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I'm working on a project that involves using a DC power barrel to feed power for the entire circuit and I'm very new to PCB design in general. The problem I am having right now is that I can not figure out which pin is the VIN and the GND pin of this DC Receptacle. (Picture of schematic from datasheet attached). Can anyone inform me of how to look for these things in the datasheet?

enter image description here

Not sure if this information is of any importance to this question but the module appearing on EasyEDA when I place it down is the DC-016-A and not DC-016-B. If you would be kind enough to also inform me of the difference between the two, that would be really awesome!

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    \$\begingroup\$ Whichever one you want to be positive and negative; there's no standard for barrel plugs (though center-positive is much more common if you're not Sony). \$\endgroup\$
    – Hearth
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 21:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ Also Panasonic likes centre negative, I've had a couple of cordless phones send me smoke signals regarding supply polarity. they still worked though. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jasen Слава Україні
    Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 20:21

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DC barrel jacks have an inside (center) and outside (sleeve) connection. The diagram:

DC barrel jack connection diagram

...is showing you a sort of side-view of the connecting hardware inside the jack. The "pin" (labeled as 1 on both diagrams) is the inside or center connection. The portion labeled 2 on both diagrams is the part that makes contact with the outside/sleeve.

The left diagram shows a jack that additionally includes a switch. When a DC barrel plug is inserted into the jack, it breaks the connection between terminals 2 and 3, allowing a product to disconnect, for example, a battery.

The question you should be asking is whether your device is "center positive" or "center negative." Most devices (in my experience) use the outside/sleeve as negative, and the inside/center as positive. However many audio devices such as guitar pedals do the opposite.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ If I only want to interact with the "pin" 1 and 2, do I have to make any changes or any additions to pin 3? (e.g. add a resistor, connect to ground, short with pin 2, etc.) I'm sorry if this question makes no sense. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kati
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 21:46
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Kati You're good, no worries! You can safely ignore pin 3 if you don't need it. Pin 2 will stay in contact with the outside sleeve while the jack is plugged in. \$\endgroup\$
    – JYelton
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 22:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you very much! \$\endgroup\$
    – Kati
    Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 22:59

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