# How to remove the pins from an ATX power supply with staples



## Philistine

After doing a search of OCN I couldn't find a tutorial on removing pins from an ATX power supply using staples (there may be one but I couldn't find it). Just a lot of questions on how to do it.

Why spend $25+ on a pin removal tool that may break when you can spend $1.50 on 2000 staples and get the job done just as easy?

Why would you want to remove the pins on your ATX cables? You may want to make custom length cables or maybe you want to sleeve your power supply or maybe you screwed up and accidentally cut a lead to your PSU and need to repair it. Whatever. So here's how I do it.

Tools:

Common desk staples (not the "Heavy Duty" staples you'd use to secure roofing paper or wall insulation)
Needle nose pliers
Your fingers
A bit of patience
*WORD OF CAUTION: Your PSU can hold a dangerous charge! To discharge your PSU unplug it from the wall outlet and then press the power button on your PC. You can also jump the green wire on your 24-pin motherboard connector to a black wire. Doing either will discharge the PSU. Ignore this step at you're own risk!*

First take two sets of two staples and bend them into an "L" shape. Using the needle nosed pliers makes this a bit easier.










Next insert each pair of staples into either side of the pin housing. Be sure the staples are between the pin and the plastic housing.










Now push up on the wire while pushing down on the staples. You should feel a very slight "click" as the staples compress the tabs on the pin. You can also use the needle nose pliers to push in the staples if they don't go in by the force of your finger.










Now, while holding down on the staples, pull on the wire. It may take a bit more force than you expect and you can use the needle nose pliers to pull the wire if needed. The pin will pop free.










Slide the pin out and you're done!










Before you put the pin back in the housing lift the tabs back up a little (I use a razor blade but any small instrument will work).


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## ()ut[@st

Nice work... I just use super-fine jewelers screwdrivers









*+ Rep* for nice camera focus & information posterity


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## Churminess

Nice tut, +rep for no handed photography and an excellent tutorial.


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## Philistine

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Churminess;13430526*
> Nice tut, +rep for no handed photography and an excellent tutorial.


Thanks guys! It was pretty difficult to hold the camera in my mouth to take the pictures but it worked.


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## The Red Dojo

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Philistine;13448265*
> Thanks guys! It was pretty difficult to hold the camera in my mouth to take the pictures but it worked.


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## tpi2007

Useful info, thanks! Rep+


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## Philistine

Bumpity!


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## CTRLurself

Free bump for good info.

A little tip though: you can use a knife or flat blade screwdriver to consistently split off pairs of staples for this trick. And once you get good at it, this is MUCH faster and easier than using an pin removal tool.


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## XPD541

Never thought of that. Nicely done! +REP


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## adamski07

Thanks for this tut.. +rep!


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## boost

Nice tut

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


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## phusg

Just registered to say: Thank you you beauty!

You just saved me having to shell out and wait for http://www.sunbeamtech.com/PRODUCTS/PSU%20MODDING%20TOOL%20KIT/PSU%20MODDING%20TOOL%20KIT.html which may well have broken after 2 minutes use.

Now on with modding my beefy but crappily wired Dell 1000W PSU so that I can get my GTX295 up and running


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## Defunctronin

Thank you much! Getting ready to sleeve my power supply the first time, and I wanted to know what to expect. +rep!


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## Philistine

Quarterly bump.


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## Philistine

I think its been moar than 24 hours so I'm allowed a bump.


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## Klavins

This actually worked better then my proper 24-pin removal tools


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## zpliptzy

Found this, and it saved me tons of frustration, and a bit of cash. +Rep !


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## lukerobi

I know this is an oldie... but this helped me out a little bit today too!

I had to take the pins out of a female ATX connector, and the regular desk staples were not cutting it so i used some bigger staples the accounting office people had. They ended up being better than the desk staples in both cases!



















Hope this helps someone else! Thanks for the idea of using staples, I had been struggling with using small screw drivers with no success!


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## Philistine

Quarterly bump!


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## Majorhi

I had no such luck with a tool I purchased and after 45 minutes and no success I set it aside for the night. Now that I stumbled onto this, I'm gonna give this a go tomorrow after I get my hand on some staples. Thanks!

+Rep


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## Majorhi

This worked great! Took me about 20 minutes or so to do them all! Thanks!


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## Philistine

I'm glad the tutorial helped you.


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## Nephalem

This is great, got a set of sleeved cablemods need to repin them as they're all tangled up. saves me $25 thanks.







+REP


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## Jokesterwild

you can take a staple and bend it into a U shape as well and put it in with needle nose pliers.


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