So I have pretty much finished the mod/rebuild of my Russian Big Muff. Everything works great and sounds great when it is on the bench. However, the final step is putting it in a new housing, and it is causing me grief. Once everything gets crammed into the housing, it starts cutting out and generally pissing me off. I think what is happening is that the solder/trace side of the PCB is sitting so close to the back of the pots, that when the pots are used they push down and short out the PCB. I'm having a hell of a time finding a good, secure way to mount the PCB so it doesn't wiggle around. I got those little peel and stick standoffs, but they don't seem to cut it.
So two questions:
- Easiest/best way to mount the PCB? This is going in an off the shelf project box from the local electronics store.
- A good way to insulate the PCB from the other metal components, like the pots. I'm thinking of just putting a thin sheet of that grey foam that comes as packing material with cell phones and computer parts between the PCB and the pots. I'm assuming that any voltages on the solder points would be so minimal I don't need to worry about it being a fire hazard, but correct me if I'm wrong
First shot at pedal fuck-around-ery. It's been both fun and frustrating.
For insulation I find electrical tape or a cut up plastic coke bottle works well. For securing the pcb in place I use heavy duty double sided foam and I usually stick the pcb to the back of the pots, I also sometimes completely cover the solder side in the foam using the foam for insulation.
Excellent tip Moose. I know the double sided foam you speak of, and I think that would do the trick nicely. Thanks!
Yep, beat me to the punch. We used to use that double sided foam at HP too, for holding on the pouches on top of instruments, I seem to recall you could pick one up by the pouch and the tape holds.
dabs of rtv/silicone work too.
Quote from: RAGER on December 23, 2011, 02:27:44 PM
dabs of rtv/silicone work too.
I've used the for holding down large components on a PCB, to sort of cushion them, is it sticky enough to mount PCB's with? I've got tubes of caulk from past projects I could use.
short answer yes. Try it
Layout can be a PITA. I'm using AL standoffs from smallbear. In a pinch hot glue?
I like the caulk idea, because I built on perfboard, not veroboard, so I have wiring on the underside, the foam tape sticks to it, but looks uneven, caulk would allow me to run a bead and seat it better. My worry about hot glue would be if you left it in a car. Did that to another project held by hot glue, and it became detached :-[
i superglue nylon spacers, insulated and large enough