About Banana Jacks...

[Christopher List]

Someone (sorry, I deleted the post) just mentioned about using banana jacks and 
how it's a drag becuase you have to de-soldier them to get them off of the 
front panels. This is true in general, but not for the Voltrex type 844 or 845 
jacks (see Newark catalog page 1004). With these, the sleeve is metal and 
threaded on the outside, they have an insulated washer that goes in from the 
back, followed by a soldier-terminal washer, followed by the nut. Very handy - 
a little scary, though, because the plastic washer, which acts as a spacer to 
keep the sleeve "floating" in the center of the hole you drill in the front 
panel, is very thin and barely goes into the hole - shouldn't matter as long as 
you keep 'em tight, but if they get loose, they'll short. Price you pay for 
convenience.

The terminal is also much more soldier-friendly than most of the "standard" 
banana jacks I've worked with, which always seem to be made of some 
flux-resistant galvanized zinc or something. 

-CL