / plastic has shrunk to better fit the pins because I have to pull the pins so hard that the often just snap.

There has to be a better way, or not ?
Thanks

 

[resabed01]

If you had a large batch of these connectors you could run them in AP without pulling the pins and you would let the acids do the job. Once the AP is done you would rinse and collect up the foils/powder to process.
I would first test the plastic on the connector in HCl. This is because some plastics, notably white ones, will breakdown in HCl and turn to a sticky gel that will create a huge mess.
IDE connectors don't have the greatest plating thickness so I wouldn't expect high yields.

 

[Bluebloomer]

Thank you for the reply and the tip resabed01.

I'm not expecting big yields no, but after collecting for a while it all adds up; ide pins, pci fingers, flatpacks, jumpers, and all the ide,ram and pci slots on the motherboards, the cpu sockets and the tiny bit of gold on the harddrive actuators. Once I got enough to get a few troy ounces, I'll begin processing them in small batches.

It's a hobby and an investment, so having fun while making some money on the long run too

By putting the plastics in the hcl you miss out on the end that's in the plastic, but I think your tip saves a lot of time and energy so I just go with that..

 

[rewalston]

By putting the plastics in the hcl you miss out on the end that's in the plastic, but I think your tip saves a lot of time and energy so I just go with that..

No you don't miss out on it. The purpose of placing the connector in HCl is to see if the plastic is affected by the acid. If it isn't you can place the rest of the connectors into AP and let it dissolve all of the pins, leaving behind powder and foils. The acid will dissolve even the pins within the plastic connector. When it's completed you can wash the foils out of the connector, nothing is lost.

Rusty

 

[Bluebloomer]

Since I have a couple of hundred of these plastic brackets with IDE pins from HDD's, floppy's, Cd / DVD drives and Motherboards I now know what to do.

No more pulling out these pins for me, only from the IDE and PCI ports when depopulating a motherboard, because they come out easily.

One problem solved, thank you all

Bluebloomer