tips for transistor sockets

[tjdracz]

I'm having some problems with my Fuzz Face that it's randomly cutting the signal and it comes back when tilted to one or the other end. I've resoldered everything and with no change, I come to conclusion that it must be transistors not having good contact with the socket, that could explain why it's working tilted, gravity pulling transistors down and such, establishing better contact with the socket.
I'm using these SIP socket strips from Tayda cut into sections of three pins. Anyone else using them? How do you cope? I was thinking of maybe putting some solder on the legs to make them slightly larger diameter but are there any other good alternatives?

[IvIark]

I use those SIP sockets but not from Tayda, although they're almost certainly made in the same place.  The only time I've had problems is with some germaniums which had very thin leads.  Use the continuity tester on your meter to see if you're getting consistent continuity between the transistor pins and the solder on the back of the board.

[rocket88]

I use that tayda ones and never had an issue with them. I have  had some issues where the transistors or diodes don't hold in place and have to alter the leads angles to get the to hold nicely.

[tjdracz]

Continuity seems to be fine, maybe just thin leads as they are not sitting very securely in there, wobbly and sometimes even fall out when I turn the pedal upside down

[IvIark]

Sometimes with the thin lead ones you just have to bite the bullet and solder them in.  Just don't cut down the legs so you can always snip them out if you want to at some point, and cover them in wire insulation or something to make sure you don't get any shorts.  Oh and a crocodile clip snapped onto the legs make a half decent heat sink when soldering them.

[tjdracz]

No can do, that's a test ff so need socket there to swap and match trannies. What about using something like thin strip of copper tape around the leg to make it thicker?

[negativefx]

Once I've chosen the appropriate tranny, I solder all three leads to the sockets themselves to ensure solid connection in the future.  When I'm building a pedal for someone else, I never use sockets because I don't want the thing ending back up on my workbench for a failed socket.

If it's a tight squeeze into the box, I'll remove the sockets and hard-line the transistor right into the board once I've found the right one.

[IvIark]

tjdracz wrote

No can do, that's a test ff so need socket there to swap and match trannies. What about using something like thin strip of copper tape around the leg to make it thicker?

Well if it's just for testing it's no problem getting a bit of noise.  As long as they're soldered in when used in the non test circuit then you wouldn't get the noise in actual use.

I've tinned trannie legs in the past to make them more rigid.  Maybe a couple of layers of solder will help

[tjdracz]

It does help Mark! That, plus some nice angle and it all send to be alright now. Hope it's there to stay!

[Silver Blues]

What I do with those sockets is I take the outer two legs of the transistor and bend them very slightly in opposite directions, then put the transistor in as if it was straight. Puts a little bit of clamping force on the leads and I find reduces socket issues. Doesn't work with everything but it's worth a try IMHO.

[rocket88]

what silver does is what i tried explaining before. if the legs push out against the walls it helps hold them in place. i also like marks idea of adding some solder to the legs to help thicken them up to help them hold better in the socket.