Capacitor case style Q?

[cocoadev]

there is a capacitor that i want to use in my project

**broken link removed**

it's the VH04E Minelect 2.2uF 63V

I'm trying to design a circuit board with Osmond for the Mac, but I dont know what case style to use, anyone know?

 

[ChrisP]

That is a 4mm diameter x 7mm high radial lead miniature electrolytic cap...

 

[cocoadev]

That is a 4mm diameter x 7mm high radial lead miniature electrolytic cap...

how do you know this?. where do u find out this sort of information? I find quite often that parts I need dont specify case design, so how do people design the PCB's for them? with a ruler?!

 

[ChrisP]

If you know who the maker of a component is, you can generally go to that company's website and obtain the dimension information for the device in question. Another good source would be the catalogs offered by the component distributors.

In the case of the capacitor about which you asked, I simply went to the Maplin site and drilled down to Components > Capacitors > Electrolytics > Miniature 7mm Radial Electrolytic Capacitors (on the menu at the left side) and verified that the catalog number that you want (VH04E) was listed in that section, and that the catalog number matched the values that you posted. The dimensions for the devices in that catalog section are listed there as well.

 

[cocoadev]

If you know who the maker of a component is, you can generally go to that company's website and obtain the dimension information for the device in question. Another good source would be the catalogs offered by the component distributors.

In the case of the capacitor about which you asked, I simply went to the Maplin site and drilled down to Components > Capacitors > Electrolytics > Miniature 7mm Radial Electrolytic Capacitors (on the menu at the left side) and verified that the catalog number that you want (VH04E) was listed in that section, and that the catalog number matched the values that you posted. The dimensions for the devices in that catalog section are listed there as well.

ahhh! thanks, my problem was my browser not showing extra details at the top of the maplin page.

also the company minelect, when googled comes up with 3 hits, and the website .com is down!

on the maplin site you have "l (max)" & "d (max)" I presume then that they are height and diameter of the caps, but what about the leg size?

my friend had a similar problem today with a phono socket...
**broken link removed**

..the legs on this component are quite complex, but nowhere on the site do i find the dimensions for them.

 

[ChrisP]

One of the problems that I see with Maplin -- which BTW is also a problem with Radio Shack on this side of the pond -- is that you often do not know who the manufacturer of a particular item might be. As a result, determining dimensions and pinouts can be difficult at times.

Many devices are standardized in the industry as regards physical dimensions, lead spacing, and so on. This makes it easy to determine the footprints of such devices. In the case of your 4mm x 7mm ecap, the lead spacing will be 1.5mm ± 0.5mm on center. Look at the dimension info on **broken link removed** for an example of standardized device dimensions. The same information as provided in the Mouser catalog (a major supplier here in the USA) is shown here.

As to the phone jack question, let's see if I can provide an example of dimension information availability... As always, the only way to be sure of dimensioning is to be sure of the manufacturer. Assume that my need is for a 2.5mm fully-enclosed stereo phone jack with (2) NC switches and PCB mounting. One approach is to start out by selecting the possibilities from a supplier's catalog. In this case, I see that Mouser offers such a jack -- catalog # 161-2508 -- made by DGS Pro-Audio (now Kobiconn), and that the datasheet for that jack is here. A look at the datasheet will show that the manufacturer provides all necessary dimensions, including the PCB layout data.

Another approach is to decide upon a particular device made by a specific supplier, and then to attempt to locate a stocking distributor for that item. Suppose that my need was for a 2.5mm fully-enclosed mono phone jack with (1) NC switch and PCB mounting. If I were so inclined, I might choose the **broken link removed**. The manufacturer offers dimension information, again including PCB layout data, on **broken link removed**.

OK -- so now you have a device selected, right? Now you have to find a stocking dealer. Using the "Distributor Stock Check" button on Switchcraft's home page, and entering the part number (MDPC2ARA), we get this list of stocking dealers.

The bottom line is that you really have to know if the device in question is in an industry standard package/case/pinout and the details for that device, or else you have to know the manufacturer and device type so as to obtain the desired dimension information from that manufacturer.

Sometimes you have to know both. Consider the 2SC945 transistor family. In a TO-92 case as offered by **broken link removed**, this device has a pinout of E-C-B (Pin 1-2-3), while the **broken link removed** version has a pinout of E-B-C with the same pin numbering.

Occasionally, a single manufacturer will offer the same device, in the same case, with two different pinouts, such as the **broken link removed**. As the KSC945, it has a pinout of E-B-C, but as the KSC945-C, the pinout becomes E-C-B.