UNIBUS backplane finger contact repair

[Ethan Dicks]

On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 1:16 PM, Brent Hilpert <hilpert at cs.ubc.ca> wrote:
>> Is there any way to replace broken/missing finger contacts? I would _guess_
>> 'no', since it looks like the backplane blocks (the things cast out of dark
>> green plastic, which looks like Bakelite - anyone know exactly what it is,
>> BTW?) are cast around them (since there's a wire-wrap pin on one side, and a
>> finger contact on the other).
>>
>
> I don't know about DEC backplane connectors specifically - haven't dealt with them closely enough for those purposes, but speaking generally:

As Noel posted, these are cast blocks of plastic with embedded pins.
They are not like the solderable edge connectors you are accustomed to
where the body is formed then pins are inserted.  These are solid
blocks of thermo-setting plastic (i.e., it doesn't melt under new
heat, it chars and burns).  There are no tabs, no "catches", no way to
release a pin.

-ethan