What to do in Mod County, Tweaksville and Fiddletown: best way to socket resistors?

[andare]

Salutations,

I'm building a Calamity Fuzz and a bunch of other fuzzes and I need to adjust some resistors for optimal transistor bias. I know I can use single SIP sockets but the plastic encasing usually falls apart and I don't trust the thin resistor legs to make a good connection.

I'd rather avoid desoldering components as I have a hard time clearing solder off the pads (yes, even with the fancy Engineer solder sucker and even when I flux solder wick like no tomorrow).

So I turn to you gurus for tips.

Thanks in advance,

Andre

 

[Big Monk]

Salutations,

I'm building a Calamity Fuzz and a bunch of other fuzzes and I need to adjust some resistors for optimal transistor bias. I know I can use single SIP sockets but the plastic encasing usually falls apart and I don't trust the thin resistor legs to make a good connection.

I'd rather avoid desoldering components as I have a hard time clearing solder off the pads (yes, even with the fancy Engineer solder sucker and even when I flux solder wick like no tomorrow).

So I turn to you gurus for tips.

Thanks in advance,

Andre

Use a breadboard and tune the circuit before you commit to a PCB.

 

[ICTRock]

Trimmit! - PedalPCB.com

Trim pot adapter

www.pedalpcb.com

 

[szukalski]

+1 on trim pots. They're cheap and effective.

Can also use SIP with 4 in a row and popping out the middle pins. Once you have the right value, then solder the resistor in, or tin the legs for more grip.

 

[andare]

Trimmit! - PedalPCB.com

Trim pot adapter

www.pedalpcb.com

These aren't avalable atm

 

[andare]

Use a breadboard and tune the circuit before you commit to a PCB.

I would if I wasn;t so green with breadboards. Thanks for the suggestion though

 

[Big Monk]

I would if I wasn;t so green with breadboards. Thanks for the suggestion though

There’s nothing to it and it will save you from having to ever use sockets.

 

[fig]

Short of breadboarding it, you can use pins 2-3 / 1-2 of a vertical mount trimmer in place of the resistor, or fashion a trimmit! with a bit of perf.

 

[fig]

It certainly wouldn't win The Most Elegant MoD EVER! award, but it'd prolly work okay.

 

[andare]

There’s nothing to it and it will save you from having to ever use sockets.

Still getting the hang of it...literally. I have jumpers, alligators clips and pots hanging everywhere and it's just a Fuzz face and a Fuzzrite. I can't imagine breadboarding something more complex.
I was ready to buy the Protoboard Mini but it has no space for pots and the full Protoboard is too much for me and it has unobtainium parts.

I think I'll go mangle some trimmers as suggested by @fig

 

[almondcity]

wow I never thought of that, genius!

 

[Big Monk]

It certainly wouldn't win The Most Elegant MoD EVER! award, but it'd prolly work okay.

You could also just tie the wiper to an out lug and solder that in place. Then it’s basically a Trimit

 

[Feral Feline]

All great suggestions already. Here's another titbit of info:

If you need a more sturdy SIP for socketing than the breakaway style SIP-sockets, cut an IC socket in half and pop out the middle pins.

Way beefier than the SIP-sockets, and accordingly a more expensive option.


You could do the same for Caps or Transistors:

^ Siamesed transistor sockets waiting to be separated. ^

Sometimes the pin-spacing on a board allows you to use a longer "SIP" for multiple components.

Woah, just found these peel-away connectors:

 

[andare]

+1 on trim pots. They're cheap and effective.

Can also use SIP with 4 in a row and popping out the middle pins. Once you have the right value, then solder the resistor in, or tin the legs for more grip.

This is what I'm going to use, sturdy enough. Thanks!

 

[Cybercow]

When socketing resistors and other thin-legged parts, I always "wrinkle" the ends of the legs a bit to assure a snug fit into the socket.

 

[andare]

Great suggestions everybody. I knew this forum wouldn't let me down!