I am surprised to see that I jump through exactly the same hoops that so many do when correcting 'the spread' seen on this DIPs! I have also resorted to applying WD-40 (a lightweight lubricant) to some ICs via a cotton swab for those situations where I know IC insertion is going to require *more* downward force than I feel comfortable applying to a board ... I recently did this to a rather largish LCD display that had really loooong pins - this piece of instrumentation (a JCI-111 Electro Static Fieldmeter) manufactured in '85 had a little problem and required removing this largish LCD display for service - and I bent one of the LCD's pins ... prior to re-insertion I applied WD-40 to the pins to reduce the forces seen by all parts involved. No ill effects seen through the use of WD-40 on any low-voltage electronics treated this way to date for many years now ... Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Josh Koffman" To: Sent: Friday, July 19, 2002 8:55 PM Subject: Re: [EE]: DIP package trouble > Sometimes I find I can align one side of the chip with the socket, then > carefully push sideways until the pins on the opposite side just come > into alignment. Then I push down for a nice snug fit. > > Josh > -- > A common mistake that people make when trying to design something > completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete > fools. > -Douglas Adams > > Andrew Warren wrote: > > Yes. Outside of a production environment, the most commonly-used > > "tool" for this job is a tabletop, against which you press the > > leads (one side at a time) to bend them into alignment. > -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body