Mountin Boards In Enclosure

[Pavlos]

Hi, just wondering how everyone is mounting their boards inside enclosures? Are you using standoffs, pcb mounts, spacers etc, hardwiring boards direct to pot lugs or just letting the hookup wires take the strain?

I'm thinking of trying nylon M3 screws long enough to fit through the board (I reckon 3 per board should be ample) from top to bottom of the enclosure, the screw head acting as a standoff to preven shorts and the board is held in place with a nylon nut. Then the whole assembly is held inplace by a mixture of being an interference fit inside the closed up box and maybe a dab of silicon just to make sure it doesn't wander about if the pedal is dropped. Might seem like overkill, but I'd rather overbuild and it be able to be use it as a weapon should civilization fail than to just be left with an interesting paperweight ;o)

[Frank_NH]

Here's my process:

http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/Boxing-Day-tp15647.html

[Pavlos]

Thanks Frank, some very intersting ideas there and it looks so neat and tidy as well, I think I could well end up using (And possibly adapting) some of them myself :o)

[Frank_NH]

Thanks.  The basic idea is to try to mimic the board-mounted pots that are so convenient with PCB builds.  The whole board+pot-controls pops right into the holes drilled in the enclosure and is very secure.  Then all you have left are the usual switch, I/O jacks, and power jack connections.   If in addition you have switches, you need to be creative, but I usually wire those up free of the board.  The main thing is planning out how the controls will be positioned on the enclosure so as not to have problems fitting everything in (don't ask me how I know this! ).

 

[Beaker]

Standoffs can work well if you have enough room for them - most builds in a 1590B do not.

I use a cruder method than Frank, but it is a similar idea. I wire my pots to the board and test first on my test box. I've got reasonably good at getting my wire lengths roughly right at long last. Then I put a blob of Blu Tac on the back of the pots, drop the pots into the enclosure holes, and push the board onto the Blu Tac.

Then I lift the assembly back out, shorten any over-long wires and drop it back in again.

Nowhere near as elegant as Frank's method but fairly efficient.

I think the hot glue gun is what most people use.

[moda]

I use velcro dots instead of glue. Board still goes onto the rear of the pots but i can still "peel " it off if there are any issues later on down the track. Which with my builds is unfortunatly a bit to common!