Sockets for component leads

[jsog]

Ever since seeing that the Russian ESR meter had an IC socket for testing caps, I've liked that idea. Thinking about it, it should be something panel-mounted, sturdy, with deep sockets so a cap with uneven leads can be tested. There should be a row of pins for different lead spacing, or maybe just two slots.

So far, the best thing I've come up with is a DB9F, but the female pins would have to be squeezed to touch a cap's leads reliably. Top five and bottom four pins would be wired together, just rotate the cap to fit across the two rows.

Second best is a little solderless breadboard add-on piece, 2 rows of five holes. The few I have are meant to be mounted with double-sided tape, not very sturdy, and not flush.

Any other ideas?

[mathog]

Re: Sockets for component leads

Any other ideas?

Maybe a DC fan plug, the 3 or 4 lead type that plugs into a motherboard fan header? Probably the little springs inside will snap closed enough to make a decent contact on a capacitor lead. Use two of them, with all the leads in each twisted together, and it won't matter which hole in each header you use. Also with two of them the differences in the lead length on the test capacitor won't matter. You probably already have some on hand, attached to dead fans that have not yet been disposed of.

[jsog]

Re: Sockets for component leads

A picture might help:

[jsog]

Re: Sockets for component leads

Maybe a DC fan plug, the 3 or 4 lead type that plugs into a motherboard fan header?

Actually, I probably do have some of those, but would have to figure out how to panel-mount them. Solder them to a PC board that could be bolted in, maybe.

[yyonline]

Re: Sockets for component leads

The ESR Micro uses a DIP socket. I haven't looked, but I imagine they'd be readily available on digikey and similar sites.

Edit: something like this:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...rds=16-3518-10

[jsog]

Re: Sockets for component leads

The ESR Micro uses a DIP socket. I haven't looked, but I imagine they'd be readily available on digikey and similar sites.

Edit: something like this:
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/Dk...rds=16-3518-10

There are a couple of problems with a socket. The first is visible in this picture. The other problem is that the socket pins aren't really big enough for a slip fit on standard capacitor leads, even clean ones that haven't been unsoldered from a board.

[Agent24]

Re: Sockets for component leads

The meters I've seen use blade terminals (?)