3.5mm stereo plug/jack problem

[fezder]

Ok, this time i have strange problem. I bought 3.5mm stereo jack and panel mount socket for it. Well, i check connections that jacks sleeve, ring, and tip are what they should be and at the sokcet too, BUT when i plug them together, sleeve and ring get dc......sorry about this pretty stupid question, but is this right?....

 

[audioguru]

A jack is a socket. A plug is a plug. Maybe you have a plug and a socket (or a plug and a jack)?
The tip, ring and sleeve connections are completely separate from each other unless you connect them together.
If a terminal in the plug is connected to DC then when it is plugged into socket (jack) then the same terminal on the socket (jack) will also have DC.

 

[fezder]

https://www.futurlec.com/Pictures/P035M4CONT.jpg
https://www.futurlec.com/Pictures/P035SCK01.jpg

these i tried to use, and yes, dc is at both ends, but i dont have this problem with other sockets, i mean mono and cable type.

https://i46.tinypic.com/5zr0c3.jpg
just the assembly picture, i just dont get it what makes these do dc :S you have any idea?

 

[audioguru]

Your first pic shows a 4-terminals plug that has one more terminal than a stereo plug.
Your second pic shows what might be a 2-terminals mono jack.
Your third pic shows a 2-terminals mono jack with a swiched tip contact.

 

[fezder]

oops sorry, posted wrong photo i see, following is the correct one
https://www.futurlec.com/Pictures/P035S02.jpg

https://i46.tinypic.com/2vi5bn9.jpg
https://i50.tinypic.com/mvnpcj.jpg

ehh, 2 terminals mono jack with swithing tip contact?.....

 

[KJ6EAD]

You don't know about switched contacts in jacks yet? Most stereo jacks have 5 terminals and most mono jacks have 3. It's Google time.

 

[eTech]

Ok, this time i have strange problem. I bought 3.5mm stereo jack and panel mount socket for it. Well, i check connections that jacks sleeve, ring, and tip are what they should be and at the sokcet too, BUT when i plug them together, sleeve and ring get dc......sorry about this pretty stupid question, but is this right?....

Can you explain more on what your trying to accomplish?
It sounds like your using a non-isolated panel jack when it
should be an isolated jack.

 

[fezder]

Can you explain more on what your trying to accomplish?
It sounds like your using a non-isolated panel jack when it
should be an isolated jack.

well, yeah i should probadly tell what i was going to do ok, so my idea was so simple that i connect stereo plug to stereo jack, that i still would have that stereo sound, this is what i now need, but i have wrong accessories for it?

You don't know about switched contacts in jacks yet? Most stereo jacks have 5 terminals and most mono jacks have 3. It's Google time.

well, now im this much wiser, i have heard of switched jacks, but newer cared, i thought its just external switch, but, when i plug the plug in, it closes ''switch'', or did i get i wrong? i thought i ordered the right ones duh...

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

That looks like a mono jack, and the plug is stereo. You would normally plug a stereo plug into a stereo jack. Your jack is mono, and it is also switched, but the switched part doesnt help that it's still just a mono jack. You need a stereo jack for a stereo plug.

A switched jack may be mono or may be stereo. Just because a jack has three terminals on it doesnt mean it is a stereo jack, it could be just a mono jack with a switch on it.

There are a number of variations for jacks both mono and stereo. Some even have more than one switch, and each switch adds one terminal, but some have isolated switches and that adds two terminals (mono or stereo). Some stereo jacks have two switches both isolated so that's an extra 4 terminals, and some have dual acting switches so that's an extra 6 terminals!

I think all stereo jacks have two center prongs, one to touch the very tip and the other to touch the center ring. Mono jacks only have one that touches the tip. There are also 4 conductor plugs and jacks where there would be three center prongs but that's very rare.

 

[audioguru]

Your 1st and 3rd new pics are a stereo plug with 3 terminals.
Your 2nd pic is a switched mono jack sometimes used to disconnect a speaker when an earphone is plugged in.

 

[fezder]

Ok, so i have stereo plug, and mono switched jack, but i should have stereo jack regardless of switch?

 

[audioguru]

The mono switched jack cannot be used for stereo.
You need a simple tip, ring, sleeve stereo jack.

 

[fezder]

yes, i know that i cant make stereo from mono jack but if i got this right, i need stereo plug and stereo jack? i think this hassle is because i got wrong items and this switched-jack confused a bit, as i newer used/heard of em and, just to make sure, from stereo i can make mono, but no stereo from mono? at least if i got something right ?

 

[audioguru]

Another possible problem.
You never said what the stereo plug and jack are for.

Ordinary stereo plugs and jacks are for line-level signals that have a common ground.
Some stereo speaker signals need 4 wires, not just 3 wires because they do not have a common ground.

 

[MrAl]

yes, i know that i cant make stereo from mono jack but if i got this right, i need stereo plug and stereo jack? i think this hassle is because i got wrong items and this switched-jack confused a bit, as i newer used/heard of em and, just to make sure, from stereo i can make mono, but no stereo from mono? at least if i got something right ?

Hi,

Yeah that sounds right. You need a stereo jack and you only have a mono jack, and it is easy to make a mono jack from a stereo jack by just ignoring the third terminal, but it's very hard to make a stereo jack from a mono jack without some clever home engineering (epoxy, brass strip, whatever).

Buy a stereo jack and you should be ok, assuming you are using it for regular audio. It's not a great idea to use these for power plugs and jacks just to note.

 

[KJ6EAD]

...when I plug the plug in, it closes the switch, or did I get it wrong?

Most open the switch contacts when you insert the plug. You're opening the circuit that's in the jack and connecting (closing) the contact to the plug.

 

[fezder]

yeah i shouldh've benn more specific :S i need those connectors what are used at headphones, i nees these just for regular audio, i dont intend to use these on powering anything
this all hassle seems to came from the shop where i ordered items, as they shipped wrong items, well this happens, theyre humans after all after all, i ordered stereo plug and jacks, but got stereo plugs and mono jacks....

 

[audioguru]

they shipped wrong items, well this happens, theyre humans after all

The problem is not that they are humans. The problem is that they are STUPID about what they sell.

 

[fezder]

haha, well thanks for your time all again to help with this matter, im this bit wiser now