Barrel jack power sockets that slot into breadboard / veroboard.

[DirtyLude]

Very NEAT circuit, without upper side wiring.
The pink stuff are dipswitches right? I'd say they look like candy...

The pink stuff is LED arrays.

 

[sharonk868]

Time for another dumb question...

I wanted to create a thread to ask if I've missed a trick somewhere along the way. I create most of my circuits on verboard that I then glue into place... I then cut the wall wart cables and solder them directly to lines on the strip board - this has never felt good to me. I doubt I should really be doing that.

One time I used a project box and kept the circuit in there. In there, on the roof of the box, I glued a power socket and connected the wall wart's plug directly to that. That felt a bit better.

I've done a bit of searching, Maplin etc., but I've really had no luck so far... and there doesn't seem to be a component I can buy which is a barrel jack socket component with two legs that just slot into the holes that are provided by either a breadboard or (more usefully) some veroboard.

Most of the connectors / sockets I see have these three flat paddles with holes on them... which don't fit into the holes at all. So, I'm guessing, when you use them, they are glued to the board and then wires are attached to the paddles. If I could get hold of a socket component that had little legs that went right into the verboard holes, I could solder my socket to the verboard, and have the wall wart power supplies just connect into it as and when I want.

Does this thing exist or is it all a pipe-dream?

If they do... any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.

 

[Hippogriff]

If you've got more time than money (like me) you'll find you can do a pretty good job using an exacto knife.

This, above, would be the kind of end result I'd be looking for... like my 'thing', I'd have a power jack, a PIC, some transistors and some resistors visible from the bottom, but I'd still be able to say to the person I make it for - "it has a proper barrel jack for you to plug your wall wart power supply into" and not have a) me soldering wires with heatshrink over them directly to the veroboard and b) them having to trail the item and the wire around in one unit, which I'm sure must add stresses to everything - so much better to be detachable.

This, above, is very nice!

So, you've just cut out the holes in the veroboard so they're a little bit bigger, have you, then rammed the paddles attached to the barrel jack through them and have soldered in the other side so that it's all nice and firm and rigid, or do you use glue as well or what?

I really don't mind them seeing some of the 'gubbins', as then they know that I really made it and it has that homemade look... as I say, it's just where power is concerned that I'd like it a bit more professional looking than me soldering wires directly.

 

[Hippogriff]

Hi mate,

I use these from Rapid Electronics, they are cheap, strong and best of all cheap!

I just drill a hole in the box then wire the socket to the board inside.

Is it as cold in sheff as rotherham tonight?

Al

**broken link removed**

Thanks for the pointer... but I am going to give one of the black plastic barrel jacks a go, like in the image in this thread provided by Vizier87. See where I get to. Actually, I went and unintentionally frazzled my only surviving 12F683 the other day (!) so I am now patiently awaiting a delivery from Farnell. Hence my silence on this topic - been amusing myself with some OpenGL programming instead.

And, yes, it has been cold over here all the time too... couldn't get my stupid car up the driveway even, with all the ice, and it's only a small incline. Embarrassing!

 

[Mike - K8LH]

So, you've just cut out the holes in the veroboard so they're a little bit bigger, have you, then rammed the paddles attached to the barrel jack through them and have soldered in the other side so that it's all nice and firm and rigid, or do you use glue as well or what?

Actually Hippo' I use the exacto knife to cut slots in the board. It takes about 30 minutes. Then I insert the connector, fold over the legs, and solder them to several pads. I don't use glue and they're quite solid and rigid. I've attached a picture of the bottom side of that board for you...

Regards, Mike

 

[Hippogriff]

Thanks. I think I shall try to emulate this, then, as it is the kind of end result that I'm looking for. It might take me a while - I'm still waiting for my gear to arrive and who knows when I will ever see the postie again - but I'll post pictures if I'm successful.

 

[Hippogriff]

Hmm,

I have a very nice 5v regulated 1000ma wall wart power supply that I would like to use, but it has a plug with a 1.7mm hole.

Is it true that all the PCB mountable sockets that I can see out there come with 2.1mm or 2.5mm diameter centre poles?

 

[Blueteeth]

Generally, the standards are 1.3 (smaller outer diameter), 2.1, and 2.5. There are others, but as you noticed, relaly hard to find PCB sockets for them. I have a bunch from some PS1 LCD's that I kept as part of a recycling thing, they work with 2.1mm plugs, but they are 1.6mm ish..

If I were you, I would just replace the plug on your wall wart

Every power supply I ahve that isn't used for actual 'devices' (old mobile phone ones, things for LED christmas lights etc..) I have replaced the plugs with positive centre 2.1mm for convenience. 1.3mm I used for 5v only, like USB.

I'm sure you could find the sockets you're after on farnell (use the search, as the catagories are useless), or RS. If you're desperate and willing to spend the money on shipping, Mouser seem to have a huge inventry of almost everyhthing, as does digikey.

Just searched farnell, theres a few sockets for the 1.7mm plug..but they are of course 1.65mm

 

[Hippogriff]

OK, nice one Blueteeth... Mouser was quite an exciting place to browse... I like the filter they employ that allows you to get down to about 6 choices. I saw quite a few, got a little confused, re-read your post and went to Farnell to find 1216989 @ £1.06, 1216990 @ £1.00 and 1200129 @ £0.99 which I'm guessing a) you were looking at and b) I could use with my 1.7mm hole on the end of this power supply. At first, I thought they were all the same and didn't know how I would choose between them, but I guess I can go for the 1216990 @ £1.00 as it has a 4.4mm external diameter hole (the £0.99 one is 5.15mm).

Only question now, I guess... do I get a couple just to test, or do I go the whole hog and get 10 to get the 'bulk' discount.

I hope they're easy enough to coax into some veroboard. Diagram looks like it has three prongs, I'm guessing that I can simply snip one of them or fold it back on itself.

Some solid, easy to understand, industry standards here would be brilliant.

 

[Blueteeth]

Only question now, I guess... do I get a couple just to test, or do I go the whole hog and get 10 to get the 'bulk' discount.

Heh, its easy to get carried away with discounts, although, there is nothing worse than ordering the bear minimum, like buying two, breaking one, using the other, then wanting to build another project which requires one

I hope they're easy enough to coax into some veroboard. Diagram looks like it has three prongs, I'm guessing that I can simply snip one of them or fold it back on itself.

Some solid, easy to understand, industry standards here would be brilliant.

Oo industry standards? heh I'm afriad my industry experience only stretches a couple of years, and most of that was professional PCB designs with muggins here having to create each and every footprint for bizare connectors that we had to use.

I quickly checked the datasheets for those three connectors (glad you found em! all lumberg?), the one you suggested has a horrible land pattern, and would be tough to get into veroboard, as none of the pins are spaced in discrete steps of 0.1" (2.54mm)...so you would need to do lots of modification to the board to get it to fit.

The first one, 1216989 @ £1.06 looks like the best option for sticking in strip/veroboard. It also has a 4.4mm opening.
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2010/01/1613_04.pdf

The diagram at the bottom, you only 'really' need pins 1,2,3, the other two are mechanical mounting. But they're spaced 7.5mm apart, with 2.5 between 2/3 and 1. nice multiples of 2.5mm!! Unfortunately, the back two mounting pins, as well as the guide lug are 6.5mm back...you would have to drill three holes in the veroboard to fit those in. Or simply widen some holes in the board.

That said, the reason vero/stripboard is so great is, its FR2 material, and so its pretty easy to cut/modify with a knife, or anything, and it won't take you a week, nor will it blunt your tools.

I don't know about you, but with farnell, given the price of shipping, I tend to wait until I have a huge list before I order..of course that means I have to put my own projects on the back burner, but its cheaper (I'm a cheap skate with my own projects, because customers tend to throw money at you if you can get it done quickly in the industry).

Apologies for an overly specific, geeky, and detailed post. Staring at datasheets/diagrams/land patterns and doing quick mental arithmatic is one of the necessary evils of looking for parts...seems I have got acustomed too it.

 

[Hippogriff]

I quickly checked the datasheets for those three connectors (glad you found em! all lumberg?), the one you suggested has a horrible land pattern, and would be tough to get into veroboard, as none of the pins are spaced in discrete steps of 0.1" (2.54mm)...so you would need to do lots of modification to the board to get it to fit.

Darn. I would not have realised this. Thanks. This is all part of the overall issue for me that makes this newish hobby both interesting and intensely frustrating at the same time. It really is a case of not knowing what you're looking for until you get burnt, then I ask around, find a better way, and then try that. I really should try more of the asking around first. Glad I didn't jump towards an immediate order earlier this evening... I will try and do this properly this time.

The first one, 1216989 @ £1.06 looks like the best option for sticking in strip/veroboard. It also has a 4.4mm opening.
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/custompdfs/2010/01/1613_04-1.pdf

The diagram at the bottom, you only 'really' need pins 1,2,3, the other two are mechanical mounting. But they're spaced 7.5mm apart, with 2.5 between 2/3 and 1. nice multiples of 2.5mm!! Unfortunately, the back two mounting pins, as well as the guide lug are 6.5mm back...you would have to drill three holes in the veroboard to fit those in. Or simply widen some holes in the board.

I expected to only need to slot two pieces of metal through the veroboard... positive and ground. When I was soldering wall wart wires to the board previously there were, obviously, only two connection points. Is the third for some kind of earth and what relevance does it have here, or is it more for stability, i.e. an extra solder point for rigidity?

I don't know about you, but with farnell, given the price of shipping, I tend to wait until I have a huge list before I order..of course that means I have to put my own projects on the back burner, but its cheaper (I'm a cheap skate with my own projects, because customers tend to throw money at you if you can get it done quickly in the industry).

Sounds like good advice. I already have 10 x 12F683s and 5 x holders on order (I'm figuring optimistically on a 50% casualty rate on my PICs - all down to my own actions, not 'cos of DOA - I'm like a Napoleonic General)... so I might bundle a bigger order together with some transistors and resistors and wire and stuff. I'm sure that getting whatever I think I might need all at once from Farnell will be both a) cheaper than Maplin and b) cause them less hassle when I keep walking in asking for 6 x 470Ω and 4 x 3.9Ω resistors! It's funniest when I get the guy who doesn't know how to put the details in on their system... and I didn't either, we were both poring over the catalogue... while the queue lengthened. Well, now we both know.

 

[Blueteeth]

Darn. I would not have realised this. Thanks. This is all part of the overall issue for me that makes this newish hobby both interesting and intensely frustrating at the same time. It really is a case of not knowing what you're looking for until you get burnt, then I ask around, find a better way, and then try that. I really should try more of the asking around first. Glad I didn't jump towards an immediate order earlier this evening... I will try and do this properly this time.

Thats the exact advice my boss gave me a few years ago 'if you're unsure, ask someone, even if they get annoyed'. But yes, it IS frustrating...thats how we learn! I can't tell you how many transistors/IC's/LED's I have fried back in my younger years, beacuse I didn't fully understand what was going on (like VDD and VSS, instead of VCC and GND). Of course, that frustration makes you ask questions, which makes one research, then you find the answer...and the information sticks. Google, books, forums...all wonderful sources of information. The guys here are pretty good too

Is the third for some kind of earth and what relevance does it have here, or is it more for stability, i.e. an extra solder point for rigidity?

It's a switch pin for the outer barrel connection. That is, when nothing is plugged into the socket, that third pin will connect to the outer barrel connector (usually negative, but not always). When a plug is plugged in, it is disconnected completely...it is generally used for battery backup, so when no plug is in, the battery is connected to the circuit, but when something is plugged, the battery is disconnected and the socket is connected to the plugs connections. - That was arguably a terrible explaination. Heres a datasheet from a standard socket from rapid, page 2, bottom right 'schematic':
**broken link removed**

Sounds like good advice. I already have 10 x 12F683s and 5 x holders on order (I'm figuring optimistically on a 50% casualty rate on my PICs - all down to my own actions, not 'cos of DOA - I'm like a Napoleonic General)

LOL its the fact you have the power over the fate of these small devices...

... so I might bundle a bigger order together with some transistors and resistors and wire and stuff. I'm sure that getting whatever I think I might need all at once from Farnell will be both a) cheaper than Maplin and b) cause them less hassle when I keep walking in asking for 6 x 470Ω and 4 x 3.9Ω resistors! It's funniest when I get the guy who doesn't know how to put the details in on their system... and I didn't either, we were both poring over the catalogue... while the queue lengthened. Well, now we both know.

I abandoned maplin when they started selling more 'commercial' prudcts rather than components, although they're still handy for odds'n'sods. For specialist parts, I choose farnell, for industry, RS, but for standard passives and discretes (resistors, caps, diode, switches, connectors) Rapid has my vote. Free delivery for orders of £30, very cheap stuff, reliable, and has 'almost' everything you need for most standard apps. I would recommend getting a resistor kit for like £9, has plenty of every value, and should keep you going for a while.

Finally, one of the best places for parts is ebay For quick small orders, there are a number of UK shops which are excellent, I can provide a lsit if you wish.

Again, sorry for the long post, but I hope I have been of some help

 

[Hippogriff]

Back again...

OK - I had a few deliveries recently and I now have my 10-strong army of PIC 12F683s to use and abuse as I so desire. In fact, I haven't frazzled a single one yet and I have my JAL 2 code working perfectly on the breadboard running my RGB LED quite happily with user-controllable fades taking between 3 seconds to 120 seconds depending upon the position of 2 DIP switches, so four fade time options. I have used 7 pins of the 12F683 - not bad. Better than using a 16F628a.

Now I need to start looking at power jacks again, but I have an off-piste question too.

I decided to look at Rapid Online for these and settled on a few of the 20-0970 which is a "2.1 PCB DC POWER SOCKET (RC)" at all of 15p! However, I also chucked in 1 x 20-0995 which is a "1.3MM DC PCB POWER SOCKET (RC)" and 1 x 20-0997 which is a "1.3MM PCB DC POWER SOCKET (LOW PROF)(RC)" as a bit of an experiment.

The reason for adding these two 1.3mm jacks is down to my 1.7mm plug... I mean, we're talking .4 of a mm here - I'm wondering if that will connect up OK, or whether I'm thinking of trying something that is not a good idea? If I can avoid cutting the cable off my wall wart and soldering a 2.1mm plug to the cable then I will.

Does anyone think that a 1.7mm plug would go over a 1.3mm pin (well, of course it will go over) and remain nice and snug or would it never work?

If there's no chance they'll work, I'll dump them and get some 2.1mm plugs so I can solder them to my wall wart (which I accept I might have to do anyway).

Anyway, the real reason for my post... the delivery charge for Rapid Online is a standard £4.95 and it seemed really daft to be ordering about a Quid's worth of kit for five Quid delivery. So, I wondered whether I should take the plunge and order one of these miniature multi-tools from them at the same time... a Dremel or what-have-you. I could fill up on resistors and transistors and other tat, but I (think I) really have all that I need at this moment in time.

So, the real question is - is there any brand / model of miniature multi-tool out there that people use for electronics and swear by? I am obviously looking for one that comes with an accessory set, but there are loads of options on Rapid Online, but there doesn't seem to be a useful user review facility, like you get with places like Amazon, which I always find very useful.

Other than that... maybe a cheapy glue-gun... I could go for that, as well as or instead, I guess.

I haven't put the order in yet... I am waiting for any good advice that usually comes from you chaps. Always appreciated.

P.S. - not an advertisement for JAL, but I found out today that version 2 supports constant arrays (something all languages should, of course, but the previous version didn't, I think) and now my code is (I think) super-neat and maintainable.

 

[Blueteeth]

I have a dremel It's expensive compared to other 'mini tools', but with the brand you'll never be short of accessories. Managed to charm a guy in a shop for one, along with a drive extension cable (for fine engraving) and a 200 piece accessory kit for £50.

It seems the collet/chucks on most mini power tools are pretty standard, so you could get another brand and use dremel accessories, or visa versa. The thing you have to decide is power/speed and portability. I would just go for a multi-speed powerful one.

Just my 2p

Edit: About those 1.3mm sockets..... the 2.1 and 2.5mmm ones are identical, except for the diameter of the inside pin. 1.3mm is different as the outer diameter is smaller. I doubt your 1.7mm plug will fit in it :/

 

[Hippogriff]

The data on the 1.3mm socket is not comprehensive on Rapid Online, certainly. Might still be worth a punt; or I could get a 1.3mm plug (I hope) and use that instead of a 2.1mm socket and plug if the 1.7mm plug won't go into the 1.3mm socket. It sounds really daft me saying this - why would a 1.7mm socket go into a 1.3mm plug??? Oh well, maybe I will never learn!

I see item 20-0900 (1.3MM MINI DC POWER PLUG (RC)) with stock due in 1 to 2 weeks, which is starting to feel like the story of this episode really.

Also, only a single Dremel item listed on Rapid Online, and it's tool only, no bits and bobs.

Time to go to bed and sleep on it.

 

[Hippogriff]

Well, it took me a while, but I got there in the end.

I bought a 2.1mm jack and plug from Maplin (quite expensive parts, but it seemed the easiest way for a test) and had to cut loads of bits of plastic off the bottom of the jack, as well as the third metal pin... then I etched the right sized and orientation holes into the veroboard and soldered, helping it along with a bit of glue on the underside. Obviously, my 1.7mm plug on the wall wart wasn't going to work, so I had to snip that off and solder on the 2.1mm plug.

I think what I ended up with does look neater than my previous attempts ('professional' is too ambitious!). I'm still no good at soldering (so no witty comments, please) and my planning of where components go could be better, I know, I just seem to start with the PIC and build things around it, this time I started with the 2.1mm jack and went from there.

I'll probably bite the bullet and purchase some more 2.1mm jacks and sockets online.

Thanks for all the advice getting me to this point.