Fitting a DC power socket to an enclosure; And Why ctr Neg?

[jammybstard]

Any tips on fitting a DC power connector to a metal enclosure? and who decided ctr-neg was a good idea on stompboxes ?

The only 2.1/5.5mm sockets I can find are eith D-Shaped so you can't just drill a hole; or round and made of metal which is no good because you'd have a short to ground if you put one in a metal box.

I assume many of you have found this too; What's your solution please?

[Manny]

Hi There,

You need a round plastic sleeved 2.1mm socket.

Smallbear has them in the US - smallbearelec.com
Or if you're in the UK you can find them at Bitsbox.co.uk

I've found that as well as these small shops, most large electronic component distributors sell them in some form or other.

Hope this helps 

[slacker]

Boss decided it was a good idea, everyone else went along with it

What I used to do with those was drill an oversized hole in the box big enough to fit the whole plug through without it touching the sides. Then I mounted the plug to a piece of plastic or some other non conductive material and attached that to the inside of the box with the plug sticking through the hole. I got bored of that pretty soon so just started buying the round plastic ones.

You can also do it by making the hole slightly too big and wrapping the section of the plug that would touch the sides in insulation tape or heatshrink.

[Hides-His-Eyes]

Boss decided it was a good idea, everyone else went along with it

I heard it was so that the switching contact could control the +ve lead of the battery (since the input jack already controls the -ve lead connection)

[jammybstard]

Boss decided it was a good idea, everyone else went along with it

I heard it was so that the switching contact could control the +ve lead of the battery (since the input jack already controls the -ve lead connection)

I suspect It has more to do with selling more Boss power supplies!

I found these in the uk: http://www.rapidonline.com/productinfo.aspx?tier1URL=Cables-Connectors&tier2URL=Connectors-Mains-Power&tier3URL=DC-Power-Connectors&tier4URL=DC-Power-socket-for-panel-cut-out-12.6mm&moduleno=63543

[amnesiac]

I've always just built my effects center positive with a metal dc jack.  Seemed to make more sense to me when I started and just kept at it.