PCB sales

[lowell]

Anyone make PCB or have some boards that would work well w/ 3 dpdt relays? I may be willing to buy them or pay someone to make them for me. The board will need to hold the 3 relays and wire their pins to holes that will be filled w/ wire leads. I figure I'd ask, but make them myself if no one bites. Actually all I need is the PnP blue. If someone can make that for me I'll make the boards myself. I don't want to deal w/ learning software for this, but maybe I'll need to suck it up.

[J M Fahey]

Hi Lowell.
1) Scan the relay you plan to use (pinside), showing a piece of ruler by it, or at least a 2" line or scale printed on a piece of paper, parallel to the long axis. This is important to dimension it. You may also post a drawing showing the pins and the distances, also the case dimensions, this is called the "footprint".
*If* you have the link to some datasheet that shows it clearly, much better. The case dimensions alone are not enough. The measurements should be in thousandths of an inch, called "mils"; measurements indicated as 1/32", 9/16" and such, are not useful in PCB design.
2) What voltage are their bobbins/coils?
3) I understand you will hook one end of the bobbin to, say, +6V or +12V, and ground the other end at will through a (foot)switch , is that so?
4) Don't worry about payment, that board is a piece of cake, but be careful with measurements or your relays won't fit the PCB; try to use the "most standard/average/easily available" possible.
5) You don't *really* need a board, just glue them upside down with contact cement on a strip of phenolic or glass fibre board and you're done (even to the chassis itself).
I specify contact cement because it is somewhat elastic and impact resistant; superglue or epoxy can snap off under impact or heat, both of which are easy to find in a guitar amp.
PS: download and start playing with "DIY Layout Creator", it's FUN and very intuitive, besides it has 3 modes: Vero/Stripboard, perfboard and PCB.
You'll prefer suicide if you try to draw a Mesa MkIV board with it, but for everyday little tasks, add-ons, etc. it's great and *quick*

[lowell]

JM,
Awesome reply thank you. Ok so you can make this for me if I get you the datasheets? I will checkout that program asap.

[dan___o]

Heres one I whipped up for an amp I was working on that I posted over at sloclone. It's only 2 DPDT relays though. I could probably add another if you want.

Here's a board I whipped up for channel swiching or WHY. It just bolts on to the back of the chassis. I thought someone may be able to use it.
I had 12v relays from the local electronics store, so I used a voltage doubler from the heaters.They are FIC relays but they appear to be the same config as Omron G5V-2, please check the data sheet first though.
You can just omit a relay if you only need one. you might wanna use a nylon standoff, or isolate the GND from the chassis with a fibre washer to stop ground loops.
For use with grounded heater CT Only!





Haunted_Switching_Board_sloclone.zip

[J M Fahey]

Hey Dan_o .... beautiful board !!!!
Much nicer (did you use EAGLE?) than what I can cook with my Autotrax and Tango oldtimers.
I see you switch both relays at once with a single (Foot) switch.
I don't know what Lowell has in mind .
Your "free 12V" supply was very intelligent.
I think he needs the "black printout" and probably converted to GIF (with some scale built-in for proper sizing) to iron-transfer it to the board.

[dan___o]

Hey Dan_o .... beautiful board !!!!
Much nicer (did you use EAGLE?) than what I can cook with my Autotrax and Tango oldtimers.
I see you switch both relays at once with a single (Foot) switch.
I don't know what Lowell has in mind .
Your "free 12V" supply was very intelligent.
I think he needs the "black printout" and probably converted to GIF (with some scale built-in for proper sizing) to iron-transfer it to the board.

Thanks J M,

Yeah not sure if he wants to switch them all at once, or one by one. I'll wait 'till he replies. The black printout is at the bottom in the
'Haunted_Switching_Board_sloclone.zip' It's a PDF, so just print it 100% with no scaling. There is also the schematic in there.
It was made with 'Proteus' software from Labcenter Electronics. I'm not a huge fan of the Eagle interface, although it does get the job done, and the price IS right

[lowell]

Hey guys,
yes nice board! I def need 3 relays. Here are the datasheets. The 3rd relay is smaller than the others. I need the relays, 3 protection diodes, and wire holes. 1 relay is http://pewa.panasonic.com/pcsd/produ...f_cat/ds2y.pdf and the 2 other relays are http://pewa.panasonic.com/pcsd/produ...ech_eng_jw.pdf.

For the DS2Y I need wire holes that connect to pins 4-8-9-13.

For the JW2SN looking at 2 form C on the datsheet, I need wire holes that connect to both commons and NC pins. Common of one side of 1 JW2SN needs to be traced directly to commonr of one side of the other JW2SN. Finally, one JW2SN needs 2 wire holes for each common. I hope this makes sense. Maybe I can draw it out for you.

[defaced]

Here's a three relay board I designed and have a prototype I'm willing to let go of. You could use any 16 DIP footprint relay provided it has the same pinout as the Omron G5V (which is the relay I designed the board for). Features:

• Protection diode
• Led status
• Independent or ganged power
• Ground reference resistors
• Socketed relay (16 DIP)
• Mounting holes
• Protection diode
• Power supplied off board (I use 24v relays, so that's what's printed. You can use any voltage relay you want)

[lowell]

Ok tried it with DIY layout creator. here it is. However I can't figure out how to size the board in physical dimensions. I'd like the board to be around 2" square.

[J M Fahey]

Hi Lowell.
I'm happy you got such a response to your need.
Dan___O posted his impressive board, which has been tested and approved in a Forum as difficult as SLOClone.
Defaced offered his incredible "one size fits all" board, which can be configured anyway you want and already was designed for 3 relays.
Finally you produced a very good design, specially because nobody can commit to your needs like yourself.
I think you are firmly on your way; I'd only suggest you add an extra wire pad close to those already drawn (also by the coil contacts), so besides the obvious external connection to whatever tou need, you can also add wire links to combine them anyway you want.
I'd also suggest you normalize your Relays to the Omron footprint, which seems to be a "de facto" standard. Maybe those Panasonics fit that footprint too, or some version of them can be ordered that does so, you'll have to check the datasheets.
As a final suggestion, make the tracks thicker and the pads larger, even going to rectangular ones .
The copper is your friend, the more the better, both mechanically, electrically and thermally, and also more copper left means less etching.
I don't know what DS2Y and JW2SN means.
Post the schematic (even if partial) of what you intend to build or achieve.
You can also mount the small 12V supply needed on the same board.
Excellent work, the three of you.
I'm impressed .


PS: your PCB program already thinks in mils (one thousandth of an inch) and if you match print resolution with that of your printer the result is 1:1 scale, real size.
Anyway it's good to draw by the tracks themselves a 2000 mil scale (2") and check on the printout that it effectively measures so. If possible, a 4000 mil or 6000 mil will provide even better precision.
When printing, avoid "stretch to page", "fit to page", etc., print 1:1 or 100%.
*If* you want your board to measure 2" by 2", draw a box of that size with thin 10 or 12 mil track, and try to fit everything there, I guess you'll need a little more space for your 3 relays.

I'd suggest you print your design on any piece of paper, attach it to a piece of Styrofoam with glue, tape, whatever, and punch your relays there, to check pinout, fit, space, whatever.
Believe it or not, that method was used by Mesa Boogie themselves as a last check before comitting a sizable amount of money on boards that could late show space or mounting problems.
Remember they usually design tight.

[lowell]

Jm,
right on thanks for all the good info... I figured out later that, when printed, the holes are very small distances apart. My relay pins seem to be 4 "holes" apart width-wise and 3 holes apart lengthwise, so I'll just compensate there.

I forgot to thank Dan_o and Defaced for you contributions. Those look great, nice job, just not quite what I'm after for this specific amp design. Cheers.