Looking for Nylon Adhesive PCB Spacers

[bob p]

I'm trying to locate a handful of adhesive PCB spacers for a project. Anyone know where to find them? I only need a small quantity, but the only source I've found sells them by the bag of 100.



VOLTREX|APCS-4|Fasteners, Spacers/standoffs | Newark.com

thx

[R.G.]

Mouser sells them. They're about $0.50 each.

On another matter, I tried to answer a PM from you and got an error that your storage is full and can't accept a reply.

It was 1/4W resistors. There's more, but clear some space and write me when you do.

[Enzo]

Whenever you need some little something, like that or a somponent or whatever, make yourself a list of "usual suspects."

I used to buy these metal spacer posts, and Allied had a good price if I wanted 100, but for one or a few I had to look elsewhere. SO when I shop I set up my shopping list on a legal pad, with columns for each supplier. Each column gets an X if the place doesn't have it, or only sells bulk when I need unit lot. If they have it, then I enter a price.

My main guys are Mouser, Allied, and Digikey, but there are smaller houses like Jameco and MCM that often have small lots of odder stuff.

[bob p]

My "usual suspects" are Allied, Mouser, Digikey and Newark. I've checked them all.

I'm surprised that its so hard to find this item. Maybe its because I don't have paper catalogs and I need to use the online parametric searches. If you can't guess the right keyword, the parametric searches can be pretty useless.

Keywords like "spacer" produce more results than anyone would care to wade through. Adding a modifier such as "adhesive" led to a hit at the Newark site but nowhere else. Adding "snap" led to an innumerable number of false positives at Mouser.

So far the only supplier were I've found them is Newark, and they only sell the product in bags of 100. Of course, we know that somebody like Mouser has to have them, but the problem is finding the needle in the haystack of 1.7 million parts in their online catalog. Guessing the right keyword makes it a hit or miss proposition.

[Enzo]

I call that a "standoff."

It is a spacer, in that it makes a space between two surfaces. But something that mounts a subassembly or board off the chassis is usually called a standoff. AT least in my experience.

If you found them in Newark, what do they name them there? Then try that name in the other searches.

Here is a page from Mouser, look at item F. I suspect it is the same part RG mentioned, for 50 cents. I mean the part is 50 cents, we didn't pay RG 50 cents to mention it...
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/catalogUSD/642/1893.pdf

YES YES YES get paper catalogs. Just ask for them at the various supply houses. Leafing through the hardware would find them.

Just to see at Mouser, searched:
"standoff"/electromechanical-hardware/plastic hardware/male-female standoff (as opposed to threaded) and there are 12 choices.

[bob p]

If you found them in Newark, what do they name them there? Then try that name in the other searches.

Keywords like "spacer" produce more results than anyone would care to wade through. Adding a modifier such as "adhesive" led to a hit at the Newark site but nowhere else. Adding "snap" led to an innumerable number of false positives at Mouser.

This is a good example of the problem where you have to guess the right keyword to get a hit with the parametric search -- As I mentioned in the previous post, I used the keywords "spacer" and "adhesive". These key words provided a positive result at Newark, but a negative result at Mouser.

According to the Mouser catalog page that you posted, the item is listed as a "PCB Locking Support." Never would have guessed those keywords.

Thanks for the help!

[Kazooman]

Smallbear has them, 4-pack for $1.35. Cheaper in bulk.

[bob p]

Found them at Digikey -- "CBS ON BASE TEARDROP W/ADH". Minimum order 1000 pcs.

I never would have guessed the "CBS" keyword, the "teardrop" keyword, or the "ADH" abbreviation for adhesive.

"CBS" seems to be their in-house abbreviation for "circuit board support". Go figure.

[Enzo]

yes, and if Allied has them I will only find them in their catalog, their search engine is worthless.

It doesn;t call them standoffs on the page I linked, but that is the search term that found them there.

And I think it is like anything else, now you know one new term for the things and file it away for the future.


And when things stay a mystery, well you have friends who will try to help.