Seriously, what sadist saw a flat PCB surface, flat pick and place machine heads, and said “lets create a round component”?

Joking aside I am genuinely curious what advantage the MELF design actually offers. I know they’re a pain to get a machine to place properly, they have more solder flow issues than components with flat leads, and they seem like they would be harder to manufacture too. So why a round component? Anyone here have any insight on why they even exist?

  • wgbirne@feddit.deEnglish
    0·
    6 months ago

    You guys made me curious, so I checked Wikipedia:

    Despite their handling difficulties, and in the particular case of MELF resistors, they are still widely used in high-reliability and precision applications where their predictable characteristics (e.g., low failure rate with well-defined failure modes) as well as their higher performance in terms of accuracy, long-term stability, moisture resistance, high-temperature operation far outweigh their disadvantages.