Simple plastic cover I made for circuit board

Don M

I was thinking about what I could use to cover the bottom of a circuit board so that it wouldn't short out when set down on the bench or mounted in a machine. I remember from the old days of repairing consumer electronics products of the stiff insulating sheets they would use to cover circuit boards and they even made a simple "box" out of the same stuff to cover assemblies.

So I thought about what I could use that would be similar and easy to find locally. After some thought I went to Staples and purchased their cheapest 3 ring binder ($1.99) that was made out of thin translucent plastic. They are the Simply brand 1/2" Poly available in different colors.

So I sheared the pieces with my paper cutter to fit my board. I was able to bend the corners and make a creased edge to form somewhat of a square edged box. I used an Exact-O knife to make a couple cutouts. I found some small push though fasteners at the local hardware store to hold the plastic to the bottom of the board.

It worked out pretty cool. It's simple, provides protection against short circuits and is translucent to allow the led's to shine through. I attached some Velcro strips to the bottom for mounting.

Now if I could find a way to label this type of plastic. I'm not sure what could be used. Any ideas? I was thinking of some sort of heat stamp but don't know how that could be done easily at home.

NWCCTV

Metal stamps then fill with sharpie of whatever color. Or, if your hands are steady enough, an engraver would also work as long as you did not go too deep.

Zoot

That's really very clever.

kwinn

Good idea Don. I use plastic cutting board sheets to do the same. They're four to a pack from the dollar store. For labeling I use self stick Avery or similar 8.5 x 11 sheets and my inkjet printer.

davejames

Zoot wrote: »

That's really very clever.

...ditto! :thumb:

Thanks for sharing.

lanternfish

Thanks for sharing this. I have seen some preformed boxes made from a similar plastic but it never crossed my mind to use them. Now all I have to do is remember where I saw them .... =-O

erco

Nice. Similar to the $2 servo testers which come with a printed mylar sleeve wrapped around. Blue indicator LEDs shine thru whether or not they are lined up with the clear windows or not.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi-RC-Helicopter-Plane-CCPM-Servo-ESC-Consistency-Tester-Checker-4-8-6V-/390717141894?pt=Radio_Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5af88e7386

Don M

Here's the fastener I used-

http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/fasteners/hard-to-find/clips/7-64-hole-flex-retainers-10-pcs-box/p-1653776-c-9548.htm

I'd like to find a much better price on quantities. Seems rather pricey for a little piece of plastic.

Duane Degn

I also think this is a great trick.

What about using nylon nuts and bolts to secure the board to the plastic?

I get a lot of stuff from Micro Fasteners and they have nylon nuts and bolts.

Don M

kwinn wrote: »

Good idea Don. I use plastic cutting board sheets to do the same. They're four to a pack from the dollar store. For labeling I use self stick Avery or similar 8.5 x 11 sheets and my inkjet printer.

You got my interest with this one so off to the Dollar store I went today. I found some sheets that appear to be made from the same material. The notebook binder cover material I used is .015" thick while the cutting board material from the Dollar Store is .017" thick.

The cutting board material should work great at even a better cost savings. The white/opaue larger style even has one smooth side. They also had a 3 pack of smaller colored ones too.

Thanks for the tip!

Don M

Duane Degn wrote: »

I also think this is a great trick.

What about using nylon nuts and bolts to secure the board to the plastic?

I get a lot of stuff from Micro Fasteners and they have nylon nuts and bolts.

Duane- yes that would work too. The push in type fasteners are nice for quick assembly. Seems the size I need though is more expensive than the larger sizes. I paid $.63 each yesterday at the hardware store.

Duane Degn

Brother brand label tape sticks pretty well to a lot of surfaces. I've used the normal tape put barcodes on vials that have been washed hundreds of times without the tape coming off. I'm not sure if the normal label material would stick to the textured material. You may need the more expensive high adhesive tape if you wanted to use Brother labels.