Michael Rigby-Jones wrote:

> [...]

>
> Personally, for repeated insertions I find the best thing to plug into a
> turned pin socket is...another turned pin socket.  Their worst aspect is
                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I agree!
> that the metal they are made from seems to fatigue very easily.  You
> generaly get ONE chance at straightening a bent pin(s) and even then there
> is a danger of leaving a pin in the PCB socket on the next removal.  Thing
If you really need to repair one of this sockets you better remove the
pin by heating it with a soldering iron and then quickly pressing it
through the hole in the plastic. Then you can insert an intact pin from
another socket (which you can get the same way)
btw: single pins can be very useful to make sockets for exotic parts...

> to do is always use an IC extractor, or use a screwdriver to carefully lever
> the socket up from both ends.  There's always a strong temptation to just
> use your fingers when no suitable tool is to hand and bent/broken pins
> result 99% of the time.
you have to apply as much pressure as possible on the upper socket with
your fingers. Then this decreases to ~5% <g>
Or use a 'Backhaus' (I don't know the English name), a medical tool
which looks (a bit) like this:


     (...) (...)
       X XX X
        XOOX
        _XX_
       /    \
      /      \
      |      |
       \_  _/

(I always wonder how they do this fancy ASCII art...)
Stefan Sayer  sayer@gmx.de

>
> Mike Rigby-Jones
> mrjones@nortelnetworks.com
>