Our company likes to install socketed IC's to make testing and repairs easier. Unfortunately, we have trouble with IC's coming loose from the sockets in finished products. There seem to be thousands of different DIP socket options available.

Can you recommend a "good, better, best" list of socket features?

Insertion and retention force should be specified. You should also control the spring material to make sure that stress relaxation is minimized or eliminated for your use environment.

Dr. Craig D. Hillman CEO & Managing Partner DfR Solutions Dr. Hillman's specialties include best practices in Design for Reliability, strategies for transitioning to Pb-free, supplier qualification, passive component technology and printed board failure mechanisms.