Jumper

A jumper, also called short circuit bar, is a component from the field of printed circuit board hardware. By its nature it is very similar to a short-circuit plug, but in contrast it is used more in electronics, such as computer technology. Jumpers are plugged onto the pins of printed circuit boards, whereby these are bridged, for example connected to each other. The connection determines certain functions, such as an on/off state.

Jumpers are usually only a few millimetres in size and have the shape of a small socket. Inside there is a spring, which connects the adjacent pins to be bridged. For this purpose, the surrounding plastic housing serves the purpose of producing sufficient spring pressure and providing shielding against short-circuits. In order to reduce contact resistance and prevent corrosion, the springs and contacts on printed circuit boards are usually gold-plated.

DIP switches perform a similar function as jumpers. The use of jumpers is supported by lower costs and space savings on the printed circuit board. DIP switches, on the other hand, are usually more practical to use.