[sdiy] flat 5U modules

[Tom Wiltshire]

I agree about the fault finding being more of a problem.

I use this same  “PCB parallel to panel” arrangement for guitar stomp boxes (where depth is necessarily very limited). If you use board-mounted pots to avoid internal wiring like I do, you finish up with some components whose solder joints are underneath the pots. You either have to tack-solder the pots to the board for testing and then re-do them properly, or you have to be lucky and not find a fault in one of those components. And we all know how well that works...

I’ve wondered about moving to 9mm vertical PCB-mounting pots to minimise this problem. Currently I use the 16mm vertical Alpha pots (https://www.rapidonline.com/taiwan-alpha-rv16af-series-potentiometers-lin-16mm-metal-case-pcb-mount-561735) and these are too large to avoid having things underneath them. Also they sit several mm off the PCB, so you easily *can* put solder joints underneath them without issues.

Despite this, I much prefer the “parallel” low-depth style over things sticking back from the panel like some mutant electronic shelf.

Tom

==================
       Electric Druid
Synth & Stompbox DIY
==================

> On 20 Nov 2018, at 16:09, Oakley Sound <oakleysound at btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
> > I like the flat arrangement of the module’s components.
> 
> It's a pain in the butt to 'fault find' compared with a single board at right angles. Which is why I have avoided it for so long. However, MU is becoming dominant in 5U and less deep modules are the thing there. So expect a few more flat modules in the future.
> 
> Tony
> 
> www.oakleysound.com
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