DIL socket pin spacing

[veedub565]

Hi,

Why is it that whenever you buy a DIL IC, the pins are always spaced too wide to fit into the DIL IC Sockets ? and then you have to bend them to fit. Is there an easy way or tool for bending all the pins to the right spacing ?

[drussell]

Did you even try to search for "IC pin straightener" ??   

[mariush]

Yeah , just look on eBay for DIP [ Straightener / Straightening / Forming / Lead Bending ] tool  ( pick one option between  [ ] )

ex.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-DIP-IC-Straightener-ICS-01-width-7-62-15-24mm-0-3-0-6-no-Electrostatics-/140299432691
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pc-DIP-IC-Straightener-ICS-01-width-7-62-15-24mm-0-3-0-6-no-Electrostatics-/132116070740

The above are the simplest, you put the DIP inside that thing and squeeze, and the leads bend to the right position.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-O-K-INDUSTRIES-MOS-40-IC-INSERTION-TOOL-FOR-40-PIN-DIP-ICS-/271994088716
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIP-IC-STRAIGHTENING-INSERTING-TOOL-12-4116/302242600569
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jonard-Tools-Jonard-MOS-40-Insertion-Tool-with-36-40-Pin/282385642178
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heller-D276-36A-High-Volume-DIP-Lead-Processing-System-/180992017207

[bsudbrink]

To answer your first question, it is to give a little friction to the pick-and-place machines that used to (still do?) handle them.

[mikeselectricstuff]

To answer your first question, it is to give a little friction to the pick-and-place machines that used to (still do?) handle them.

Not so much that, but so that when placed into the PCB, the pins spring back to hold them in place before wave soldering.

[bsudbrink]

Well, I won't swear to it, but I'd bet you a beer that if you put those chips through a pin straightener and ran them through that machine again, it would fling a few across the room.  Or, at least, drop a couple on the floor.

[rstofer]

I lay the row of pins on my table and push/roll the package a bit.  Then I do the other side.

[veedub565]

No I didn't even try to search for a pin straightener, I've got one, it straightens the pins, they still don't fit the DIL socket. Maybe mine is the wrong one?

[veedub565]

Mine just puts the IC pins through a set of rollers, it's good if you have odd legs sticking out, but it doesn't make them fit the DIL socket. I;ll have to try one of the Ebay ones, looks like they work differently

[Howardlong]

I lay the row of pins on my table and push/roll the package a bit.  Then I do the other side.

Precisely, I've been doing exactly that for over forty years, I don't see any need for a tool to do it.

[RoGeorge]

Just place the DIL case sideways, on a flat surface (desk), with the exterior side of the pins touching the desk.
While the full row of pins is touching the desk with their thick size (near the case), slightly push the case to bend all the pins at once, so the whole row of pins will become 90 degree bent relative to the case. Do the same with for the other row of pins.

With a little practice, it'll take just a couple of seconds.
It can be done manually very easy for any DIL4 to DIL40.

The only real problem for the sockets were some Russian chips that used 0.787'' instead of 0.1'' pin spacing (2mm instead of 2.54mm).

[veedub565]

Yeah I have been doing them manually in the way that you describe. Taking me a few goes to get it right though, I'm sure I bend one side more than the other too. Always terrified of breaking the pins

[Lovely_Santa]

I use 2 methodes to resolve this problem:

1) I use pin headers, I find in easier to put them inside a header than into the board directly, and you can replace them when broken/reuse (I do this for prototyping/breadboarding)
2) In my pcb libraries I have 2 different layouts, 1 with the normal spacing and 1 with an extra 0.2mm between the pins, so when I let them assemble my pcb, I use the normal spaced layout, but when I make my final prototype i won't use a pin header, but use the bigger spaced layout for my IC's and solder them directly on the board...

[tautech]

Yeah I have been doing them manually in the way that you describe. Taking me a few goes to get it right though, I'm sure I bend one side more than the other too. Always terrified of breaking the pins

You won't, they're as tough as old boots. 
To break one off you'd need to grab it with pliers and bend in back and forth a few times, nothing like the little nudge to get them to 90 degrees. 

[rrinker]

 Once long ago I had a Radio Shack insertion tool with a pin straightener - good up to 16 pin chips because that's all the wider the inserter blades were. Of the years I misplaced it so all I do any more is just roll them against the table.

 The one thing I learned as a wee player (and maybe what prompted me to get the Radio Shack tool) was you do NOT stick one side in the socket and push the whole thing over to get the second side lined up. After pulling the second chip out of the biological socket (aka my thumb) I wised up.