Turret Construction and Relay Switching

[chunkitup]

I build all my amps with turrets and I am looking for a solution with my relays. I used turrets once for the relays and it looks like crap and the turrets are very close together. I now use radio shack generic boards and build the entire switching circuit on it and then attach to chassis but the radio crap boards are one sided so if I wanted to change anything on the switching board I would have to take the whole board out. I was wondering if anyone has an idea that would keep the relays on the main preamp board and have individual leads easily removed or altered. Should I have a pcb made just to mount the relay on then attach it to the turret board. What is everyone else doing?

[riz]

Eyelets?

[DIY_Guy]

I just started doing thick PCB but with turrets. Maybe you can go that route, that way you can keep the turret style, but also have the ability to mount PCB components like relays nicely. I use 0.093" thick board, 2.0oz copper, and they work out to about $15 a piece. Way cheaper than a blank piece of G10 would cost of the same size, and I'd still have to drill it.

[defaced]

I have designed pcbs for this. Relay on one side with status led, dc ref resistors spots and flyback diode on the back. The relay is the only through hose part, the rest is 1260 package smd parts. I'll post pics when I get home. Turrets for the wire pads is a planned revision, just haven't bothered with it yet.

[Enzo]

yeah, so many different ways that would all work...

Does your switching circuit design change all that often anyway? And how is it mounted? Instead of screws or nuts, consider those little plastic things you see everywhere, they snap into holes on the board. Those are easy to release and th board pops free. Design your little board with the wires all coming off one edge instead of in all directions, then the thing can be flipped over on its back to reveal the underside without having to unsolder or dismount anything.

I never use sm parts, but Mike's plan is what I thought of too, use your little one side board with the relay on the blank side, then solder the resistors and things onto the solder side. Mount the board solder side up, then you can leave it in place and change everything but the relay itself, which presumably wouldn;t be changing.


You could dead-bug the relay. Glue the relay to the turret board upside down, legs in the air. Have a row of close spaced turrets along either side of it, with bare wire jumpers from the relay pins over to the turrets. Add other turrets for transistors and relays and such.

[greekie]

I just started doing thick PCB but with turrets. Maybe you can go that route, that way you can keep the turret style, but also have the ability to mount PCB components like relays nicely. I use 0.093" thick board, 2.0oz copper, and they work out to about $15 a piece. Way cheaper than a blank piece of G10 would cost of the same size, and it'd still have to drill it.

Where are you having those boards made? Are you installing the turrets yourself? It looks very good indeed!

Jake

[riz]

I like the "dead bug" idea too. Been using my glue gun a lot lately! Many good suggestions here. I'm going to mount a relay board this weekend, but will use the PCB I got from Weber.

[DIY_Guy]

Where are you having those boards made? Are you installing the turrets yourself? It looks very good indeed!

Jake

MyRO made them for me, cheapest(and quickest, 6 days) I could find for short runs (10 at a time). I still stake the turrets myself, but it's no big deal considering the drilling is already done perfectly.

[tedmich]

Enzo, as usual, has the goods, but I have encountered relays which have a vent hole you are supposed to pierce after board washing etc, there lifetime, if used near there limits, could suffer if the "dead bug" can't breath!

Yeah 700! That 1200mi weekly commute has really cut into the posts!

[riz]

tedmich, good to know about the vents...

[defaced]

Here are the three boards I've designed. The two relay board was my prototype, and as you can see on the back side, I've abused it a little and lifted a few pads. It is also a first revision board where the relay is on top with the LED and a single ground plane for the voltage reference resistors. The second revision boards put the relay on the back and gave each set of relay contacts its own voltage reference plane, which can be joined to the one next to it if desired. Relays can also be powered independently or ganged together. The single relay board is 1 x 1 inch, double relay is 1.5 x 1 inches and the triple relay board is 2 x 1 inches. Making the wire holes turret compatible is planned for rev three.