Can you mod a chassis mount socket to fit on a PCB?

Acorn Eye · November 3, 2019

For some reason PCB mount 4 position mini XLR sockets are way too expensive, around $8 per. Meanwhile chassis mounted ones are comparatively cheap at $2 per.

I found one listing for 50 / $120. And while that's great, I don't have that cash, and I doubt there'd be enough interest to start a group buy.

So I'm stuck trying to figure out how to properly adapt a straight pinned chassis mount to a pcb. One idea of mine is to solder right angle leads to them, however there's an overlap.

(chassis mount connectors just go straight through.)

Another idea is to use a molex connector to connect the connector to the pcb. But this might end up costing as much as just getting a pcb mounted mini xlr.

Corrupt_Liberty · November 3, 2019

Alibaba has them for $3 a piece. $1.70 if you buy more 10 or more. Shipping time isn't great I'm sure, how soon do you need them?

Acorn Eye · November 3, 2019

Just now, Corrupt_Liberty said:

Alibaba has them for $3 a piece. $1.70 if you buy more 10 or more. Shipping time isn't great I'm sure, how soon do you need them?

Those are 3 position cables.

I'm planning on using them to connect two halves of a split keyboard. So for i2c that's 4 pins. I could go over serial I believe, but I don't know how well that would work for a keyboard.

Corrupt_Liberty · November 3, 2019

3 minutes ago, Acorn Eye said:

Those are 3 position cables.

I'm planning on using them to connect two halves of a split keyboard. So for i2c that's 4 pins. I could go over serial I believe, but I don't know how well that would work for a keyboard.

Ahh, missed that. Guess you're stuck paying Mouser or the like.

mariushm · November 3, 2019

TME.eu has a couple models that would work for you, and the price is reasonable. But shipping will add to the final price.

Anyway, here's the two that would work best for you:

3pin : MXLR-3G-C NINIGI - Socket | XLR mini; female; PIN: 3; soldering; Cutout: Ø15mm | TME - Electronic components

4pin : MXLR-4G-C NINIGI - Socket | XLR mini; female; PIN: 4; soldering; Cutout: Ø15mm | TME - Electronic components

as you can see they're nice and round, so you can install them both ways..

Make a 15mm hole and two smaller holes for the screws.

Either slide it in from above leaving the shiny rectangle on the outside, and you can use nice screws that go flat inside the metal

or you can insert the connectors from the inside of the case (just slide it at an angle to get that bit with the "push" text.

The 4pin one is 5.2$ without VAT if you get one, 3.1$ each if you get 20 ... basically buy 12, get 8 free

Acorn Eye · November 4, 2019

15 hours ago, mariushm said:

TME.eu has a couple models that would work for you, and the price is reasonable. But shipping will add to the final price.

Anyway, here's the two that would work best for you:

3pin : MXLR-3G-C NINIGI - Socket | XLR mini; female; PIN: 3; soldering; Cutout: Ø15mm | TME - Electronic components

4pin : MXLR-4G-C NINIGI - Socket | XLR mini; female; PIN: 4; soldering; Cutout: Ø15mm | TME - Electronic components

as you can see they're nice and round, so you can install them both ways..

Make a 15mm hole and two smaller holes for the screws.

Either slide it in from above leaving the shiny rectangle on the outside, and you can use nice screws that go flat inside the metal

or you can insert the connectors from the inside of the case (just slide it at an angle to get that bit with the "push" text.

The 4pin one is 5.2$ without VAT if you get one, 3.1$ each if you get 20 ... basically buy 12, get 8 free

I'd have to create a socket to adapt it to a PCB through hole. This is more complicated and probably expensive than just simply getting the $8 pcb mount one.

The $2 chassis mount ones are pretty much the same,