PCB Mount Jacks and Hammond boxes?

[carboncomp]

Hello,

Are PCB mount jacks problematic with Hammond boxes due to the slope on the side of the boxes?

Any tips for someone designing their first PCB with onboard jacks, worried that a will place them too near or far from the enclosure walls.

[GGBB]

I wouldn't do it myself, but some think it's no problem. It's quite obvious - proven by the fact that you are asking - that jacks mounted to opposite side of the board are going to try to bend the board when tightened, which will not only stress the jack solder joints but also every joint on the board to some degree as well as the traces themselves. Less tight would help I expect. I suppose the question is how much of this stress can the board and joints take and for how long.

It might be possible to reduce and maybe even eliminate that situation by adjusting the jack positions when soldering so they are angled and not flush against the board, but YMMV depending on how long the solder pins are. Keep in mind you still need to be able to get the whole assembly in and out of the enclosure usually, unless you solder the board in and require that the jacks be desoldered in case of repair/disassembly.

End jacks - all on the same side - is probably much more doable, but you still have to deal with the angle for top mounted pots and switches etc.

[bartimaeus]

nobody said you have to solder the jacks flush to the PCB.

[GGBB]

nobody said you have to solder the jacks flush to the PCB.

Especially not me.

[davent]

Mount the jacks in the enclosure first then place the pcb inside with the jack's solder tangs(?) through the pcb's appropriate  holes, solder it up.

[marcelomd]

Are mini PCBs an option?

[DIY Bass]

I had a kit with PCB mounted jacks (the type that you can insert from inside the box and then there is a nut that srews on from the outside into the case).  The instructions said to just place a piece of hook up wire under the back of the jack to elevate it before soldering.  Worked perfectly.

[GGBB]

Mount the jacks in the enclosure first then place the pcb inside with the jack's solder tangs(?) through the pcb's appropriate  holes, solder it up.

That's probably the most practical and safe way to do it, but it basically creates a sealed unit out of your pedal. If you need to disassemble or fix anything - like clean or replace a pot or switch - you have to desolder the jacks to get in. That's never fun on double sided boards, and can end in lifted/broken pads/traces. Maintenance nightmare - probably why you don't see exactly that done on "professional" pedals - as far as I am aware.

I had a kit with PCB mounted jacks (the type that you can insert from inside the box and then there is a nut that srews on from the outside into the case).

Those types of jacks will work - and sometimes you see those in pro pedals especially mini stuff from China. But the slant fix is a hack - not terrible but not ideal - the mount-jacks-then-solder approach above is better but only use the "inside" jacks.

[GGBB]

Are mini PCBs an option?

I've never seen a point to that for DIY/boutique builders. It helps robots and assembly lines for sure but makes more work and cost for hand building. Plus, the traditional style all-metal jacks are much more robust (good brands at least).

[Processaurus]

Forego main PCB mounted jacks.  It's not pro. They're fragile, consumer goods crap. It will be the most likely point of failure of a design. And they often make it impossible to get the thing apart when it does break.  I have some Tech 21 Sansamp pedals and you have to desolder the jacks from the main pcb (6 plated through holes each, thank you) to get the circuit board out, it's awful. The panel mount jacks, it's two or three wires, not that hard to do even in quantity.  I've been building a few dozen pedals at a time (recent foray into bootweaking!), and just do the jacks in batches- prep the wires (twist them together with the drill), cut them to length, strip them with the automatic stripper (the hand tool with the squeeze handle that can do a few wires at once), solder them to the jacks (with the jack end stuck in 3/8" holes in a piece of wood), solder them to the boards.

For the PCB design, there's just a short service loop of wire from the jacks to the main board, enough to get them installed before or after the board goes in the box.  It's nice to run the traces for those jacks out to holes at the edge of the board. I use 38 mil holes and that seems good for untinned, stranded 24 awg wire, and put a ground hole near the signal wire hole, so the wires can stay twisted up together.

All the good gear that's lasted me over the years has the jacks on wires- amps, pedals.  Even Boss does their jacks on wires, in spite of being more than capable of designing jacks that get soldered to the main PCB, and building tens of thousands of them.