Ever see a transistor fall out of its socket?

[caress]

i thought i'd keep the trend going...    durability, reliability, etc?
i've seen them fall out and i've had problems with socketed transistors in the past, so i use them sparingly now.

[Philippe]

Transistor sockets are generally OK. It's only when you keep pulling the transistors in & out, in & out, in & out etc. that the problems begin...the transistor leads start to wobble, the contact(s) get poorer & sometimes you have to 'jiggle' the leads for things to actually work.  I guess in the worst extreme, the component (in this case a transistor) can actually fall out but it's never happened to me.

Moral of story...do most of your tonal evaluations prior to actual project completion & once achieved, leave things alone.

[R.G.]

i thought i'd keep the trend going...    durability, reliability, etc?
i've seen them fall out and i've had problems with socketed transistors in the past, so i use them sparingly now.

Smart guy. Yes, I've seen transistors come loose.

**Any** socket connection is less reliable than a correctly soldered joint. Full stop. Transistors are so cheap that unless you are using some vintage whatever procured at great expense, the socket will cost you more than the transistor, and decrease reliability. I last used a transistor socket on a new build about ten years ago. Yep, even for high-dollar germaniums; but then I can solder and unsolder a germanium without damaging it, through many years of practice -- and not a few killed devices which were the cost of the education. 

[Paul Marossy]

I have an old Tektronix 453 o-scope that is from the early 1970s' It's loaded with transistors in sockets, I mean loaded with transistors. When I first got it, I went thru the whole thing. Not one transistor was out of place and none of them looked like they could even possibly ever come out of their sockets - the sockets grip the legs on the transistors pretty snugly. Granted, it's not a guitar pedal, but who knows what the heck that thing was thru before I got it?

[newfish]

I have an old Tektronix 453 o-scope that is from the early 1970s' It's loaded with transistors in sockets, I mean loaded with transistors. When I first got it, I went thru the whole thing. Not one transistor was out of place and none of them looked like they could even possibly ever come out of their sockets - the sockets grip the legs on the transistors pretty snugly. Granted, it's not a guitar pedal, but who knows what the heck that thing was thru before I got it?

Chances are, the Transistors only went into their sockets the once...

[Paul Marossy]

Chances are, the Transistors only went into their sockets the once...

Yeah. But you could change each transistor six times and the sockets would still have a good grip on the transistors. They are good sockets, and designed well. I don't know how modern transistor sockets are, I don't even know where you can find one.

[Hides-His-Eyes]

For me it's a case of not being able to trust myself not to burn out the transistor, even using a crocodile clip or something as a heatsink.

[Canis guitarus]

If I need a transistor socket i just get some good quality IC socket strip and nip off the sockets 3 at a time - as required. They certainly grab the legs tight especially if they are the flattened type.