if you've ever done a repair odds are
pretty good that you've come across a
connector or two
and if you're new to repair like me or
you're unfamiliar with the internals of
your device
the variety of connectors you can
encounter can be confusing and tricky
the first time i tried to replace my
iphone screen i totally busted the
display cable connector because i tried
to incorrectly reattach it
turns out knowing how to handle
connectors is super important for repair
so let's go over the most common types
and how to approach them
first step is the ribbon connector these
don't have locking flaps like the zip
connector
since their cables are sturdier and you
can find them in larger devices such as
printers and game consoles
in fact the playstation 4 uses this
style of connector to connect its
optical drive to the motherboard
to disconnect this cable you can just
slowly pull the cable out or push it in
to reinsert it
try not to kink the cable and push on
the little plastic connector rather than
the cable itself if you can
next are the zero insertion force or zip
connectors
these are used to secure more delicate
ribbon cables and are common in devices
such as laptops and nintendo switch
joy-cons
as the name implies they don't require
any force to connect and disconnect them
so you need to be very careful with them
just use your fingernail or the tip of a
spudger to flip the little flap that
locks the cable in place and then gently
pull the cable out with some tweezers
flat top connectors look like you'd
expect them to they're flat
dealing with these connectors is pretty
simple but it can be tricky because
they're deceptively fragile
just use an opening tool or the flat
side of a spudger to pry up the
connector and lift it out of the socket
but be very careful not to pry up the
whole socket to reinstall the connector
just position it back on the socket
and carefully press on either side with
your fingertips until it snaps back into
place
if it's not snapping back into place try
to reseed it again
pressing harder will just bend the
connectors pretty much anything with an
antenna will use a coaxial connector
and these guys are tricky when dealing
with these connectors make sure to use
esd safe tools
to disconnect them just slide your pry
tool or tweezers until they're seated
snugly against the connector
and pry straight up to put it back hold
the connector in place and then use your
tool to press it straight down
it will click back into its socket kind
of like a metal snap on a jacket
display cables and some camera cables
often have a small metal bracket that
attaches to the back of the socket to
hold them in place
carefully insert a spudger underneath
the clip and swing the clip over to the
other side of the socket
it should be flat against the cable then
grab the cable and the clip together
and gently pull in the direction of the
cable to remove the connector
and there you go now you know how to
deal with some of the most common
connector types
just remember the rule of thumb for any
connector is to take it slowly and
deliberately look around to see if you
can find any defining features such as a
flip tab or a metal bracket
try to see if you can figure out how the
connector was built and don't be afraid
to try lots of different tools
if you get stuck you can always check
out our repair guides or our answers for
them
there are a lot of other types of
connectors that we didn't get to cover
in this video
but good news we have a guide for that
check out the link in the description
below and don't forget to like and
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