1/4" jacks

[drb]

I want to design using the most common 1/4" PC mount jacks so they are still widely available in the future.
What do you guys suggest as the most common?

(Digikey and Mouser kind of common)

[.Mike]

My vote is for the Neutrik NMJ series.

They're cheap, and very common.

Mike

[boogietone]

most common
1/4" PC mount
still widely available in the future.

Can't help it but... This may be a pick any two kind of thing.

Seriously though Mike's suggestion works for me.

[Processaurus]

It sounds like you are concerned about the future of your pedals, and availability of repair parts.  PCB jacks are more prone to damage than panel mount jacks.  Remember, unlike most consumer electronics, pedals get stomped on regular, and so do plugs sometimes, which breaks the solder connection between the jack and the PCB.  Unless you will know no peace by having to solder two wires by hand, or other compelling reason, there is no advantage for a DIYer to go the route of giant manufacturers trying to save time and $$$ by being chinsey.  Military spec specifies all user controls and jacks be panel mounted, not PCB mount, for better reliability.  Even Boss uses panel mount jacks, which cuts down on their returns and repairs.

Also, panel mount jacks are very easy to replace if they get destroyed, because a variety of parts can be used.  A PCB mount part has to be replaced with the specific manufacturer part usually, for the footprint match.

One could make little daughter boards for PCB jacks, and use ribbon cable to connect to the main PCB, but wiring them by hand would probably take the same amount of time.

All this being said, when I must use PCB mount jacks, I use the Neutrik NJM series  .  There is a mechanical problem using them in any situation where the jacks are on more than one plane (like if you like the jacks on the sides of a pedal), it gets problematic fitting them into a box, because a little of the jack wants to stick partially into the hole, so the board has trouble being installed into the box. You either need to solder the jack already installed in the box, or force it in by bending the circuit board (very bad!).  Also placement of the footprint on the PCB becomes critical.  Also the sides of hammond boxes have a few degrees of draft/angle, so jacks sitting flat on a level PCB are crooked compared to the side of the box, which means the nuts and washers aren't doing a good job of holding the part to the box wall.  Really not worth it for DIY designs.  You can spend hours trying to get it to work, when you could have just soldered two wires and been done with it, and had a more reliable box to boot.

[Jdansti]

It sounds like you are concerned about the future of your pedals, and availability of repair parts.  PCB jacks are more prone to damage than panel mount jacks.  Remember, unlike most consumer electronics, pedals get stomped on regular, and so do plugs sometimes, which breaks the solder connection between the jack and the PCB.  Unless you will know no peace by having to solder two wires by hand, or other compelling reason, there is no advantage for a DIYer to go the route of giant manufacturers trying to save time and $$$ by being chinsey.  Military spec specifies all user controls and jacks be panel mounted, not PCB mount, for better reliability.  Even Boss uses panel mount jacks, which cuts down on their returns and repairs.

Also, panel mount jacks are very easy to replace if they get destroyed, because a variety of parts can be used.  A PCB mount part has to be replaced with the specific manufacturer part usually, for the footprint match.

One could make little daughter boards for PCB jacks, and use ribbon cable to connect to the main PCB, but wiring them by hand would probably take the same amount of time.

All this being said, when I must use PCB mount jacks, I use the Neutrik NJM series  .  There is a mechanical problem using them in any situation where the jacks are on more than one plane (like if you like the jacks on the sides of a pedal), it gets problematic fitting them into a box, because a little of the jack wants to stick partially into the hole, so the board has trouble being installed into the box. You either need to solder the jack already installed in the box, or force it in by bending the circuit board (very bad!).  Also placement of the footprint on the PCB becomes critical.  Also the sides of hammond boxes have a few degrees of draft/angle, so jacks sitting flat on a level PCB are crooked compared to the side of the box, which means the nuts and washers aren't doing a good job of holding the part to the box wall.  Really not worth it for DIY designs.  You can spend hours trying to get it to work, when you could have just soldered two wires and been done with it, and had a more reliable box to boot.

+1 on the reliability of the PCB mounted jacks. I have a Fender amp that has PCB mounted jacks, and after hundreds of pluggings/unpluggings, the plastic nuts loosen and the jack moves relative to the PCB. This causes the solder joints to fail. A friend with the same amp had the same problem. I was able to repair the solder joint. I liberally hot glued all around the jack to prevent it from moving again. I just hope I never have to replace it with all of that hot glue on it!

[R.G.]

What they said.

PCB mounted jacks have problems. I have used them, and no doubt will again, but I try to figure out how to NOT do that unless I just have to.

I think 1/4" jacks of all kinds will be around long enough that one can pick them based on other aspects of the design, not availability in the future.

[joegagan]

ditto to the above. in pedal history, probably the worst example of board mounted jacks were the potato bug ibanez soundtank 5 series.
no nuts! one accidental stomp on the plug with your shoe would dislodge the soldering.

one good example i can think of is the modern dunlop wah. i have never seen a cracked board or loose solder joints. i think the way the board fits so tightly in the shell lends support to the whole system. but the above points apply, if someone wears out the plastic jack, the whole board must come out and the exact part is needed for repair.

[R.G.]

That's a lot of the thinking I put into the Workhorse amps. Although the circuitry was on a (thick, heavy copper...  ) PCB, every jack, pot, and switch was on flying wires, and could be replaced by dropping the back cover off, without even removing the chassis from the amp.

It's the engineer's mantra: make it so it doesn't fail, and if you can't make it not fail, make it easy to fix.

[drb]

Sounds like good advice overall.
However one of my devices isn't a pedal and has to have a PCB mount jack.

Can anyone point me to which is the Neutrik NJM? I don't see that one on Mouser.

[.Mike]

N M J... not NJM.

http://www.mouser.com/Neutrik/_/N-1z0zl2o?Keyword=nmj&FS=True

You'll have to sort through the options to find what you need (stereo/mono, switched/unswitched).

Mike

[drb]

Perfect, that makes a big difference.
Thanks.

Now, anyone have Eagles for these, so I can save a few mins?

[Processaurus]

Although the circuitry was on a (thick, heavy copper...  ) PCB, every jack, pot, and switch was on flying wires,

Very cool move for a mass produced product!

[Perrow]

I've used jacks for board mounting, I've just never mounted them on any board :-)

[pjwhite]

I use Switchcraft RN-series PCB mounted jacks (RN112APC for example).  They were around 30 years ago and are still readily available today, so I'd say it's fair to say they will be around a some time to come.

[drb]

For some reason they have no mechanical drawing of this on the Switchcraft web site.

[pjwhite]

You can contact the Switchcraft sales department for more info, but I did find some drawings on the Digikey web site.  Look under "Catalog drawings" on this page:

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&KeyWords=rn112apc

[drb]

Thanks.