Re: de-panelizing scored PCBs

"Rich Grise" <richgrise@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:pan.2006.06.13.07.23.22.880602@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If a board has to *** up against _anything_, it's a poor design in the
first place. (unless it's part of the enclosure itself, in which case
you'll have a whole nother set of tolerance issues. ;-) )

The board doesn't quite *** against the enclosure; it's separated by about
15 mils. But that's too small for a tab, unless I grind it down, which
seems like a pain and which generates fiberglas dust that I don't really
feel like breathing.

FWIW, the reason for the proximity is that this is the board that the
front-panel connectors and pots are mounted on. The connectors are 3.5mm
stereo jacks; the space between the front PCB terminal and the bushing is
only just barely enough for the PCB pad. I have not (yet) found any
panel-mount 3.5mm connectors with PCB terminals for which that is not the
case.

So the only alternative I'm aware of is to hand-wire the connectors, instead
of PCB-mounting them. That's what I do now, and it's too slow; I can't meet
distributor demand.

Can you think of a different option? The givens are that there will be two
3.5mm connectors and two pots mounted on the front panel; the connectors
must be mounted in such a way that connector insertion does not result in
undue stress on the solder joints; and similarly, the pots must be mounted
in such a way that manipulating them, and possibly dropping the unit on its
face, does not result in undue stress on the solder joints. (I've fixed too
darn many pieces of gear from other manufacturers where these rules weren't
followed!) If there's a good alternative I'd be interested to hear it.

Thanks,
-walter


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