is this broken Compact flash adaptor a danger to my CF card?

[jameshanley39]

I have a Compact Flash card..

and infact 2 CF-IDE adaptors. Both got broken in the same way - I
don't know if it's the cards's fault or the adaptor or both.

THe adaptor is like a circuit board. With male ide and male CF.

When I pushed the card in(it only slid in one way), so once it reached
the pins..

It didn't quite go.. When I pushed it a bit more, the left-most pin
pushed out..

The pins actually look like they may still be connected to the circuit
board.. They have this flexible bit of metal that almost lets them
survive it..
But if it did disconnect or went wrong somehow..

I am wondering if it could damage the card..

I know that on some of these pins the card receives power. I am
hoping that worst case scenario, it gets no power.

Also, does anybody know of good quality adaptors? And if maybe it was
the card's fault?

It went in eventually.. After the pin got pushed out, the card was
going in, and I just pushed the pin back inward.

I am fairly sure it's ok.. but don't really want to break the card. I
don't have any low capacity cards at the moment to test it..

thanks

 

[jameshanley39]

One thing to determine might be why... if the adapter is
defective or broken it might be best to retire it, but if
you can get the pin straight again you might just put a bit
of epoxy behind the slot on it to fix it in place, making
sure it isn't shorting out against anything else before
applying the epoxy.  Examine the card for irregularities
too, something obviously wasn't lining up properly.




You need to try and push it back into it's original
position.  Next take a magnifying glass and strong light and
examine the area.  If it disconnected, it may be possible to
solder it back down, though these adapters are cheaper than
they used to be, some are now under $5 athttp://www.dealextreme.comthough it can take a few weeks to
receive some items.  Ebay may also have some though with
ebay you'll tend to pay a double due to the shipping charge.




You could web search for the CF slot pinout and ID the pin
that is effected and go from there.  If it doesn't look like
it is shorting out on anything it probably isn't... we can't
see your card.





You'll have to examine them both to determine this.  Maybe
the plastic rails on the slot were loose and it just got
inserted a little backwards, or that one pin somehow got
accidentally bent before the card was inserted.  If the card
is ok, the pin is put back in original position, and the
solder joint and trace+pad to it wasn't torn, you're good to
go.





If it looks ok now, all you can do is try it or throw it
out.  Probably fine, but then again a small CF card or new
adapter are cheap... it's your call.

thanks..
I will get some cheap cards and try them. To test the adaptor.

The DMA supporting adaptors aren't quite as cheap.. Maybe 10UKP, but
they are probably better quality too. I will buy some more cheap
adaptors to test if a card is difficult too!