[sdiy] Front panel and PCB design tactics

[Declare Update]

I have not found any reliable smd pots or jacks. I bite the bullet and use through hole for the panel components, then fill up the back with smd. the pj301m-12 jacks allow an soic-8 or a tssop-14 behind it, which is really great. I've recently started using PTA series sliders from bourns as well, and they leave a ton of open space on the back. 

I'd like to at least use smd headers for power, but would definitely worry about customer roughing them up. 

But to be clear, it does suck having to pay someone to solder the through hole parts, and worse when it's me! 

Chris

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 26, 2015, at 6:03 AM, Ingo Debus <igg.debus at t-online.de> wrote:
> 
> 
>> Am 26.04.2015 um 09:20 schrieb rsdio at audiobanshee.com:
>> 
>> I almost always select SMD components that have a PCB fixing post. This doesn't prevent the part from being lifted directly away (perpendicular) from the PCB, but it does provide relief against pressure in other directions. The 3.5 mm jack that I found from Switchcraft is horizontally mounted, and has two fixing posts, meaning that inserting a jack would be pressing against these posts instead of just relying upon the SMD pads.
> 
> But does this help a lot? There are always tolerances, in the diameter of the posts, in their distance, and last not least in the diameter of the holes in the PCB. So you have to make the holes wider than the nominal diameter of the posts. When the jack is soldered to the PCB, it's likely the the solder joints have to take all the force and not the posts.
> 
> Ingo
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy