To socket or not to socket?

[R.D. Hess]

 Over the course of time, oxidation can develop on
socket contacts, causing various flavors of mischief.
Pulling out the IC and re-seating it after applying a
small amount of contact cleaner usually chases the
gremlins away. The tricky bit, of course, is finding
out which IC, or combination of ICs, is the culprit.
BTW, this has led to me picking up easily repaired
Oberheim OBXas and Prophet Vs dirt cheap, so there is
a silver lining here.
 
Richard Hess
metamaticdiy at yahoo.com


--- Michael Moncur <mgm at starlingtech.com> wrote:
> Hello, I've been lurking on this list for a couple
> of weeks and am just 
> getting into DIY synths. My main experience is at
> the complete opposite end 
> of the spectrum (digital synths and software
> synthesis) so I'm interested 
> in going back to my roots, as it were.
> 
> I do have experience designing, soldering and
> assembling circuits, but not 
> with synths specifically, so I'll undoubtedly have
> lots of newbie 
> questions. Here's one now.
> 
> I just received the PAiA FatMan kit, which should be
> a good starting point, 
> and am starting on it now. One thing that caught me
> off guard was this 
> statement in the instructions:
> 
>     "Sockets are notorious for being the weak links
> in the chain of 
> connections between electronic components. We use
> them only in places where 
> their advantages outweigh their lack of
> reliability."
> 
> This has generally been the opposite of my
> philosophy, but perhaps things 
> are different with synths. I'm tempted to add
> sockets for those ICs that 
> don't come with them. Would this adversely affect
> the circuit much? Has 
> anyone done this?
> 
> I'm also planning a few homebrew synths, mostly
> based on Tom G's excellent 
> plans. Should I plan on avoiding sockets for the ICs
> in these too?
> 
> Thanks for the info and for the making this one of
> the most useful lists 
> I've ever subscribed to.
> 
> 
> --
> michael moncur   mgm at starlingtech.com  
> http://www.starlingtech.com/
> "I don't have any solution, but I certainly admire
> the problem."
>                  -- Ashleigh Brilliant
> 
> 
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