Can I Fix A Thumb Drive With Wire?

Question

Hey,

My health teacher broke her usb thumb drive today, and on it was an entire years worth of study guides, quizes, worksheets, etc. So I said I would try to look at it and see what I can do. I opened it up, and there is some physical damage.

Out of the 4 prongs that go into the silver part that connects to the computer, 3 are broken off. I have all 3 parts, but 1 is actually snapped in 2. I was thinking of soldering a piece of wire from the via connection to their respective prongs, and then plug it in and see how everything goes.

So I was wondering, can the wire actually transfer data, and do you think this solution will work? I can also take apart one of my other USB devices to grab a new connector, and possibly take new prongs from it, if that would work better. Any suggestions?

This only has to work once, for then I'll copy the files to my computer, and then onto a spare flash drive to give to her.

Answer 1

If the only thing that is broken is a single wire connection, then you can repair it using a wire or just using solder to reconnect the two broken parts.  You have to do it in a way that will still allow he connector to fit into the USB port.  You have to be very careful with the solder so avoid overheating the surrounding parts.  Most are plastic and will melt which may cause other problems.