I dropped an SD Card reader while a card was in it and broke the card slot. The electronics were fine it but the enclosure that held the card had broken.

I’ve highlighted in the picture below what broke. The enclosure that holds the card onto the pins cracked and would no longer hold a card.

I thought I’d share the process I went through to fix this.

In SolidWorks I drew a cuboid a bit bigger than the size of the slot that would fit between the slot and the lid. I also added a cuboid on top that was smaller than the slot that was the same thickness as the plastic that had broken off, this would press on to the SD Card in the slot holding it on to the pins.

The print can be seen below. I had to trim it with a snips but this was easy to do as it was so thin.

I fitted the piece above the slot. I then put some hot glue on top and refitted the lid, this was to ensure that the piece stayed in place. I removed the lid again to check the piece had stuck correctly and was in the right place.

I refitted the lid. There is no noticeable difference between the reader now and before it was dropped.

In the past I would have had to throw away this reader and buy another one but thanks to 3D printing I could repair it myself.

3D printing is very useful for repairing household items and while this guide may not be specifically relevant to something you are doing, it does demonstrate how it’s possible to use 3D printing to repair things.

As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask,

Conor.