Covering up extra holes on enclosure..any ideas?

[Joe Hart]

I just needed to "cover" some air vents in a recycled enclosure.  I used a sheet of stiff plastic (cut from some packaging for an electric razor), covered one side with sticky foil tape (found on the side of the road a while back -- I think it's the stuff that AC guys use for ductwork), then placed it inside the enclosure covering the offending holes and taped it on with more of the foil tape from the inside.  So when you look at the vents, all you see is shiny metal rather than my cruddy rat's nest wiring job!  Does this make sense the way I described it?  I think it looks pretty nifty.
-Joe Hart

[FlyingZ]

Don't know about JB Weld but I'm certain bondo doesn't conduct electricity. I got noise through an old power plug hole next to a volume pot before.

If it's a metal box that conducts electricity then what difference would it make 

Bill

Shielding 

[bside2234]

Put the status led in the hole and the switch where the led was going to go.

[trendyironicname]

drill some more holes, paint it yellow and call it the "swiss cheese pedal" 

haha, that's great

[WLS]

...
Shielding 

Then wouldn't that be true with any plastic based filler? (Bondo)

But don't you have more interference with a plastic box VS a metal box?

At least from what I have read plastic enclosures require shielding in most applications. Metal boxes it is not as much of an issue.

So if JB Weld has a partial metal base wouldn't that respectively be better?


Bill

[mth5044]

From what I understand, you can be OK with a plastic enclosure as long as there is no gain stages.. or something like that.

[rnfr]

i've put fuse holder caps in my  holes before.  looks cool, and makes people wonder-"WTF?", too!

[Paul Marossy]

I've used JB weld or bondo or whatever, and 9 times out of 10 the "plug" ends up coming loose and I get a circular crack through the finish.  I think the fill needs to be anchored to the enclosure better, maybe with a small piece of screen, or just a major wad of the stuff on the inside behind the fill.

That's why I put a thin piece of metal under the hole(s). I attach it the enclosure with Super Glue, and then fill it with JB Weld. When I get it right, you can't tell at all where the hole was and I haven't had any problems with cracking or anything else. But, yeah, just JB Weld in the hole with no support underneath it is iffy...

[Strategy]

I needed a large-ish (9.5" L) enclosure for my Stage Center Reverb. the board, wiring and tank fit perfectly inside a DIY MIDI controller I had dismantled. Of course, the front panel had 14 holes and two slider slots! I had to cover up all these holes.

I work for landscape architects and I was throwing away a bunch of office crap and came across a REAL WOOD veneer product with adhesive backing. It's a 3M product, though I haven't gotten to source it new. I used this to cover the faceplate, and it was easy to work with and took wood stain pretty nicely. Definitely beats fake wood sticker paper. Gives your pedal that "early 80s station wagon" look, only better :-) I can't post a pic as I'm on vacation now...

The 3M website is a nightmare to search, as one might expect...I have a feeling that calling the local model/hobby shop will yield better results

- Strategy

[Br4d13y]

add a "burst" button

[FlyingZ]

...
Shielding 

Then wouldn't that be true with any plastic based filler? (Bondo)

But don't you have more interference with a plastic box VS a metal box?

At least from what I have read plastic enclosures require shielding in most applications. Metal boxes it is not as much of an issue.

So if JB Weld has a partial metal base wouldn't that respectively be better?


Bill

Yes

[scratch]

you never actually mentioned how big the hole is, if it's in the 1/4" range, how about a screw/bolt and nut? I do that for some smaller holes, for larger one you can get 'fender' washers which are large diameter but only a small hole in the centre ...

[tranceracer]

Maybe sink hole covers or similar like this from any hardware store:

[doitle]

add a "burst" button

Add that and then have people play it and see if they can hear the "Subtle" difference... If they can't tell them their ears aren't "Trained" enough and they'll probably be like "oh OHHHHHHHHHHH... I hear it now that is much better without the burst engaged it is almost unplayable but with burst on it sounds great!"

[Myriad Society]

If none of the ideas mentioned already will work for you and you are still stuck with a "vent hole", you can go to the harware store and find some stiff, fine mesh screen material - the screens used for some kitchen faucet aerators work pretty well. If you want to be creative, you can even dome the center of the screen a tad bit into the hole from inside the enclosure and then bend the remaining screen material back flush to the enclosure area surrounding the hole, but just laying the screen flat across the hole will work fine. Now just JB Weld around the perimeter of the hole so that the screen is bonded in place covering the hole.

This will obscure direct sight to your wiring and will make your extra hole look purposeful. If anyone asks what it's for, you can tell them it's a sound hole meant to improve the acoustic respose of the pedal or something like that.

[earthtonesaudio]

I think you should glue a rock in there.  Just 'cause.

[WLS]

You could get a child's five star jack and glue it as if it is coming out of the hole.

Jack In The Box


Bill