MOTM

How about this factoid:

I have shipped over 100,000 (yep, 100,000) ICs/transistors/semiconductors.

Exactly *2 parts* in *7 years* have "gone bad".

If IC sockets are all that great, then where are they? They are for EPROMS and
expensive ICs. They are not for 20 cent parts.

If any MOTM user wants me to replace a "bad IC" I'll do it for $5.

There are 100s of documented reports showing the IC socket *reduces system
reliability* by a HUGE number (like 10 TIMES).

Again, Apple III disaster........

Paul S.

Paul S. writes:

>>Exactly *2 parts* in *7 years* have "gone bad".

If IC sockets are all that great, then where are they? They are for EPROMS and
expensive ICs. They are not for 20 cent parts.

There are 100s of documented reports showing the IC socket *reduces system
reliability* by a HUGE number (like 10 TIMES).

Again, Apple III disaster<<


Note that I wasn't implying that the guy should socket, as I doubt he will have any problems. Afterall, I didn't socket my motm chips either, even when I have a bunch of sockets here. It's just that there are reasons for socketing even cheap parts. I have tons of gear where everything is socketed. And I've had to replace chips in them, and the sockets made what could have been a nightmare, a simple swap. That's the reason for socketing. Just my Emulator alone developed 4 bad chips over time. Memorymoog 1, Polymoog I suspect 2, Dotcom 1, Apple II accelerator card 1, and some others. All socketed and easily replaced. Never had a failure do to the socket itself.

Apple III was a disaster do to its design and running three traces between dip legs. The socketed Apple II was no disaster at all.

-Elhardt

Paul Schreiber wrote:

> How about this factoid:
> I have shipped over 100,000 (yep, 100,000) ICs/transistors/semiconductors.
> Exactly *2 parts* in *7 years* have "gone bad".
>
> If IC sockets are all that great, then where are they? They are for EPROMS and
> expensive ICs. They are not for 20 cent parts.
>
> If any MOTM user wants me to replace a "bad IC" I'll do it for $5.
>
> There are 100s of documented reports showing the IC socket *reduces system
> reliability* by a HUGE number (like 10 TIMES).
>
> Again, Apple III disaster........

And Apple II, II+, and IIe (when companies like Tandy had already figured out in
1977 that sockets reduced reliability).

My experience echoes Paul's. I also own/operate an arcade, and the boards we
consistently have more problems with are ones with socketed ICs.

He's also right in that replacing an IC is easy. One does not have to "desolder"
the chip - instead, just cut it out with some snips and heat/desolder the holes.
It's easier than attempting to desolder a chip, and no traces get lifted, either.

-->Neil

Neil Bradley writes:

>>My experience echoes Paul's. I also own/operate an arcade, and the boards we consistently have more problems with are ones with socketed ICs.<<

I think a lot of this depends on environment. All my gear sits in a house, I'm the only user of it, I treat it nicely. Perhaps in smoked filled environments with people banging and kicking stuff, big temperature swings, or gear in a mobile situation, I would have a different view of them. So far, it's 25 years and no socket problems in anything. Pots, switches, buttons, and cables. Those are my problems.

>>He's also right in that replacing an IC is easy. One does not have to "desolder"

the chip - instead, just cut it out with some snips and heat/desolder the holes.
It's easier than attempting to desolder a chip, and no traces get lifted, either.<<

Perhaps I've had bad luck, but traces getting lifted is the first thing I think of even when trying to remove just the legs. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but they seem to hinder my solder sucker and I always seem to have some that don't want to come out no matter what.

-Elhardt

> Apple III was a disaster do to its design and running three traces
> between dip legs. The socketed Apple II was no disaster at all.

Speaking as a service tech at The Byte store for old Apple IIs/II+s/IIe's
that's a false statement. Apple used some of the absolute worst sockets
they could've used in terms of reliability. Our #1 problem (next to the
alignment problems with the II* series drives), was intermittent
behaviors, often "fixed" by removing all chips, cleaning the sockets/legs,
and reseating. And after removing all the sockets on my IIe machine (which
I still have today) and soldering them down, the computer never gave me
another bit of trouble.

-->Neil

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Bradley "I've got a fever and the only prescription is MORE
Synthcom Systems, Inc. COWBELL!!!"

For MOTM boards that is true.

For older synths, with lower quality level manufacturing from that era
(1970s), any removed ICs get replaced with a socket then a new replacement
IC. Traces can get lifted, especially on single sided boards without plated
through holes.

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

>
> He's also right in that replacing an IC is easy. One does not have to
> "desolder"
> the chip - instead, just cut it out with some snips and heat/desolder the
> holes.
> It's easier than attempting to desolder a chip, and no traces get lifted,
> either.
>