Methods of securing PCB and perfboard circuits inside boxes?

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

If you have enough pots, and mount the pots on the PCB, then they will support the board (especially if your boards have six pots, like most ofg mine!). I wouldn't do this for a board with a TRANSFORMER on it though :shock:
On the other hand, I made a lot of boxes with those sticky feet mounts earlier, and they worked really well. Unfortunately they were 3M brand, and we should be boycotting them after they hasseked 3MS :evil:

[brett]

I use only the "taiwanese" boxes (115x65x55mm), which have slots for a board up to about 58(w) x 50(h).  So I just use the middle slot!

Thank heavens that FP and those of you designing PCBs usually make them quite small.  If PCBs are too wide I do a bit of re-designing.  Only circuits I haven't fitted in the taiwanese box are the MXR envelope filter (whoh!!) and the Modulatron.

cheers

[zenpeace69]

On the other hand, I made a lot of boxes with those sticky feet mounts earlier, and they worked really well. Unfortunately they were 3M brand, and we should be boycotting them after they hasseked 3MS :evil:

That's true... I didn't think of that.  I think mounting with the pot may be a way to go.  

I took one of my pedals and dabbed a couple of thick gobs of hot glue onto the box and carefully placed the board down so it sat on the gobs.  It seemed to work, but I am not sure it would be the best way in the long run.

thanks for the ideas guys

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I havn't had much luck with hot glue on metal, might I need 'hotter' glue, or should I have scraped the surface or? maybe a crappy gun (it WAS cheap). Any comments?
Also, if you mount a socket on the left & right side of a box, then drop a PCB on top so the legs go thru holes on the PCB then solder it, the board isn't going to fall out... but, it will be a %&*$ BASTARD to fix. I know because some company does this (not me!)

[sad mafioso]

On my last two effects, I drilled holes in the top of the box and tapped them for 4-40 bolts. You'll need a tap and handle, which I got from Home Depot for under $10. Then I screwed in some male/female spacers from mouser (p/n 534-8714) with some threadlocker to keep the spacers from coming loose.  Since the boxes aren't very thick, a little bit of the bolt will poke throught the top of the box. Just cut/grind that off, sand it down smooth and go over it with some bondo to hide the seam. Of course, this will only look good if you paint your boxes, but it creates a rock solid post inside the box that you can screw your board to.

[Skreddy]

Nothing beats the convenience of board-mounted pots.  You have to design the PCB that way from the beginning, and that's kind of a hassle for a beginning layout guy, but it's worth it.

Another method I used recently was aluminum angle stock as a mounting flange.  I bought some angle stock about 3/4" wide both directions and 1/8" thick.  Cut into about 2 inch length, drill and tap 2 holes into each side; one for mounting into a side of the enclosure (use counter-sunk holes from the outside of the enclosure for these screws) and one for attaching the circuit board.  Tap the aluminum bracket for easy screw-on/nut-free application.  It's perfect for a light circuit board that doesn't use board-mounted pots or jacks, etc., and much more hardcore than sticky standoffs.  The circuit board is being supported by a couple of screws on one side, but that's plenty for most effect pedal applications.

[yano]

You can always just run screws in through one side of your enclosure and put nuts on either side of the board on the screw to hold it in place.

[MartyMart]

Here's the part number at RS for the stand offs:
609-281
They work well and are £2.50 for 25, so 10pence each !
I'll try securing to PCB mounted pots/jacks soon, still experimenting with my "Box's" at the 'mo.
Marty.

[petemoore]

I looked around and found a piece of hard plastic packaging material, a screw, and a drill bit. I cut the plastic sheet to at least the size of the board.
 I drill a hole in the box, plastic sheet, and perfboard. insert the screw part way through the box and plastic, then start the threads into the perf, and repeat. Works great, for smaller boards I find that the resistor packs have raised edges on the plastic packaging, and one screw clamps the board to the plastic and the plastic to the bottom very nice...I like the one screw removal for board bottom access.
 Only thing that sounds like it might beat it, as far as goodness and quickness, [IMO of course] is the double stick pads, but do they re-install securely [I never tried them]...I suppose just use new ones...guess I just like my old tricks or am too lazy to try new ones.

[Gilles C]

I started to use Neutrik pcb jacks that look good from the outside, and that hold the pcb well.

I also use the footswitch combined with the jacks to make sure there is no stress on the pcb when when using the footswitch.

Here is an example of a circuit that goes into the small 1590B Hammond box. The lower right corner cut-out is for the battery.

http://www.finitesite.com/gtechblues/photos/2to1pcb1.jpg

That circuit is a 2 In/1 Out FET switch box

Gilles