• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
  • From now on we will require that a prefix is set for any items in the sales area. We have created regions and locations for this. We also require that you select a delivery option before posting your listing. This will hopefully help us streamline the things that get listed for sales here and help local people better advertise their items, especially for local only sales. New sales rules are also coming, so stay tuned.

FS: Huge Pile of Old IC Sockets

glitch

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Messages
5,051
Location
Central VA
Pic says it all:

K9uSUY5.jpg


This is a huge unsorted pile of old IC sockets. For the most part, these are crappy tin single-wipe sockets, DO NOT BUY THESE FOR MODERN PROJECTS! I suspect someone will want these for building up replica boards or for when you absolutely, positively must have correct-looking sockets. I was on the fence about just throwing these away, but I figure if someone can use them, I'll make them available. There's a mix of all different sizes, everything from 14 pin to 40 pin. Some have bent/broken/missing pins. This is a giant as-is pile for you to pick through. Picture of a few sockets pulled out:

IXj8RhM.jpg


These sockets are awful, should not be used even in repairs in my opinion, but I know some of you like to reuse correct sockets, or experience that authentic 1970's "I spent an hour debugging this board and it's crappy sockets are the issue!" despair. $20 + shipping for the entire heap. Again, don't buy these thinking you're saving money and getting a good deal on quality sockets!
 
...For the most part, these are crappy tin single-wipe sockets, DO NOT BUY THESE FOR MODERN PROJECTS!...
These sockets are awful, should not be used even in repairs in my opinion,...
Quite the sales pitch there Glitch!! I won't touch em!!
 
All that having been being said, these appear to be and are, in fact, NOS sockets, aren't they?

I believe so, they're certainly not solder pulls. Obviously not in factory packages. I have no information on them, they came mixed in with a large bin of wire wrap sockets.
 
Quite the sales pitch there Glitch!! I won't touch em!!

Just trying to be honest -- I hate them, in case you didn't know :) I won't use them on board repairs unless someone really *really* wants it, and acknowledges that there will be no warranty on the work.
 
I've spent more money on sockets for my various projects than I want to think about. I don't consider even the lowest cost machine pin sockets to be cheap- many jelly bean 74XX series ICs can be had for less than the cheapest machine pin socket. Also note that some generic low cost manufacturer is making a variety of machine pin sockets that are a major pain in the butt to stuff, as the IC legs get hung up in the pin more often than not.

That said, unless I'm building some kind of reproduction in which I'm willing to sacrifice reliability for appearance, I'll always use a machine pin socket.

regards,
Mike Willegal

I'm beginning to question your sanity, or at least your judgement... :)

What with machine-pin sockets being inexpensive, why, for the love of all that's dear, why? :huh:
 
Nowadays, when I'm looking for machine-pin sockets, I just purchase the single-row female headers in bulk. Allows easier access to the PCB area between the rows of a DIP and removes the need for stocking the various types (row count, spacing, etc) sockets. Looking for, say, 22-pin 0.400" sockets can be challenging.
 
Last edited:
Nowadays, when I'm looking for machine-pin sockets, I just purchase the single-row female headers in bulk. Allows easier access to the PCB area between the rows of a DIP and removes the need for stocking the various types (row count, spacing, etc) sockets. Looking for, say, 22-pin 0.400" sockets can be challenging.

^^^ Yes, this. You can get "snap off" female headers in 20 and 40-pin lengths. They are awesome. DIY sockets of any width/size/length.

Edit: Looks like this is the best deal DigiKey has on what I'm talking about: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/harwin-inc/D01-9972042/952-2538-ND/3918942
 
Last edited:
Yup, I get them with wire wrap tails, too. You can make not only DIPs but PGA sockets, stacking connectors, et c. They're the thing to have for PC/104 boards, when you're using the full 16-bit connector and going pass-through (you can't solder the inner pins if you use standard PC/104 headers).
 
Yes, not expensive sockets, but unreliable? It is all down to how you use them, the chips are best put through a pin straightener so they go in vertically. This is also true of turned pin sockets, PGA are fine, pins are vertical to start with.

I have disintgrated lots and lots of things, and recover socketted chips. In the years I have been doing this this type of socket has never had an insertion failure, whereas the turned pin type, and the double sided wipe version, have. The pin seems to catch on the top of the funnel contact and when pushed down, buckles and then makes a poor contact. This is really had to spot.

Also the contact between pin and socket contact with these sockets relies on pressure, a gas tight seal. This is not true with the other socket types that rely on precious metal. The snag now it that everything is getting old, a 40 year old chip into a socket. The pin tin has tarnished and the reliable connection is with these gas tight pressure seals, gold no longer works.

Don't discard them without realising that they do have their uses.
 
Yes, not expensive sockets, but unreliable? It is all down to how you use them, the chips are best put through a pin straightener so they go in vertically. This is also true of turned pin sockets, PGA are fine, pins are vertical to start with.

I can only guess that you've not had much truck with the old TI sockets. I have--I can recall buying a couple hundred in 1974, mostly because they were cheap. I don't have a single one left from that batch. Really, really terrible. On the other hand, I have most of a tray of Augat machine pin sockets from 1976. Great stuff--and, back then, expensive.

I can see where the TI sockets may appeal to those who care about appearance more than function--after all, they'd be period-correct for lots of stuff.

I've never had a problem with machine-pin sockets and IC insertion. My weapon of choice is a pair of miniature smooth-jaw duckbill pliers.

TI also had a line of wire-wrap sockets. They weren't low-profile like the solder-tail sockets, but they looked fine, with gold-plated pins. After a couple of sessions where the pin broke off the "fork" contact of the socket, internal to the socket, I threw my entire stock away. Failures like that I don't need to waste my time on.
 
ChuckG, your experiences basically echo mine, hence the disclaimer about them being cheap, low-quality sockets :)

I've ended up stripping entire S-100 boards for people who wanted their board (and only their board) repaired -- bad TI and other single wipe sockets are why I'm not saving these for restoration work. I wouldn't warrant any repair made with single-wipe sockets.
 
Back
Top