Which IC sockets type...dip dil dumb dim dooby doo :)

[deadastronaut]

ok, i use these for ic's usually..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10X-14-PIN-DIP14-ROHS-PCB-IC-SOCKET-DIL-DIP-14-0-3-INCH-/160639150419?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2566d6e953

but now ive been looking at using these..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-DIL-8-DIP8-Quality-Precision-Turned-PIN-Open-Frame-PCB-8-Way-IC-Socket-0-3-/170844476032?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item27c71fd280

which ones do most of you guys use for common ic's opamps, etc....

i like the look of the pin type as they just fall into the hole, the ones i usually use (top) have to be pushed into the pcb which usually pushes the pin out of the casing ...and have to ram the bugger back in..

so which is yours!  or best for the job!..

[Toney]

 Might change it once or twice: go with the tweezer pin type.
Might change it a lot - go with the machined ones.

Also from the handy hints dept - I use a large bamboo skewer and push from the side to pop out ICs relatively easily and without bent pins. The kind you use for satays... hmmm nearly dinner time...Pad Thai tonight.

Pretty cheap here http://www.futurlec.com/Sockets.shtml

[Ice-9]

I prefer the machined pin type. I think they get a much better grip and connection.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I use the machined type as well. Only because we literally have THOUSANDS of them here at my work that are sitting in bins and I grab them as needed 

On a different note.... Does anyone have advice for setting the ICs into the machined sockets WITHOUT totally annihilating the IC pins? I have seen tools that you can use to "crimp" the IC pins to get them ready to set into the sockets however, I am wondering if anyone has another method besides that and the old "cram it in with your hands" ogre method 

[Mark Hammer]

lately, I've taken to buying those strips of 20 or 40 machined pins, and simply breaking off the number of pins I need to form two rows.  They also work for transistors and SIPs.  Not only are the machnied pins able to provide a more secure connection, but if you only have to order one kind of item, that's kind of nice, no?

[.Mike]

I was having a problem with a little add-on board for my wah pedal. It was intermittent. I went over it with a fine toothed comb, checking the spaces between the traces, all the solder joints, etc. I just couldn't figure it out. Out of frustration, I started poking around with a bamboo skewer. When I hit the opamp, I heard a bit of crackle. Pushing it hard with my finger made the effect fire right up. It was the socket.

Fast forward a few months, and I was explaining the problem to a friend of mine who is a senior engineer at a company that makes linear actuators. I get to the part about the socket. He stops me and asks, "Machined socket?" I confirm.

"No surprise," he said.

I still use them, since I bought a ton, but I am always suspicious.



Mike

[Ben N]

In the case of the dooby, I believe the correct term is not socket, but clip. Carry on. 

[Perrow]

ok, i use these for ic's usually..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10X-14-PIN-DIP14-ROHS-PCB-IC-SOCKET-DIL-DIP-14-0-3-INCH-/160639150419?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2566d6e953

but now ive been looking at using these..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-DIL-8-DIP8-Quality-Precision-Turned-PIN-Open-Frame-PCB-8-Way-IC-Socket-0-3-/170844476032?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item27c71fd280

which ones do most of you guys use for common ic's opamps, etc....

i like the look of the pin type as they just fall into the hole, the ones i usually use (top) have to be pushed into the pcb which usually pushes the pin out of the casing ...and have to ram the bugger back in..

so which is yours!  or best for the job!..

I'm mostly using the first type (because that's what I bought a bunch of), but I have some machined ones too, used them for transistor socketing a few times but sometimes transistor legs would just get stuck in there, requiring massive force to remove. Decided I didn't like them and haven't used them since. The few times I do transistor socketing now, I hack up a socket of the first type until it's a SIL 3 pin.

ps. Those links were just about the most expensive sockets I've seen.

[Mark Hammer]

I've mentioned it far too many times to be tolerable, but when there is an issue of pin-to-socket contact resulting in inconsistent performance, one of the things I turn to is a substance called Stabilant (www.stabilant.com), which is a contact enhancer (not a cleaner).  It is an electroconductive polymer that stays viscous for life, and forms an electroconductive layer.

In the land of electrons, crossing a 1 micron gap is ikely jumping across the Grand Canyon on your mountain bike.  A poppy-seed-sized droplet in each pin of the socket can bridge the gap and re-establish continuity.  I've been pleasantly surprised by the number of things I've been able to resurrect to functionality with a few judiciously-placed microlitres of the stuff.

[defaced]

<- Uses the elcheapo sockets from Tayda.  Machine sockets cost too much to justify and I like to keep stock on hand so I don't have to worry about buying parts when I want to build something. 

[chromesphere]

Another vote for the economy type. 

I used machined for my first 3 pedals.  The 3rd pedal was a proco rat and in my noobosity i bought hte LM308 from jaycar (cost 10 bucks  ).  I used a machine type for that one, and busted 2 of the legs on the 308, had to solder on leads to resurrect it.  I decided to try to the ecomony type, never gone back to machined. 

The economy type have two disadvanages imo.  They seem slightly larger & the pin / clamping bit can be pushed out when inserting in the pcb (an inconvenience really).  Regardless, i wont be going back to the machined type again.
Paul

[deadastronaut]

hmmmm so the general vote is the cheapo dooby's...   thanks for the opinions, 

for those that took part heres a prize for your eyes..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs-Ww94XX9o&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL66500FD149059831


@pelle:  those were the first links to pics i found..

[bonaventura]

hmmmm so the general vote is the cheapo dooby's...   thanks for the opinions, 

for those that took part heres a prize for your eyes..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs-Ww94XX9o&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL66500FD149059831


@pelle:  those were the first links to pics i found..

wow she is a beaut. . .

[Earthscum]

lately, I've taken to buying those strips of 20 or 40 machined pins, and simply breaking off the number of pins I need to form two rows.  They also work for transistors and SIPs.  Not only are the machnied pins able to provide a more secure connection, but if you only have to order one kind of item, that's kind of nice, no?

Yup... I started doing that about a year ago when I needed a DIP14 and didn't have one (or any 8, either... ugh...) but I had just happened to order a bunch of 40-pin strips.

I use ones that lose plastic for tips on my o-scope probes... just solder it on the end and eventually break the tip off and have to replace it. When I snap a strip and the pin falls out I just throw it in my drawer because I know I'll use it for something groovy. I got better about snapping them lately, so I don't have any legitimate replacements any more, lol.