Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I got the Silver Pony 2 kit and a blank box with NSC, made in china stamped on the inside.

I've got the board all together, but the board is too wide for the box. The box tapers, and the board will not get any closer to the panel side than about .6 inches.

The leads on the pots will not reach the board, the LEDs are not close to the holes and I cannot force the board any further in.

The problem is the tapered sides. At the opening (bottom), the Inside width of the box is about 4.54 inches.

The board in 4.49 inches wide.

The outside width at top (panel) side of the box is 4.64 inches, but the sides are 0.085 thick. So the inside of the box tapers to approximately 4.47 on the panel end. (I don't have a micrometer that will directly measure the inside width for the full depth of the box.)

Hence the board doesn't fit far enough in.

I will contact sales, or sales, please contact me, but I wanted to ask if this has been seen before/ is a known issue.

Thanks.

No, haven't heard of this issue before and will bring it to BYOC's attention. You should still go ahead and contact sales@buildyourownclone.com.

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Thanks. I did send off an email and will await their response.

Do you have a couple of photos of the poor fit that you could post here?

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

This is hard to take a picture of, but you can see the board is jammed tight lengthwise, so it won't go in any further than that, and it's still a good 0.6 inches above the inside of the front panel. The pins on the pots are only 0.56 inches from the front panel, so they don't even reach the board. And the LEDs are only 0.4 inches tall, so they're still 0.2 from reaching their holes. I expect they should be much closer to the holes than that.

Mostly though, the pot leads don't even reach the board.

Here's another showing how tight this is. Can't see the relation to the pots, but the pins don't reach.

I had the same problem. Used a Dremel to shave the sides of the box.

To re-summarize:
The enclosure is 1.4 inches deep.

When the board is inserted as far and as level as I can make it, the component side is 0.8 inches deep in the enclosure. This leaves about 0.6 inches between the solder side of the board and the inside of the front panel.
The pots, from the mounting surface against the panel to the tips of their pins are 0.6 inches.

That leaves exactly 0 inches of pin protruding through the board to solder.

The LEDs are about 0.4 tall and the board is about 0.06 inches thick. This leaves them buried 0.14 inches below the inside surface of the panel which is too far away.

Ooohhhh, seriously? Of course you're being serious. Did the company give you any other solutions?

Thanks for posting those photos--it's always helpful to actually see the issue rather than trying to visualize it.

I've brought this to Keith's attention, though he's out of the office for a couple of days, so you probably won't hear back from him until Friday earliest.

Here's a couple of options that you may wish to consider:

• The LED's will surely fit if you straighten the leads out and push them further down into the enclosure--this is the standard way of mounting the LED's. But that's the lesser problem, as you mentioned.
• Here's a way to get more length out of the pot leads: If you have extra mounting nuts that fit the pots, put an additional nut onto the threaded bushing of each pot before installing them in the enclosure. There should be enough length on those bushings to still be able to screw on the external mounting nut. And if you don't have any extra nuts, I'm sure than BYOC can provide them.

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

So, essentially leave the LEDs free standing from the board (or braced against the cover)

but, using one of the supplied nuts on the inside and the washer on the outside only leaves 1 thread for the other nut. Then it's going to be a bear to fiddle 4 of them at once without having enough thread to leave them loose. And the switch really needs a bushing too.

I'm about to start dremeling to thin the sides of the enclosure as boog453 suggested. Or... maybe I'll just let it sit for a bit.

I don't know how many people have built this successfully without modifying this enclosure, but this is pretty irritating.

But, I appreciate the suggestions, and understand there could be tolerance or supply chain variations...

Thanks.

Yes--insert them far enough so that the dome of the LED rests in the hole. As I said, this is the standard way of mounting LED's in these pedals, and is not related to the fit problem you're experiencing.


Another option would be to install a couple of washers on the bushing inside the enclosure and see if that buys you enough additional height to reach the PCB eyelets. Just trying to come up with some "dremeless" ideas for you!


I find it easier to mount the pots finger-tight one at a time, rotate it slightly and/or bend the legs gently forward or back until they align with the PCB eyelets, then snug it down with a wrench or socket. Repeat with next pot, etc. That may work better for you here where you don't have much extra bushing thread to work with.


Though I'm not directly involved with it, my understanding is that this problem relates to a new supplier whose enclosure apparently has a slightly greater taper or wall thickness than the previous supplier's product. As you know, there have been massive changes in supply chains since the pandemic, and I know Keith has had to qualify new suppliers for a number of components. I am certain that Keith would test the fit in multiple kits, but perhaps the SP2 wasn't checked. As I mentioned, until your thread, this issue hadn't been previously reported, but I have no idea when or how many kits containing these new enclosures have shipped. But he will.

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

I didn't contact BYOC. I just went for it. It looked very close to fitting, so I dove in with a sanding drum and shaved off just enough for the PCB to fit.

At least they are now aware of the problem!

Thanks for the in-depth answers. Yes, I agree the taper or thickness must have changed. I'll probably just leave it until I hear back then move forward with whatever sounds best.
Cheers.

First of all, sorry for this inconvenience. It appears these enclosures with NSC printed on the inside are from a new mold and a just ever so slightly smaller on the inside. It's a very tight fit, but I'm able to get the PCB assembly to fit. However, the solder pins of the pots are just barely sticking into the PCB. What's weird is that we're down to the last 3 kits in this batch and you two are the first to mention this. So perhaps there is very small sizing tolerance with the enclosures and PCBs.

Since we're talking about less than a millimeter, sanding the side(s) is definitely a solution if you have that capability. I would recommend sanding the side with the copyright symbol on it first. There's a little more excess epoxy board to remove on that side. You just want to make sure you don't sand into the trace.

Another possible solution is to follow the Royal Flush instructions on how to mount the pots. This is the method we're recommending for builds with a lot of pots and switches, however, it's pretty much how I build all of my pedals now. Anyhow...if you use this method and make sure that the pots are just barely inserted into the PCB, then I think this should fix it.

If not, email me keith@buildyourownclone.com and we'll send you a new enclosure.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

For those following along, this is all worked out and it works great.

Thanks for all the help. I know my next one will go much more smoothly than this (which was my first one.)

Cheers!
Jim

I know this is a resolved thread, but I wanted to share a similar experience and how it may have affected my other build issue. See that post here:

viewtopic.php?t=60287

I've attached a picture of my build. As you can see, the pots are considerably angled after making everything fit. I considered shaving the PCB board down, but the traces were awfully close to the edge. Given the quality of other kits I've bought from BYOC, I just assumed it was user error. I didn't realized how much I was forcing it until I took everything out of the enclosure. I'm wondering if this could have something to do with the unwanted noise I have - possibly due to damage from forcing it in. Any thoughts?

Pic here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KRbQzo ... sp=sharing