Stand Offs?

[Canucker]

Was looking at a tutorial and saw this image of mounting posts or "stand offs" as they call them. Does anyone know if Tayda carries these? or who has the best? They have some at a local (semi local its an hour away) but they are very large and plastic with no screws...basically you drill a hold and snap your board into place and can't remove it I guess and they are $0.50 a piece for what I'm guessing is the junkiest version of this idea. I'm guessing they go by a few names and I haven't had any luck on the Tayda site finding something like this. So far I've been designing my pcbs that I mount my boards onto my stomp swith but that method isn't always ideal.

[chromesphere]

Like this Canucker?



They are quite big.  You also need room on the PCB to mount them.  Tonepad usually has them on his layouts so they are easy enough to implement.  You just need the room inside to box.  I'm not really a fan of them though.

Ive seen others use different types of standoffs though. Might be something else thats better suited.
Paul

[Canucker]

Yup those are the things. Sorry I forgot to include the image I saw. http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1243&g2_serialNumber=3 See how much nicer those ones look...smaller and actually use a screw. I started mounting my boards onto the stomp switch so I would have less wires and wouldn't have my boards flopping around inside the enclosure. Do most people just leave them flopping? I did a couple where I mounted the pots to my board...it required a bit more precision when drilling holes for the pots and it just seemed like I was invited the pots to be broken off. It did result in me coming up with the idea to buy dual gang pots to use for boost pedals for extra stability in board mounting....since the boost would just require one pot theres not need for extra care when drilling the pot hole in the enclosure.

[chromesphere]

If i use double sided tape on the back of the PCB (to protect from shorting), i usually put a dob of hot glue to fix the pcb down to the enclosure and stop it from flapping around inside.  You can also easily remove it as well, the hot glue will snap away from the enclosure without too much effort. 
I've only pot mounted a few builds, i liked it alot! So many less wires....
Probably the biggest problem for me with standoofs is the extra height clearance you need.
Paul

[davent]

If the board is big i glue in (JB Weld) aluminum standoffs, nylon washers stuck on the top of these ones.

[Canucker]

There we go finally posted the image properly!!! I know what you mean about the extra clearance. Mounting it to the stomp switch puts your board far away from the top of the enclosure so depending on the height of your caps you can potentially have pots above your board and save a fair amount of space. If I build something for someone else I wouldn't want to glue gun it into place because if they explore the inside and it comes off easily they'll be like "what the hell do I do now?" I think the pots I attempted to surface mount were pretty cheap because it did cause issues.....I'm talking about this type not this type  NOT this type

[chromesphere]

If I build something for someone else I wouldn't want to glue gun it into place because if they explore the inside and it comes off easily they'll be like "what the hell do I do now?"

I know what you mean but trust me, it's not going anywhere! lol  You would need a small screwdriver and a bit of force to snap it off from the surface of the enclosure.  Not enough to damage the board either so it works in that respect as well.  You just have to make sure that you apply the glue when its very hot.  Warm glue doesnt stick very well and in that case, it would be unreliable.

Pot mounted boards are of course going to be a more secure option.  Id do that first.  Glue is a 2nd option for me. And of course, in some tight builds, nothing at all.

[Canucker]

I've attempted to use glue guns for certain things in life over the years but have never had the results live up to any kind of abuse. The one thing I do think they are good for is to get something to hold quickly in place so you can then apply real glue....kind of like a temporary extra set of hands!

[chromesphere]

I havent had any issues with my hot glue gun.  I dont expect much force to be placed on the PCB though.  It holds it down firmly enought imo.  If someone is going to be hitting it hard, or yanking it etc i'd probably have bigger concerns then the board coming loose  

I also use hot glue on the back of front bezel LEDS that will pop out if you press down on them from the front of the pedal, say, with your foot when you hit the stompswitch (Thats, ALL of the LED bezel's i have seen to date).  And if im building a pedal thats going to be extensively tested before boxing, i usually hot glue the pot wires and in / out / plus / ground to prevent them from fraying / snapping.

Yeah.  Im a fan of the hot glue gun
Paul

[smallbearelec]

When choosing or planning your "platform," consider the Bare Box #1, an enclosure that has standoffs machined into it:



The Bare Box #2 (available late Summer) will use a similar idea. Yes, this construction is more expensive than plastic or metal standoffs, but also much more secure. A small "daughter" board that mounts on the pins of 9mm pots is available, or you can use 16mm pots if you are only using two or three. I have also standardized on Molex SPOX housings and headers for off-board connections. The additional expense for hardware is an enormous saver of time and trouble in assembly, and creating standard ins-and-outs has made me think more systematically in planning my designs.

Regards
SD

[reverberation66]

I've ordered a couple of those enclosures from small bear and they're great!  The little plastic standoffs steve carries have worked well for me too.

[Canucker]

I havent had any issues with my hot glue gun.  I dont expect much force to be placed on the PCB though.  It holds it down firmly enought imo.  If someone is going to be hitting it hard, or yanking it etc i'd probably have bigger concerns then the board coming loose  

I also use hot glue on the back of front bezel LEDS that will pop out if you press down on them from the front of the pedal, say, with your foot when you hit the stompswitch (Thats, ALL of the LED bezel's i have seen to date).  And if im building a pedal thats going to be extensively tested before boxing, i usually hot glue the pot wires and in / out / plus / ground to prevent them from fraying / snapping.

Yeah.  Im a fan of the hot glue gun
Paul

I guess I just think in terms of the fact that I'm from the Toronto area where Traynor amps come from and in the 70's they use to throw them off of buildings to test construction!  Some of my first builds were pretty crappy too so they fell apart all on their own so I've grown up paranoid LOL

[pakrat]

I have used hollow plastic rods from a hobby store. It's about $1.00 for a 18" length. Then just cut to size and run a tap or screw through it, JB weld it to the box and done. I usually just float the boards to save the trouble though.