Why the long leads?

We stick indicator LEDs up from a pcb ~1/2 inch through a hole in a panel. Resistors get stuck in end on to save area. And when some make of cap 'goes away' long leads makes it easier to addapt a new cap to the old hole spacing.

(I'm sure lots of other useful reasons.)

George H.

Not all leaded componets go on PC boards. Even when they do, the Pick & Place has to trim away part of the leads to get rid of the adhesive, rather than risk bad solder joints.

originally the long leads were for point to point wiring.

In my parts box I've got some 1uF MLCCs with short leads

but for the long leaded parts the leads don't add much to the cost, the offcuts can be recycled, and the equipment is designed to handle them

While true, how many decades ago was in when point to point sort of went away?

It's like how CDs used to come in longboxes, to fit in record bins. That did eventually change.

That's true, the leads never shortened. In reality, they could be a compromise, somewhat shorter, yet still "long". I don't notice any change in lead length in forty two years. Maybe half the length is all that's needed I think that would still leave enough lead for resistors to be put on end.

Michael

half the lead is lost when they are cut from the tape & reel by the Pick-n-Place machines. In case no one has told any of you, leaded components are rare these days in high volume production, when compared to the surface mount devices.

The tapew will peel of cleanly on very fresh reels, but try it on one that's been in stock for several years and you'll find stick leads.

Not only that. Stripping components from tapes leaves adhesive residue on the lead ends, which can contaminate plated-through holes, leading to poor solder flow.

I have never found a cable stretcher that worked well. I suppose they keep 'em with the skyhooks.

No. They are all on the copper wire production lines. You don't think they turn down 12" billets of copper to make #60 AWG, do you? :)

They make toothpicks out of logs by turning them on a lathe, don't they?

Shhh! Don't give the audiophiles any ideas!

Cable is what wire aspires to be :)

Only in W.W. II propaganda starring Buggs Bunny, when they are trying to show people how wasteful they can be.

Wire and a bunch of her freinds get togeter and get everything all twisted up.

How many of them even know what a lathe is, let alone how to use one? :)

You've been warned to keep that left handed monkey in his cage, so he stops stealing all your left handed tools. ;-)

for commercial production, some time before I was born, for specialty stuff, from what I read here it's still done.

Many of the hairpin resistors I've seen in commercial products look to have been made specially for that applicatin, they have a kink in the long lead at the PCB level and the long lead has paint down to there too.

possibly these:

That they do, but the bit left on the lathe at the end of the process goes into the furnace, and the veneer stripped off the log is cut up for toothpicks,

hmm, turning a billet on a lathe produces a wire-like thread, but with non-uniformity, sharp edges, and heat effects, whether it can be passed successfully through a wire-forming die, I do not know.