Casings - what kind of them do you use?

[darko31]

Hi guys,

I'm interested in other peoples opinions and experience.

What kind of casing do you use for your electronics projects/prototypes? Most of mine are bare PCB, and the minority is packed in some salvaged casings.

Cheap plastic casings from electronics store aren't easy to come by here in Serbia, so I'm thinking of making some wooden cases since plywood is cheap, easy to assemble and it can be made with simple tools. Does anyone has experience with that kind of thing.

What is the cheapest solution? What is the best solution?

Please, do tell.

[croberts]

Hello darko31

I house the Driver PCB for my LED lights in an Altoid tin. Picture is attached. Cheers!

[darko31]

That box looks very nice, I really like it.

[croberts]

Thanks. Here is a link for a place that sells plain tins of the same type as Altoid in different sizes.

http://www.specialtybottle.com/hingedtincontainersmi.aspx

They say they ship internationally to some countries. The prices for the tins seem reasonable but I guess shipping costs could be a problem.

I also use a special 4" electrical box that has a solid flat bottom so I can drill mounting holes on any pattern I choose for different boards. I mount the PDAC PCB for my lighting system in that 4" box. I finish it off with a standard square 4" cover plate. Picture attached. Here is a link for that supplier.

http://www.garvinindustries.com/electrical-junction-boxes/4-square-junction-boxes/2-1-8-deep-with-conduit-knockouts/52171-sbb

[TerminalJack505]

I'm thinking about using this as my next project case.  Inexpensive and scented too.   

[madires]

Have you tried TME (www.tme.eu)? They got a lot of really inexpensive cases. For some larger plastic cases with front and back panel I paid about 3-4 Euros each.

[Corporate666]

Hello darko31

I house the Driver PCB for my LED lights in an Altoid tin. Picture is attached. Cheers!

Neat!

What chips are you using in that driver with what LED's?  Are you happy with them? I've tried tons (of LED's and drivers) - always curious what others are using and if they are happy.

[Psi]

Depending on country, be careful using unusual containers for electronics.
There have been multiple occasions where people thought they were bombs.

Anything that looks DIY/homemade where you can see all the wires/electronics can scare people.

There was one a while ago where someone built a AM radio into a small metal box which caused lots of trouble. I think it was at an airport.

[croberts]

Hello darko31

I house the Driver PCB for my LED lights in an Altoid tin. Picture is attached. Cheers!

Neat!

What chips are you using in that driver with what LED's?  Are you happy with them? I've tried tons (of LED's and drivers) - always curious what others are using and if they are happy.

I use the National Semiconductor LM3429. I have been very happy with the driver. I have 23 LED lights installed so far (one more to go) and haven't had a bit of trouble with any of them. I have attached a pdf of the driver schematic in case you are interested.

[NiHaoMike]

I like to reuse various enclosures, like a portable battery pack in a hard drive enclosure or an audio amplifier in a router case.

[MacAttak]

I love discarded cedar cigar boxes (wooden ones - not the paper ones). Cigar merchant stores will usually give these away, or sell them extremely cheaply, so they don't end up in a landfill. The place I usually get them from sells them for $2 each, for as many as I want, which is fine for me because I am also a patron of the business and like to hang out in their "back room" club for business meetings with coworkers.

I happen to like the smell of cedar with the mild hint of tobacco, but that might not be everyone's top choice. I also think that it adds a slight touch of class to some projects.

[sleemanj]

I've used 5mm corflute for a couple of projects recently, really quick and easy to form into a box with a knife and hotglue.

Obviously not exactly "professional", but good enough for myself.

Edit to add: corflute is the super cheap plastic sign board that real estate for sale signs, event signs etc are made from.  It's very strong and light, and can often be obtained for free, just nab a some old signs from some event or real estate agent.

[nctnico]

For some products of mine I use clear heat-shrink tubing. Its easy to see the leds and read the text while the PCB is protected.

[peps1]

I work with guitar pedals for a living, so have boxes and boxes of aluminum enclosures.....if I every drill a hole in the wrong place or get a bad powder-coat it goes into the DIY project enclosure box!

And like nctnico Iv started using Heat-shrink a lot as a pseudo enclosure with trims or terminals left exposed (this is really handy for me, as much of my work is retrofitting and modding, so I have isolated circuits I can easily insert into other enclosures).

[vlf3]

Mostly I use enclosures and cases from Hammond Co;  their of good quality in ABS-mixed plastic, and extruded aluminium, with a very wide range, at low to reasonable cost; recently I have purchased and used for projects the below image: extruded aluminium with plastic ends... normally supplied via agents or your local electronics outlet world-wide.

Hammond web-site, Home page:

http://www.hammondmfg.com/index.htm

Small enclosures page range:

http://www.hammondmfg.com/scpg.htm

Extruded Aluminum range:

http://www.hammondmfg.com/1455ptbla.htm

[kt315]

I use the National Semiconductor LM3429. I have been very happy with the driver. I have 23 LED lights installed so far (one more to go) and haven't had a bit of trouble with any of them. I have attached a pdf of the driver schematic in case you are interested.

That is a lot of LED lights ... What are you aiming for with 24 LED? Which LEDs do you use btw?
That is a cute little board I have to admit.

[croberts]

I use the National Semiconductor LM3429. I have been very happy with the driver. I have 23 LED lights installed so far (one more to go) and haven't had a bit of trouble with any of them. I have attached a pdf of the driver schematic in case you are interested.

That is a lot of LED lights ... What are you aiming for with 24 LED? Which LEDs do you use btw?
That is a cute little board I have to admit.

Hello kt315

With apologies to the OP for the tangent. I use the LED lights for all of the lighting in my house. They are 100% solar powered. The LED I use is a Bridgelux BXRA-N0802-00L00. Bridgelux discontinued the LED and are now making one in the same package with higher forward voltage. For new units I will have to redesign the driver. The LEDs are replaceable on my lights and I have a stock of the discontinued units. The LEDs have a life of 50000+ hours. I have attached a few more photos.

[kt315]

That is seriously awesome ... I suspected that it would be used all around the house, and my next question was going to be what you are using as a 12v power source. I guess I know the answer now.

Looks like you went thru a lot of trouble to get his working ...
Is it completely off the grid? Was it a choice or a necessity?

Thanks for the pictures.

[croberts]

That is seriously awesome ... I suspected that it would be used all around the house, and my next question was going to be what you are using as a 12v power source. I guess I know the answer now.

Looks like you went thru a lot of trouble to get his working ...
Is it completely off the grid? Was it a choice or a necessity?

Thanks for the pictures.

Hello kit315

Yes the LED lighting is completely off the grid. Motion sensors and control electronics turn the lights off automatically when not needed to conserve power. So far the system has provided plenty of high quality light and we haven't had to get anywhere near the lightbulb aisle at WalMart for a long time. It really is great.

The system was a choice. I had wanted to do a project with a renewable energy source for a long time. After the Gulf Oil Spill, Fukushima, etc I wanted to apply what I knew to show solar energy could be applied to a practical everyday thing...like lighting. So far after more than a year doing this it has been successful.

[SeanB]

Mine is a lot smaller, just a 30W panel and a pair of 36AH batteries, then up to 3A of LED lighting for my room. So far it has been growing for the last 6 months as lights are converted to 12V. I have some 7W lamps on order from Frankie to add on as well in place of some of the 3W ones.

[croberts]

Mine is a lot smaller, just a 30W panel and a pair of 36AH batteries, then up to 3A of LED lighting for my room. So far it has been growing for the last 6 months as lights are converted to 12V. I have some 7W lamps on order from Frankie to add on as well in place of some of the 3W ones.

My system started out small with a pair of 15W panels from Northern Tool, one 85AH battery, and one Cree LED. The system grew from there as money and time would allow.

[ptricks]

Making your own cases can be fun and cheap once you know what to get and how it all fits together. I like acrylic , it is cheap, comes in colors and easy to work with. Cut the sizes you need and glue the corners together, dries in minutes.

For the really adventurous you can also bend acrylic easily at home, I use a hot air station to do it but any hot air source could work. Place sheet on table, edge of table where you want the bend in the plastic. Heat slowly  and put slight pressure on the overhanging part of the plastic till you get the bend you want, take just a minute and makes pro quality rounded corners.

You can also use plastic from storage containers by cutting into sheets and bending to fit. I can get large plastic containers for about $1 each which allows me to cut sheets from it that would be about $4 each if I bought just the plastic.