Collosalus Mounting Arrangement

[Scott S.]

I am building one of these, and as supplied the board will be cantilevered off the pots, which are all on the extreme end of the PCB.

I am thinking it makes sense to add a standoff on the other end of the PCB, and the hole for the 7815 regulator tab looks a good place to drill for this.

THe instructions show no traces in that area of the PCB that would be hit.

This could also provide heat sinking and enclosure grounding since the regulator tab is connected to the middle ground terminal of the regulator IC if the standoff and the screw are metal as would be typical.  Or it would be easy to isolate with a TO-220 washer.

Can a moderator confirm there are no traces in the area as shown in the instructions before I drill please. 

[madbean]

There are power and ground planes on the two inner layers of the 4-layer board. I would not go drilling into the PCB. There's no need, IMO. The four mounted pots provide enough mounting strength to keep the PCB firmly in place.

Alternatively, you could affix some non-conducting foam under the PCB in place of a standoff.

[Scott S.]

OK yes the foam should work.

A nonconductive bracket with a say a 1/16 x 1/18 groove would work also, kind of like those enclosures with the grooves to slide in a PCB.