Headers for pots

[roflcopter]

Long time troller, first time poster... So greetings to all.

I've made a few pedals and plan on making many more if I get my new soldering iron for xmas so I don't have to use the terrible radio shack pencil any longer.

I would love some feedback for people having used headers for their pot connections. I'd like to be able to experiment using bigger pots on my drive control and even use them permenantly in some builds just for ease of construction. Anybody have experience (good/bad) with doing so. I've seen a couple threads touch on them but nothing too in depth.

Thanks

[Manny]

Welcome to the forum!

Yep I've tried this. I think a decent way is just to grab a little rows of sockets (a la Http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=101, snap 3 off and solder them to your PCB, then you can slot PCB mount pots right in or run solid core/breadboard wire to your pots.

You'll find however that these types of connections will never withstand as much movement as a good solder joint and you end up with just as much soldering because you have to solder the headers to the PCB anyway.

I've started buying only PCB mount pots because I can plug them straight into a breadboarded circuit to try different values.

Hope this helps 

[Processaurus]

The basic type of header I see in music electronics are the 100 mil spaced Molex headers that mate to the simple row of pins sticking up from the board.  Assembling the header by crimping the pins onto the wire and then sliding them into their slots in the header is a pain in the ass and needs a special tool.  It's only worth it if you imagine something coming apart many times, or it being desirable to disassemble without a soldering iron.  I almost never bother, because it takes 3 times as long as just soldering something.  Manny's suggestion is a good way to audition pots.

[roflcopter]

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll just stick with what I'm doing now or use Manny's idea for trying out pots.

I'm a professional engineer (not electrical obviously), and when I build things I like to make them 'modular'. It's just habit.