RCA Plug extraction

[LARRY KLOSE]

This may be a little far afield from classic lutherie, but does anyone have an idea about how to extract a broken pin from an RCA plug socket on a Mackie mixer?  Someone hooked the cord while setting up the mixer and the pin broke off in the socket.  This is from one of the tape in or tape out sockets.

Thanks, 

Larry

[Kerry Krishna]

 A drop of crazy glue on a toothpick should do the trick... 

[Mark Pollock]

Or use a small screw very lightly into the pin, and pull it out.

[RETROROD]

You may also 'try' drawing it out with a strong magnet. Obviously, if all 'frontal' extraction attempts fail. I would remove the panel/PCB board and replace the RCA socket with a new one.

Depending on the type of socket it may be possible to push the pin out from the rear after accessing it?

[John]

Locksmiths have a tool for extracting broken keys that is a little like the tool that cleans welding rod tips, you could try that or a very small fish hook. I assume you've already tried cursing and glaring.

John

[Robbie Collins]

How about something like Jack the Gripper or JackTight?

[LARRY KLOSE]

I finally got to see it today in person.  There's white plastic or resin molded all the way through the inside of the broken pin, so that may complicate.   

Taking the jack out would be a major project since the board is mounted in a rack console at our church.  It would need removal from the console, disconnecting the 16 channels of inputs, outputs, etc., etc., then tearing down the back of the case to get to the jacks.  I've seen the inside of one of these and it's not a pretty sight.

I'm taking some small screws for my next attempt, tomorrow.  That may be better than SG--drill the center, thread the screw in the hole and pull.  With my luck, the pin will be loose enough that it will spin on the drill instead of letting the hole be drilled... .

If the screw doesn't work, I'll try the toothpick and SG.  Hopefully, the plastic is a type that will stick to SG.

The more I mess with this, the more cursing and glaring I do.  Not good in a church setting... .

Larry

"If it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all (blues riff here)... ."

[Thomas James]

Is there even a small amount proud of the hole? Maybe a pin vise could grab it?

[Mark Pollock]

You could also take a thick paperclip, heat it really hot with a flame, and push it into the plastic, then let it cool and pull it out. Might work with a pushpin too.

[Kerry Krishna]

 Larry, this cold be as simple as pie then! Take a large sewing needle , and heat up the tip a bit with a lighter, then use two pair of pliers to bend a tiny fish hook at the end. Heat the whole thing up and stick it into the inside of that pin, let it cool down a min, and that thing will come right out I'll bet!

[Kerry Krishna]

I see Mark and I both are on the exact same page!

[Paul Verticchio]

Good luck with this Larry.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Take it out of the rack to work on it.  Your other tasks will be sooooo much easier. I know it’s a lot of work but it’s one of the downsides in electronics repair. It usually goes like:  45 minutes to disassemble, 10 minutes to perform the repair and an hour to reassemble.  With luck, you’ll have no “surplus” parts left on your bench (;

2. You may wish to open the mixer's cover to get to the chassis. If you feel confident enough to do so.... the RCA jack may be "open" on the mixer's interior and you'll be able to push the broken plug shaft out with a 2mm hex wrench or (as suggested) a large straightened paper clip.

3. The 'plastic' inside the broken shaft is just that.  It is part of the cable's insulation and is left in the shaft during the molding portion of the manufacturing process. It won't affect your process one way or the other. It's very soft.

4. The pressure holding the broken shaft in the jack is about 1/10th of a guitar plug's extraction pressure. There are no bends or angles in an RCA jack.  I think you'll be amazed at how easily it will be extracted once you can grab hold of it (or push it).

5. (and this should have been #1) Make sure the mixer is powered down (unplug it from the A/C panel) and all cabling is unplugged before you begin your work. Again, more work but that is a “safe practice” that must be observed without exception.

Another reason I encourage you to open-up the mixer is to check to see if the same force that broke the plug’s shaft caused a stress crack in the solder joints and traces that connect the jack to the PCB. In the realm of cause & effect, this is all too common of an occurrence nowadays with PCB mount technology. "Touch-ups" of cracked solder connections on PCB's accounts for about 80% of the 'electronics' part of my service. If that happened, simply re-flow the solder at those points.

BTW: I'm rooting for the other posters' methods to work.  I always enjoy it when a low tech solution corrects a higher tech problem. Whatever method works for you, you should still double check the jack to PCB connections for soundness.

I hope that some of this is useful (:

[RETROROD]

I would whole-heartedly agree with what Paul says...especially the 80% figure in the next to last paragraph. I do more electronic repair than guitar repair and cringe at some of the acrobatics involved in getting to a PCB mount component.

I also hope one of the other helpfull ideas will work out for you!