Arduino Socket

Introduction

There is an old tradition in electronics, if a part is expensive or inclined to blow, make it replaceable by putting it in a socket. Sometimes this goes too far as with final circuits that are still on a proto board where everything is in a socket. But if we are using small arduinos like the nano we more or less treat them as a component and putting them in a socket is a good idea. As far as I know sockets for these parts are not made, and the pins on an arduino are not really the normal pins for sockets. However we can make what we need on a strip board or PCB by using 2 rows of female headers. Pictures tell the rest of the story.

Note that this is an article started by Russ Hensel, see "http://www.opencircuits.com/index.php?title=Russ_hensel#About My Articles" About My Articles

Parts

Boards

In this case I am using stripboard, but any PCB board with .1 inch spacing should be good.

Arduino

I am using a nano, but there are may Arduinos with this header on the bottom style.

Header

This is what female header strip looks like:

Cut it with a fine tooth saw. I cut through the middle of a pin which is sacrificed.

Solder

First tack solder the two end pins and adjust to make sure header is straight and all the way in.

Finish soldering:

Done