Hacking Bent pins on DSL

[dalto]

My son has bent the pins on two different NDS Lite units. I have watched him put the cards in and he doesn't seem to do anything abnormal to them.

Is it possible that these pins can get bent through normal use or is he stuffing something else in there when I am not looking?

 

[Tokiopop]

Not sure, but if you want to replace it you can buy a new cart slot here.

Could be due to accidently putting games in backwords?

 

[dalto]

That is what I thought too so I tried inserting the card backwards to see if that is what he had done and it didn't even go in.

I bought one of those slots but I am doubting I have the soldering skills to replace it.

Since it has happened twice I am trying to figure out what he is doing wrong so I can get him stop it.

 

[Rayder]

Best way to teach your kid and "fix" the problem is to tell him that if this happens again, no more DS for him. And don't budge on it.

My guess is that he is somehow not inserting the cart STRAIGHT in, but somehow cocked or at an odd angle that catches the pins. Possibly the plastic around the contacts on the cart got broken where parts of the cart plastic are catching the pins and bending them.

To say the least, this is the first I've heard of such an issue. Your kid has magical abilities for destruction, apparently.

 

[raskal549]

in my opinion, your son must have stuck something inside. my boss's son shoved a DS game in the slot backwards and like you said, it got stuck and wouldn't even go in all the way. but he managed to damage the slots of a DS lite AND a DS phat. the DSL's slot had to be replaced because the pins were royally jacked. i also noticed that only the 3 or 4 pins in the very middle of the slot were bent. so i image it was something rather thin. changing the slot wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. when i was looking at it before the attempt, i was super scared. but it was actually pretty easy...and i'm not professional solderer. but everything works perfectly now. as for the DS phat, it still plays games and ejects fine but it has the tell tale screetch of the bent pins when ejecting. i figured, i shouldn't touch it or else i might make things worse. if something happens THEN i'll swap the slot.

but yeah, explain to him that DS games can't break the DS so he must be putting something inside. and whatever it is, cut it out. if the problem happens one more time then maybe it's a message that he isn't ready or responsible enough to own such an expensive entertainment device.

 

[Canonbeat234]

You should make a trade with your son, if he breaks the DS again then he's not getting anything for Christmas. Also teach him how much those DS hand-helds cost, it seriously need to be address to him NOW. Because if you automatically buy the device after it breaks; inside his mindset he believes he can fix ANYTHING by looking up to you.

 

[Tokiopop]

And if he's been very bad sell it to me

 

[Kittymat]

Replacing the slot is not that hard, you do need a desolder pump and a small tip low wattage soldering iron. (try not to use de solder wick as this can overheat the board and remove the tracks)

Remove the solder from the 4 pads round the 2 sides of the slot, then gently heat the pad while lifting the slot gently with a knife or screwdriver, this should remove the 4 retaining pads. open the metal top of the slot and strip bits away, then you just have the pins floating around. hold each pin with a thin pair of pliers and heat the pad and remove them one at a time.

Place the new socket on the board, it has locating pins so will locate into place. (if the pins on the new slot are not straight and in the right place use the pliers to straighten them now - 5 mins now makes things so much easier) Take some solder and heat up each of the 4 side pads and fix the unit to the board, then start at one end and solder each pin, if you get a bridge of solder use the desolder pump to remove it and start again, work your way along the slot from one side to the other. It should be done!

 

[dalto]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

As soon as my triwing screwdriver shows up I will take it apart and see what I can do.

As for my son, he has been without a DS for two weeks already and he is pretty bummed out. He plays his DS everyday so this is a big deal for him. I already told him that I might not be able to fix this and he might have to go without until he can save enough money to buy another one. He is 10 so it would take him a long time to save that kind of money.

The weird thing is that he is not a kid who breaks his stuff. He takes good care of his stuff and gets upset if anything breaks. I don't get it but 2 DS's don't lie.

 

[Jamstruth]

Unless you have experience of soldering/desoldering I think the slot's bricked. You may somehow be able to unbend the pins or find somebody to replace the slot for you.