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SYSTEM-18 - Bent Pins, Best Method To Fix?

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SMD88

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I was testing my 3 ROM boards on my two S18 boards last night. NO IDEA why the SEGA made the ROM boards so tight and difficult to remove compared to the S16 and 32.

I removed the Shadow Dancer board from the original board I have after it tested dead (I discovered the 68000 had a leg bent afterwards which may have been the problem) and then could not get the Alien Storm board in. I stupidly kept trying, not checking for bent pins! So I put it on the Bloxeed motherboard and it went on with no issues.

It DID work, but had no sync and the screen was all scewed. I then checked the otherboard and yep, two bent pins on one of the connectors! Tried to push them back with a knife but it did not work because they are bent and not just out of alignment. They felt VERY loose.

So, I then put Moonwalker back on the Bloxeed board and had the same issue again. Two bent pins on a different connector. Again, the knife did not work as they are bent.

What is the safest way to fix the pins? The space is far too small for pliers, maybe tweezers? I am worried about them breaking. So, my other question is, can the connectors be replaced? If so, where can I purchase them?

This is the exact reason I want 3 motherboards for each ROM board. I hate removing the ROM boards. I have never had this issue before though. Those pins are so damed fragile. Not like the nice sturdy pins on the S32 boards. Wish they just had a cover over the S18 connector pins to make it easier to fix pins.
 
If all else fails, you can just use the pliers above to grab the badly bent pin(s) and desolder them from the back, then solder in new ones from a donor.
 
Use a mechanical pencil and slide the tip over the pin. You can then slowly bend it back into place.

Depends on the pitch near the other pins though. The pliers might be easier.
 
Thank you all!

After a very long and tedius battle, I managed to straighten the Shadow Dancer motherboard pins and got it back together. I couldn't help worrying that the pins had actually bent again and took if off again to check. Thankfully they were all good.

As for the Bloxeed board, it gave me the most trouble. One pin DID get bent right down the first time (which is why I checked the SD board, heh) and took me forever to fix. I did eventually get the Moonwalker board on and am fairly sure the pin did not bend again.

But, glad to hear about the pin replacement. I have a link board from an S32 F1 Super Lap that has plenty of pins I can use. Sadly, I think they may be too thick though. I am hoping that lifting the RAM chip will fix my Dragonball VS board. It gives a C16 fail. But I have read that the failure of that chip during the RAM/ROM check can actually be a custom :(
 
You could also meter the pins and see which ones are used for ground. Usually there are multiple pins, and at least one or two could be considered surplus. I did this with a CPS2 recently.
 
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