Never trim precut to length leads such as ICs and relays, and resistor packs, or crystals.
These have just enough extension thru the normal fillet of solder to not be a problem, and to provide a place to clip on for troubleshooting probes. Trimming short leads that were not designed to be trimmed, or the thicker leads on relays, inductor cans, crystals, ICs, resistor packs etc. runs the risk of fracturing the anchor point internal to the package. Always hold on to the lead being cut off to avoid shock of cutting from launching an "arrow" in an uncontrolled direction. This also buffers the shock of cutting the lead from affecting the component. To summarize, the only leads to trim are individual resistors and capacitors having the thin solder coated leads. Look at a few commercial built boards before you willy nilly start to build something, if you are not experienced at electronics assembly practices. Check out the library at any Engineering college and likely you can find texts on assembly practices; or check for military specifications on the web for assembly practices. 73, Stuart K5KVH _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
