Can anyone tell me if "hot plugging" a pair of headphones or a mic from its respective jack while the device is turned on can cause damage to the jack? I'm referring to the 3.5mm (1/8") type of jacks and plugs found on most stereos. I had many people tell me that I shouldn't do this, but I've been doing it for years and nothing has ever happened.
Thanks
Nope, won't damage the JACK at all...and for most decently-made equipment, it won't hurt whatever that jack is connected to, either.
Bob M.
Plugging a mono jack into a stereo output will short the "ring" contact in the socket (usually the right channel) to ground, but just about everything that uses a phone jack SHOULD be designed with short circuit proof outputs. Just about everything I've looked at has (100 ohm?) series resistors on both channels feeding the jack.
Likewise, they used to use phone plugs on wall wart power supplies, and if you inserted it, live, into the socket, the ground connection on the socket would short the tip and sleeve, shorting out the power.
Mark Zenier snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)
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