39
votes
Accepted
What kind of socket is that?
This is KN-4A socket. Widely used in Eastern bloc countries in many types of electric equipment with a motor, mostly in sewing machines.
What is important - this socket is not provided for powering ...
- 2,235
32
votes
Accepted
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
If you are not going to swap / change / reprogram your ICs just solder them. I have never overheated any DIP IC during the soldering. It is not easy to overheat them. Maybe 40 years ago ICs were more ...
- 2,594
24
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
If you're in a design stage, a socket can turn a real pain in the neck into a momentary problem, allowing you to swap out that microcontroller with, say, a burned out DIO, with a brand new one, in ...
- 30.5k
20
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
If you are skilled in soldering, overheating the DIP package while soldering shouldn't be a problem. Also, the sockets can introduce problems themselves due to bad contact. Just keep the soldering ...
- 1,369
17
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
Breaking the chip due to overheating during soldering should be very rare. However, if you have the chip soldered down and end up breaking it during testing, it is very helpful to know this trick:
...
- 9,021
17
votes
Why do EU electrical sockets/plugs have two pins for grounding?
Figure 1. Schuko sockets. (Image source: Bran.)
If you are referring to these sockets the dual earth pins give balance pressure on the plug which would otherwise be forced to upwards or downwards ...
- 178k
11
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
Good answers here already...
I'll add my two cents worth. ( Though I guess that's a nickel now we ditched the penny in Canada. )
When prototyping the first go around of a board and your confidence ...
- 46.9k
11
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
I've broken many more ICs trying to pry them from DIP sockets than from heat or ESD damage from soldering directly. Even using a chip extractor can be risky.
That said, in the analog world DIP ...
- 2,516
11
votes
Accepted
Do dead CFL or LED light bulbs consume power and is it safe to leave them mounted?
There's different way these things can fail, and in most, they might still be using power.
I've seen all three:
failure modes where the bulb "shut down" and used totally insignificant amount of ...
- 98.3k
10
votes
Accepted
If a light socket only has 2 connections, how can they sell 3 prong light socket adapters?
The seller is in China. They can sell and deliver anything you want to buy, even if a product is dangerous or fake. They are not guaranteed to comply with any local safety regulations and have not ...
- 164k
9
votes
Why do EU electrical sockets/plugs have two pins for grounding?
Your claim is not true. EU socket/plug standard is a combination of almost all older standards in the EU. It was design that german DIN standard plugs are somewhat compatible with italian or french ...
- 399
8
votes
Why do EU electrical sockets/plugs have two pins for grounding?
Two pins is more safe than one pin. And it makes the design symmetric, so it can be connected in any orientation.
- 164k
8
votes
What is the name for this connector socket pin configuration?
It's a 5-pin microphone connector.
There is no central pin. That's a chassis-ground lug in the centre, attached to the connector body, to which the shields are to be connected.
They are still being ...
- 19k
7
votes
Accepted
Why were hobbyists advised to socket ICs before, but not now?
Paul I'm going to go out on a limb here and try to answer this.
In my experience, the 80's era and prior did use sockets quite often for everything from IC's to transistors. There may have been ...
- 16.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Help with identifying a PCB header connector
That header is a Molex 2.50mm pitch SPOX wire to board header system. There are also several other manufacturers that make clones of these. Here is the Molex data sheet for the 4-pin shrouded PC mount ...
- 57.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Same type of jack - different current ratings
High-current barrel connectors are tricky. Generally the current capacity is determined by contact area between two mating surfaces. More area means more current.
Cheap barrel receptacle (jacks) ...
- 41.9k
7
votes
Accepted
For electrical outlets that have on/off switches, is energy sent to the socket when nothing is connected to it but the switch is on?
A switched outlet with nothing plugged into the outlet will generally not consume any power when the switch is turned on. There are a few cases where this may not be totally true. Some outlets may ...
- 57.6k
6
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
Using socket packages have some cons and pros. Usually with the cost of integrated circuits rising, it is good general advice to maintain the chip for the next time use. But sockets, most often cheap ...
- 1,804
6
votes
Are DIP sockets against overheating worth the cost?
In 10 years of working in the microcontroller world, I've never used a socket and never regretted it. The risk of having a bad contact in a socket is real. Old computers are notoriously unreliable ...
- 354
6
votes
Accepted
Always-on socket in-between a 2-way switch?
If you have the neutral then yes. Use a SPDT relay with the common contact on the socket, NO on L2, NC on L1 and control coils connected to L2&N. When L2 is energized, the contact will switch the ...
- 1,611
6
votes
Accepted
Can I use this US extension cord in Europe?
You could get as many “no” as “yes” answers. Will it work? Sure. Should you use it? Probably not.
No, this product is not CE marked, its importation is actually illegal.
Yes, it is rated for 30 A, ...
- 2,184
6
votes
Accepted
Strange new power supply socket effect
If you can't plug it in in the other orientation, then it is polarized plug, and you are dependent on the socket being wired the way the strip expects it.
It might have been unsafe even in the country ...
- 164k
6
votes
Accepted
Earth pin in a 3-pin mains plug
The plug is a European-wide CEE 7/7 plug, which is often (somewhat generically) called just the tradename "Schuko" even though there are variants. It is designed to mate with either the ...
- 15.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What is the name of this green 2-pole DC power connector?
Looks like a phoenix COMBICON MSTBVA series part, (likely a P/N: 1755736).
A few matching parts are listed at the bottom of the linked page.
Obviously the matching part will need to be the same series ...
- 10.5k
5
votes
Accepted
IEC vs. UL current rating
Just because it was not tested to that standard does not mean it won't safely operate at that current. They may not bother testing above 10A, for example, because 10A is a lot of power at 230VAC. Or ...
5
votes
Same type of jack - different current ratings
The female connector includes a spring, which puts pressure on the contacts. The higher the pressure, the higher the current the connector can be rated for. The spring used in the females you've seen ...
- 171k
5
votes
When I checking the hot terminal in the socket, multimeter shows the current through me?
This is a really stupid thing to do.
You are measuring the difference in voltage between the mains and the ground through your body's capacitance.
You have not given a make and model of the ...
- 178k
5
votes
What type of connector is this 3-pin socket marked "DC24V" on a printer?
It's a fairly unique hole pattern, and the only connector I found at a cursory glance that matches is the Kycon KPJX-3S:
It is a 48VDC-rated power jack, and the applications listed in the datasheet ...
- 21.5k
5
votes
For electrical outlets that have on/off switches, is energy sent to the socket when nothing is connected to it but the switch is on?
If the switch is set to the on position but nothing is connected to the socket, will any energy be used/wasted?
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
For electrical energy ...
- 178k
5
votes
Accepted
Can anyone identify this 40-pin SMT socket on the Silicon Labs BRD4180A board?
The key to this lies in the documentation for the BRD4001 'Wireless Starter Kit' which your BRD4180A plugs into - available from SiLabs here.
There you'll find the BOM spreadsheet, which tells you ...
- 14.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible