Protecting your PCB?

[TheRiddick]

Question i'm looking for a way to protect my PCB because I only have 1 cab and i take them out back and forth.

I saw a picture before that somebody had Jamma Board PCB feet on each side with glass above and below to protect your pcb from getting scratched.

Wondering if this is a good idea and if so who sales something like this.

or

is there something better?

Any help would be amazing

Thanks,

 

[twistedsymphony]

Storage is arguably the most important, the conventional wisdom is that they should be stored on their side as opposed to laying flat to avoid sagging and pressure points. A lot of people who swap boards regularly will use cardboard boxes to keep them from banging against, scratching up, or snagging components on other boards.

As for general protections: If available use whatever metal cage or plastic housing was designed for it:

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Failing that you have to get creative. Some people bolt the PCB to a piece of MDF then mount a protective piece above the PCB:

Others do the same but with lexan or sheet-metal

There is no silver-bullet solution, if you do build one of these custom cases you need to keep in mind cooling , the last thing you want is to overheat your PCB

 

[winteriscoming]

I'm curious: Is wear at the JAMMA edge a concern? Is there a life expectancy for number of insertions within the spec?

 

[twistedsymphony]

I don't know if it's in the spec but it does wear, though not usually in the way you'd expect.

In my experience the pads on the edge connector eventually separate from the PCB and at that point can be accidentally ripped off the board.

This seems to happen more frequently with older PCBs, and especially on bootleg PCB I'd suspect because the manufacturing process wasn't as solid.

Also if the JAMMA edge or the JAMMA connector get too dirty it can cause electrical resistance right at the connector, which causes heat and can lead to the pads lifting for the power pins.

As long as the pins on the JAMMA connectors your using are smooth without any burrs (ie: high quality original equipment and not some cheap Chinese JAMMA harness, though some OE connectors are pretty shit) then I wouldn't worry about the metal itself wearing down any more than the metal pins on any other kind of connector.

I have seen traces worn down. but usually on JAMMA connectors with split pins that dig into the pads on the JAMMA edge. most of the time though JAMMA edge damage is caused from lifted traces, and that's either caused by a poorly made PCB or heat stress (or both)

 

[ekorz]

I find FedEx and UPS boxes are pretty good (for free). The medium ones fit CPS1, Konami Xmen/turtles, Namco 11's pretty well, and the large ones do Midway and other larger boards. And when I'm not playing it, I use my Primal Rage board to block out the sun over small cities.

 

[jassin000]

I love Protektive Pak shippers...

I've also got some Bankers Boxes...

That shelf is grounded/ESD protected as well.

 

[skate323k137]

On the subject of JAMMA edges I clean them upon receiving a board, just like I'd clean a game cartridge. Eraser / rubbing alcohol / treat with deoxit, in that order.

 

[Asayuki]

Properly wired edge connectors also help a lot.
Honestly I have only seen pad detachment on boards which had been mistreated by cavemen. More often than not electronics illiterate tend to connect just one ground wire and one +5V wire. Evidently these people can't see that there must be a reason why there are more than one ground and power pin, that is to distribute the current to power-hungry arcade boards over more pins to minimize heat due to high currents and thereby avoid pad delamination altogether.
Luckily, with the proper tools it's still possible to DIY repair/replace delaminated pins.