I was replacing my burned out tube on my Sony 1040.

I was even taking photos of the process as I figured it out so I could post a how-to.

Now my "how-to" has become a "how-to-break".

I managed to unplug the old HV cable from the old tube (push and turn 90 degrees) from the High Voltage DC Block.

The new tube had the HV cable but no cap or tip on the end of it, so I desoldered and removed the old tip and then soldered it on the new HV cable and crimped it down.

This is the cap I'm talking about:

Album: Cap
(also attached)

Evidently I did a poor job, because when I tried to put the new HV cable in the DC block, the cap popped off and got stuck inside the DC block.

*sigh*

I've been trying to get it out, but without a cable attached to it, I'm not sure what to do. At this point, I've been mangling at it with a pointed screwdriver in the hopes of bending it enough to pull it out with no success.

I don't see any easy way to remove the DC block without desoldering a bunch of connections, and even if I did, I'm not sure that'd help me pull this piece out, since the DC block doesn't seem to come apart.

Ugh.

Does anyone have any suggestions on:

1) How to get this cap out
2) Where to get a new cap
or:
3) If I need to replace the DC block (and if so, where to get one)
or:
4) Any other way to make this connection

Any help is appreciated!

[draganm]

check with Curt Palme, he might still have some of the really old sony 10XX stuff lying around?
It's a bummer when your so careful and things still go awry. Looks like you had just trimmed the wire closer and soldered it to the cap it might have stayed?

[Roland @ B4]

I've had this happen too, where the end cap can off inside the splitter. I eventually got it out by using a sharp drill bit and a pair of mole grips and just pressed and twisted.

It sounds like you may have the hole where the wire can out available. A tool like a "gimlet"

might go into the whole puch and be able to twist the cap out. Perhaps put a dab of superglue on the end to really make it grab.

It's always the jobs that should take just a couple of minutes that turn into days or weeks.

Originally Posted by Roland @ B4

I eventually got it out by using a sharp drill bit and a pair of mole grips

Did you just hold the drill bit in the grips? Was the goal to puncture the cap with the bit and pull it out?