How to remove broken wire from female F connector

[cracklincrotch]

I've been trying to figure out what's been going on with my dish for the last week or so. Good signal quality but still getting pixelation and complete signal drop-outs. Then it just died completely but my motor still moves fine.

After tracing the wiring with my Birdog and getting the same results, I found that the wire broke off the cable inside the F connector on my DG380 motor on the to-LNB side.

While the motor is still mounted I've tried tweezers can't grab hold of it. I've tried using a needle to pry it out gently but it won't move. I could umount and remove the motor and using a knife, make the hole around the wire a little larger so the tweezers or needle-nose pliers could grab it. Or, I could open the motor and try to remove it through the other side of the connector (IF it isn't a sealed connector internally.)

Who else here has had this type of problem and had success with fixing this?

 

[Inno]

It's a delicate operation.......often you can cut or chisel some of the plastic from around the inside of the connector (between the outer shield threads and the inner hole) and grab hold of it. I have a nice set of locking forceps that works well for this as they are small at the end and grip well. The other end of the connector is probably sealed so you likely won't have any better luck getting it out from the inside. If it really won't budge and you risk destroying the connector you can probably remove the entire unit and solder a new one in. This of course would be a worst case scenario but it certainly can be done.

Good Luck

 

[JosephB]

Maybe try a really strong magnet?

 

[cracklincrotch]

Considering that copper isn't magnetic, it would have to be a pretty strong one.

 

[osu1991]

Put a dab of superglue on the end of a needle or strip the shielding off a piece of coax and put the glue on the end of the bare wire. Might be able to snag it that way.

 

[B.J.]

..... Or, I could open the motor and try to remove it through the other side of the connector (IF it isn't a sealed connector internally.)
...

THat's what I was about to suggest. If it isn't a sealed connector, you also might be able to just push it through to the inside, and hope that it doesn't land somewhere to short something out.... or at least pushing it through would mean that you wouldn't be wasting your time opening up the motor.

 

[cracklincrotch]

That's what I did, though unintentionally at first. When I started at the plastic area of the connector with the knife, the wire would just push in more. So with nothing ventured and nothing gained otherwise, I just pushed another piece of RG6 in and turned on the receiver and all is well. If that changes, I'll open it up and see what I can see.

 

[mjs812]

A very small drill bit could be used, twisting it in will catch the wire and you could pull it out.

 

[AcWxRadar]

It's a delicate operation.......often you can cut or chisel some of the plastic from around the inside of the connector (between the outer shield threads and the inner hole) and grab hold of it. I have a nice set of locking forceps that works well for this as they are small at the end and grip well. The other end of the connector is probably sealed so you likely won't have any better luck getting it out from the inside. If it really won't budge and you risk destroying the connector you can probably remove the entire unit and solder a new one in. This of course would be a worst case scenario but it certainly can be done.

Good Luck

That's what I did, though unintentionally at first. When I started at the plastic area of the connector with the knife, the wire would just push in more. So with nothing ventured and nothing gained otherwise, I just pushed another piece of RG6 in and turned on the receiver and all is well. If that changes, I'll open it up and see what I can see.

I wouldn't recommend digging away at the plastic portion of the connector. That may alter the electrical quality of the connection if you remove too much. That plastic insulator in between the outer shield and the center conductor is part of the design of the cable or connector. If you remove too much of it, it might alter the frequency capabilities of that area of the connector.

I don't know if I am being extreme and too paranoid about this as it is just a small area, but I would personally not attempt it.

I doubt that the connector will be open in the rear or inside to push it on through. It is probably soldered to the PC board and enclosed.

Your best option would probably be to desolder the connector from the board and then push it through or replace the connector entirely.

If the motor is new and under warranty, I would return it to the mfg and have them handle it that way youdo not void your warranty, but if the warranty period has expired, I would simply replace the connector myself in this manner.

The center conductor must be CCS and not solid copper, otherwise it wouldn't have broke off. Well, not unless your cable stripper was set too deep and you nicked the center conductor during the process and weakened it. I would check this before you make any new cables.

RADAR

 

[gillham]

Put a dab of superglue on the end of a needle or strip the shielding off a piece of coax and put the glue on the end of the bare wire. Might be able to snag it that way.

I used the super-glue-something-to-something technique to glue a pin to a camera battery that had been forced in the wrong way. I was able to use pliers on the pin to pull the battery out enough (before the pin came off) to slide some tape down the side and pull it out the rest of the way.

Provided you could get the smallest bit of glue onto the end of the wire, this would probably work well. I would definitely try it before desoldering the connector.

I would squeeze a drop of glue onto something and then touch a piece of bare center wire to it, just enough to pickup a few molecules of glue.

 

[AcWxRadar]

I used the super-glue-something-to-something technique to glue a pin to a camera battery that had been forced in the wrong way. I was able to use pliers on the pin to pull the battery out enough (before the pin came off) to slide some tape down the side and pull it out the rest of the way.

Provided you could get the smallest bit of glue onto the end of the wire, this would probably work well. I would definitely try it before desoldering the connector.

I would squeeze a drop of glue onto something and then touch a piece of bare center wire to it, just enough to pickup a few molecules of glue.

The superglue trick might work the best. The conductor may not be too tight in there. I would definitely give it a dozen tries, sure beats the other avenues.

RADAR

 

[JosephB]

Considering that copper isn't magnetic, it would have to be a pretty strong one.

It would work if the center conductor is steel.

 

[schlever]

Needle nose tweezers may do the trick too?

 

[DishDigger]

Late again, as usual, but another possible method not mentioned above would be to tin a piece of wire from the center of a spare piece of coax with solder. Try to get a thick enough coating of solder on the end to allow it to transfer to the "stuck" center-piece in the connector. Using either tweezers or needlenose pliers, ease the tinned wire down against the exposed end of the stuck wire and heat the tinned wire close to the contact point with a good soldering iron/pen. Allow to cool then pull carefully (may need to be repeated more than once). Using a soldering paste, available at most electronics outlets, including Radio Shack, will help insure a better adhesion of the solder on the limited contact point. stick the spare wire into the paste before applying solder and smear a tiny bit as best you can to the stuck piece before trying to solder the spare to it. It only takes a small amount of paste to work...........Good luck

Bill

 

[Babadem]

I believe Cracklincrotch fixed the problem here! Why all the additional suggestions?

 

[AcWxRadar]

I believe Cracklincrotch fixed the problem here! Why are all the additional suggestions?

Babadem,

The additional commentaries are for all the members so that they can have more tools/hints to work with in the future.

 

[gillham]

Babadem,

The additional commentaries are for all the members so that they can have more tools/hints to work with in the future.

Also the fix wasn't extracting it, but pushing it inside where it might short out the tuner at anytime. So I think talking about ways to extract doesn't hurt.