sockets

[Saint Louis Toneworks]

the IC sockets work fantastic but I have started to notice I am having trouble keeping transistors to stay in tightly ..I made a few one knob fuzzes and used some larger , yes oversized NPN germaniums..I cant do positive ground and wanted germanium ..but between the trannies wanting to fall out of the sockets and touching the enclosure im going crazy . My solution was to wrp in bubble wrap and let the lid pressure hold it in place

another quick question , can I stretch a vero layout horizontally but not vertically , correct?

[italianguy63]

Really, you should use the sockets for "auditioning" the sound.  Once you are satisifed, you should solder the trannies into the sockets (fast/lightly/quickly)-- or as you have discovered, they will want to rattle out over time.

Sometimes you can leave the legs extra long, put tiny heat shrink or insulation on the legs, and bend them out of the way...

MC

[amptramp]

Sockets are never used in military equipment except for tubes and tubes have restraints to keep them from falling out.  Some people try out various devices, load their favourite into the socket then solder it to the socket.  Stompboxes have to survive military environmental specs because a stompbox that is tossed into a van, driven from pothole to pothole (shock and vibration) and yanked out of the van in either freezing weather or summer in Phoenix.  If you are wise, you will peruse the thousands of man-years of wisdom that went into these specs and adjust your build practices accordingly.

[Saint Louis Toneworks]

thanks guys .. will start soldering them in after testing.

[Tkrain42]

I assemble PCBs for a living, and generally we don't socket anything, even ICs unless the customer requests it.  Of course usually by the time the process gets to us the customer is pretty sure of his circuit.  The biggest thing with ICs Transistors and Germanium diodes is to solder quickly and efficiently to avoid damaging the component.  I second Italinguy's advice to solder them into the sockets after you tweak your circuit.

[blackieNYC]

Sometimes Ive been unwilling to commit to a particular cap value, for too long a period of time.  I have had a part leg or two come out of the sockets, so I've used a small drop of hot glue to stick it to a neighboring (soldered)component. With a little sort of "wraparound" to it so I don't have to use a big glob.  You can pick the stuff off easily enough if you must.  I must say I've not done this a lot nor have I done so for a long time, but tugging at the components a little, it's seems pretty good.  Also put a drop on the legs and socket of a suspicious Germanium transistor.  Less heat than solder, if you don't drown the thing in glue straight off the tip of the gun.  At the first sign of failure I will certainly update this post, with my tail between my legs, so before you do this, see if I've added another post!  
Solder is best. (official disclaimer to keep me out of trouble)

EDIT: you're selling stuff I see.  Hot glue is not for you.  Purely a long term prototyping kinda thing. Nice stuff.

[Saint Louis Toneworks]

those trannies are tougher than people give credit for ..last night I was testing how much heat some can take , melting shrink wrap on with a lighter ..you would be surprised how how they can get and still work and function ..unless i have an extremophile outlier batch of test objects lol  - the tayda .5$ bc108's can be placed in a bon fire and pulled back out and still work ..I need to run tests and record all the data such as change in temp, heat applied, time, failure etc make a youtube video - be a good report for my 3rd physics essay since we just finished thermal dynamics a few chapters ago

great advice , I would of never thought of soldering to the pins..I would of been trying to pull those sockets back out ..duh!! like the other night all pissed off a fuzz didt turn out , helps if guitat is plugged into the amp lolol  

[PRR]

I have melted the solder on the legs of a *Silicon* transistor, with its own heat, while it was working, no problem.

Germanium and some caps are far less forgiving.

[MrStab]

i remember reading a thread here where someone had sent a pedal overseas, to a customer, and a transistor fell out. just the thought gives me the fear, be it my own or someone else's gig going south. if something else breaks or comes loose, it's bad luck, inevitable wear or poor construction, so you can at least shrug it off slightly. if a transistor comes loose, it was avoidable from the start, and you'd need to be fairly proficient in gymnastics for the self-kicking that's due.

[Saint Louis Toneworks]

had to use glue because the solder ran on caused jumps on top of the sockets . wont need sockets anymore testign them out before hand and just putting them for good

when i started the instructions always said to use heat sinks, I sort of got used to using the little copper clips and they help as a third hand type of tool to

[greaser_au]

A discussion on socketing...  [url]http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108942[/url

david

[Saint Louis Toneworks]

A discussion on socketing...  [url]http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108942[/url

david

sorry david , I am walking on eggshells in forums anymore , I get yelled at for making new topics then I get yelled at for reviving old ones. I cant win either way ..probly my best bet is to just stay away from any forums then i wont make anyone mad anymore