[Heath] To Sandy: SB-634 IC's

[Guy Giacopuzzi]

Does this explain why all three of my SB-650's seem to work for awhile 
then limp with just a few usable digits?
Guy,
WA6OQQ

On 3/4/2016 3:33 PM, John Klingelhoeffer via Heath wrote:
> Heathkit used notoriously cheap IC sockets.  I suffered through that 
> for years with my GR-2001 TV until I just ended up soldering the IC's 
> into the sockets.  Problems disappeared immediately.
>
> I'm sure the intent of IC sockets was to keep from having fried IC's 
> by unsophisticated builders, but most sockets pretty much died after 
> the warranty was up.  Or before.  The tin-plated steel leads lost 
> their spring or oxide formed on the leads and the sockets doomed many 
> a kit.  Look in just about any commercially assembled electronics unit 
> from the 1970's to the 1990's.  No sockets.  Sockets = intermittent 
> connections.
>
> For kits where I wanted to keep the sockets (such as the audio 
> amplifier IC on the HW-2036 that cratered several times), I just 
> replaced them with machine pin sockets.  A gold-flashed machine pin 
> socket for a 16 pin DIP at Mouser costs a dollar.  More than worth the 
> aggravation with intermittent operation.  At a hamfest, they are 
> probably even cheaper.
>
> In most cases, I just removed the sockets and soldered the IC's 
> directly to the board.  Most folks with solder-wick can remove a dead 
> IC from the board without ruining the PCB.
>
> Good luck with your clock. 73
>
> John...
> WB4LNM
> "One of the hams from Heath"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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