How to mount DCC circuit boards to your bench work?

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Any recommendations on how to mount circuit boards to bench work? Anything to look out for? I want to mount a NCE CP6 to the underside of my layout.

Thanks,

Mark

2

The on-line manual for the CP6, http://www.ncedcc.com/images/stories/manuals/cp6.pdf, shows a mounting hole in each corner. You can make or purchase stand-offs (spacers or sleeves) that will support the board and hold it away from the bench work. You put the screw through the hole, put the stand-off around the screw, and drive remaining length of screw into the wood.

3

That’s almost always the best, if mounting holes are provided. The standoffs are important, both to prevent board damage and to allow air cirulation. Leave the power driver out of this one, you don;t want to screw things down that tightly, circuit boards are easily cracked and if the wrong part of it cracks you’re out of luck. Just snug it up - the vibrating electrons inside the circuit won;t shake it loose [:D]

–Randy

4

I am of the mind that any bare electronics need to have some type of spacer or standoff to keep the bare board off the wood, metal, plastic or what ever you are using as your mounting board. If you are using plasitc for your mounting board then you need to protect the device from ESD by making sure the plastic is ESD safe or use some type of ESD insulator between the plastic and board.

Massey

5

I think, I’ve used 1/4" long nylon spacers with # 4 or 6 screws running through them. Is this enough stand off space to provide ample cooling for circuit breaker and AR boards?

6

I would think so. Most of these boards have all the components mounted on the surface, do they not? Plus I would think that circuit breakers would not really generate much in the way of heat. I’d use the standoffs just to keep the protruding component pins from bottoming on the mounting surface.

7

Cut up a Bic pen to make PC board spacers.

8

Yes, hand drive suitable screws into the holes provided on the board and into the rear face of your benchwork where a knee is unlikely to make contact with the circuit board. I used a 1.2" diameter plastic tube of some description cut into 3/4" lengths as spacers between the inner face of the bench and the board itself, and that was for a PSX-AR I installed six years ago. The spacers insulate and keep the air flow available around the various items for the purpose of coolings.

Place screw through hole in the circuit board, slide length of plastic tubing over screw shank, and then carefully drive the screw just barely snuggly into the wood so that the spacer makes contact with the board and the frame. Repeat three or X times for all the holes provided, and then set about wiring it.

Crandell

9

You be usin’ some mighty big diameter spacers thar, pilgrim.

10

Woops…meant 1/2" …with a slash.

11

I just go to the grocery store & get a small box of ditalini. There is enough in one of those boxes to supply a 100 people or more for life then mount as others have said. If there are no mounting holes I use hot glue sparingly.