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As I was taking out the dummy SD card on my new Chromebook, a small piece broke off of it and is now stuck inside the slot. I have tried removing using various cleaning methods including:

Putting water/alcohol on the dummy and moving it in and out of the reader
Folding paper into the shape of an SD card and trying to pull it out
Using tweasers to pull it out

Edit: I looked inside using a flashlight, but there did not seem to be a small piece of plastic. What I saw were mangled contacts. Is it possible to repair SD card readers, and if so, how?

user1251007
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Sam Quinn
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  • Thats bad, its a whole load of TINY pins, and usually as one unit. – Journeyman Geek Jul 16 '13 at 03:36
  • I've rolled back the question to its original form because it was like 90% unreadable because of the strikeout. Please include any details, but don't vandalize questions. BTW, there's no actual question in your post and it seems to be opinion-based. – gronostaj Jul 17 '13 at 08:37
  • It's not feasible to repair the wrecked SD card slot; in order to do so, you'd need to disassemble the Chromebook, desolder the destroyed part, disassemble *that*, and bend the pins back into shape, and if you can do that, you can much more easily order a PC-board-mount SD slot of the same form factor and just replace the broken part entirely. Much more practically, why not use a USB SD card reader? It's not as streamlined as an integrated one, but it'll work, and will be easy to replace in the event that whatever happens to the integrated slot happens to the USB reader too. – Aaron Miller Jul 25 '13 at 21:28
  • Also, on a more general note, it is *extremely* inadvisable to poke anything saturated in any solvent into any orifice of any electronic device for any reason. – Aaron Miller Jul 25 '13 at 21:29
  • @AaronMiller Thank you, I'll try the USB version. Also, the Chromebook was off during the cleaning, and the SD card reader well enclosed, _and_ I gave it plenty of time to dry. No Chromebooks were harmed in this cleaning. – Sam Quinn Jul 27 '13 at 14:23
  • @SamQuinn The Chromebook wouldn't have to be powered on for a solvent such as rubbing alcohol to do damage, and PC-board-mounted SD slots aren't well enough enclosed to be liquid-tight. Odds are it won't hurt anything, sure, but you're better off not taking the chance, especially not with a device that's brand-new and certainly hasn't had time for any sort of corrosion to accumulate on the SD contacts. – Aaron Miller Jul 29 '13 at 14:12
  • I might be late, but you might be able to call Google and see if it's under warranty. You may have to pay a bit, but if you want it fixed.... – Anonymous Penguin Aug 04 '13 at 15:19
  • @AnnonomusPerson Thanks for the suggestion, but I've had it _forever_ (like since it came out), so its not under warranty. – Sam Quinn Aug 09 '13 at 16:35
  • @SamQuinn Yes, maybe not under warranty, but they may give you a place you can send it to get it replaced for a small fee. I'm not saying it's the best option, but it might be a good idea. For the tweezers: have you tried to push it before pulling it out? Sometimes it is a click in/out thing and it may be still latched. That might make sense: it stuck out a bit and you yanked it out without pushing. – Anonymous Penguin Aug 09 '13 at 16:38
  • @AnnonomusPerson Quoting self: "I looked inside using a flashlight, but there did not seem to be a small piece of plastic. What I saw were mangled contacts." – Sam Quinn Aug 09 '13 at 16:41
  • @SamQuinn Sorry, forgot that part. – Anonymous Penguin Aug 09 '13 at 16:45

2 Answers2

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As per @AaronMiller 's comment on the original post:

It's not feasible to repair the wrecked SD card slot; in order to do so, you'd need to disassemble the Chromebook, desolder the destroyed part, disassemble that, and bend the pins back into shape, and if you can do that, you can much more easily order a PC-board-mount SD slot of the same form factor and just replace the broken part entirely. Much more practically, why not use a USB SD card reader? It's not as streamlined as an integrated one, but it'll work, and will be easy to replace in the event that whatever happens to the integrated slot happens to the USB reader too.

Sam Quinn
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Here is an easy fix of mine I just did and it works perfect.

  1. Get a small dental floss brush (Cylindrical mini bottle brush)
  2. Remove battery and card
  3. Spray CO (electronic) cleaner onto brush
  4. Insert brush into slot rotate brush and clean pins inside slot
  5. Let it dry for a few minutes as CO cleaner evaporates and leaves no residue

Insert card and enjoy!!

Davidenko
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JDBEERHOG
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