Hi All
“Hammers”. I don’t believe I actually read this.
“All that’s needed is a few gentle taps with a hammer”
and
“The female headers are simpler to insert than the male headers as you can hammer straight onto the plastic of the header”
I hope your blue and white apron is clean and shiny.
A Jig of some sort is pretty essential for this sort of thing but Hammers !!! Pretty crude and fraught with danger.
Far better you use that jig with a vice that has nice straight flat jaws where you can get an even pressure over the entire surface.
I have somewhere a jig I made up for insulation displacement connectors which consisted of a metal bar with slots milled for the male pins and another flat bar with a rod fitted to the centre. In operation the rod was held in the chuck of a drill press and the whole lot squeezed together with the press in a nice controlled manner, worked well. This jig could be pressed in the same way.
I might add here that the dedicated tooling for this sort of thing was VERY expensive hence the resort to “home made” jigs.
This type of connector is nothing new. I remember them being used probably 30 years ago, those particular ones were the Harlin type connectors with 3 rows of 32 (total 96) pins. I think in the factory somewhere there was a “removal” tool where you could get them out without damage. Can’t do this much more than once though as the Vias in the parent board won’t stand up to too much of that.
Cheers Bob
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Valid concerns @Robert93820 but fret not.
Hammer headers for raspberry pi have been on the market for several years, and this product is just spares of the consumable header.
The kit listed in the product description is for the requisite jigging:
Hi Michael
And people have possibly been damaging RPi boards for several years too.
That method would just be crying out for the introduction of cracked tracks or cracked joints at the vias which might show up at some later date. Intermittent faults which can sometimes be a nightmare to track down.
That method would only be useful on a new or unsoldered board as once soldered I don’t think would be successful.
I think that jig would work well with my drill press method. The pressing block is not hard to make. A steel block about 60mm long, 10 - 15mm wide and 10mm thick. a threaded hole in the centre M6 or M8. Screw a bolt into the hole so it does not protrude through or cut off flush. Cut off the bolt head so the resulting rod can be inserted into the drill press chuck and you have your connector press.
Even if you wanted to use a hammer you would be better off striking the end of this rod so you would get the effect along the whole length of the header than in little bits along the length.
Personally I think I will stick to my method(s)
Cheers Bob
I hear you! I had my doubts too, but the product is well enough reviewed and seems to be appreciated by beginners who want to avoid soldering the 40 pins on a Raspberry Pi Zero.
I suppose there’s a balance of risk - would a beginner who is not adept at soldering have a greater chance of success with this kit, or with soldering the 40 pin header. It’s up to the individual to decide what’s best for them and what they feel most comfortable doing. If after this operation the user will just be using jumper-wire and limited/no soldering then this might be an overall more successful operation.
Agreed! I’ve too have used a pedestal drill as a light-duty arbor press in the past and it’s performed beautifully 
a stiff spreader block of aluminium would do very nicely.
Hi Michael
I am not going to dwell on this subject or drag this out BUT
Not if an intermittent fault has been introduced. You stress the inexperienced beginner. To me that is just the situation where you don’t want man made faults. It is difficult enough for the experienced tech to find and rectify this sort of thing but for a beginner who is not expecting it this could ba a nightmare, even enough to discourage them completely. An inexperienced beginner is just the person who really needs his connections, crimps, jumper wires etc to be spot on as he (or she) would not expect any of these to have a built in fault and could be reduced to a mumbling mess trying to look for non existent other hardware or software problems.
I recall when I first started on this forum a contributor had a problem and had tried all the logical diagnostics. Then as a last resort I suggested change all his pre crimped jumpers for new ones. Problem solved. I then suggested he trash ALL of these as it was simpler that trying to find the faulty (possibly intermittent) one. All sorted successfully.
Cheers Bob
PS: When I was working full time ALL of the co-ax test cables and test leads had to be spot on. If suspect they were thrown out.
A tip. Most co-ax connector/cable (BNC, N etc) damage is due to the constant inserting and withdrawing where the retaining “nut” has to be turned or the cable has been accidentally yanked with this “nut” engaged. If it is just being inserted and withdrawn REMOVE THE “NUT”. It is only there to hold the connector in place during normal operation, it takes no part in the electrical connection and you will find your test cables last much longer.
Yes it would indeed. Either with the drill press or a vice.
Cheers Bob
A press is not recommended for these devices. Tapping with a hammer means that the pins self-align between taps, something that is not possible with a steady press. The problems occur if the pins are forced when partly inserted without allowing for self alignment. It is the same as with other similar operations, such as broaching. You will notice that even when using a press, experienced operators use a ‘pecking’ motion, and it is often possible to see the piece self-aligning when the pressure is released. Tapping with a hammer ensures a suitable ‘peck’, especially when inexperienced users may not be familiar with the importance of alignment.
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Hi Jeff
I suppose a lot depends on the individual’s version of a “tap” and the physical size of the “hammer”. Some might take the blacksmiths’ approach
Cheers Bob
