My first complete pedal (PH-1R implementation)

[shattered]

Hello! I'm happy to share with you the photos of my first complete pedal build. It's basically a PH-1R without the conmutation circuit, fitting a 125B enclosure and allowing the use of 9V battery. To avoid the clip creating shorts when there's no battery installed I've attached some glued velcro.

The texts and symbols are done with Inkscape and put into the case using vinyl water transfer followed by clear coat. The circuit is designed with Kicad, it has SMD resistors (and a pair of ceramic capacitors) in the bottom side. Matched set of JFETs from AionFX. 

Since it's the first prototype and my first complete build (with DC jack, battery and case) there's still some rough edges and fixes. However it works great and it's good enough for my use as is:

[ElectricDruid]

Very nice! 

How is the PCB mounted in the enclosure? What do those screws screw into?

[shattered]

I used four M3 15mm female-female standoffs glued to the case with Nural 21. I'm waiting for short flat head screws to increase the glued area to have a stronger joint.

[shattered]

Update: I don't recommend the glue method since in one pedal, and probably due to cold climate, the four legs got fully detached :facepalm:

For now the PCB is fixed using just the cables, they seem to be rigid enough to keep the PCB in place.

[ElectricDruid]

Update: I don't recommend the glue method since in one pedal, and probably due to cold climate, the four legs got fully detached :facepalm:

For now the PCB is fixed using just the cables, they seem to be rigid enough to keep the PCB in place.

Would the aluminium expand and contract enough with temperature changes to crack the glue?

Whatever, getting glue to stick to the alloy they use for enclosures is very difficult in my experience. There's presumably something out there that would do it, but many common things don't seem to be that great.

I've used board-mounted pots for similar situations. You're not supposed to use pots to hold a PCB in place, but in practice it works well. If I was a rock star on a world tour and I knew my roadies were gorillas, I might look for a more robust solution, but since I'm not I don't have to bother!

[shattered]

That could explain it, thanks for your insight. Also, in this pedal, I didn't put a screw inside the standoffs so the glued surface was minimal.

In other pedal I just used shorter cables and I'd say it's very reliable (no space for battery though), there's no way for it to move. I'm also experimenting using unglued standoffs in both sides so the board gets extra protection, and I could put a rigid plastic between the power jack and the PCB.