Question about possible eBay source of MB-6582 CS parts

[woolsey]

Hey everyone, first post here and I am excited to join the midibox community. There is such great information here and I am excited to start building a MB-6582. I have been browsing this forum and the wiki for awhile and have a good understanding of what I will need. Two posts I found most helpful were:

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• By Hawkeye
  
• Where to buy MB-6582 Control surface parts
  
  
  Plus this wiki entry:
  
  
  • 
    
    
  • wilba_mb_6582_control_surface_parts_list
    
    
    Anyway, I purchased the boards and kits from SmashTV and currently have a panel on order (with corner mount holes, similar to Hawkeye's) and am looking for possible part sources for the control surface. I am going to be using mouser for most of the parts, but when adding everything to the cart I realized the price for parts was adding up pretty quickly. Specifically for things like LEDs and the hex spacers and bolts. So, I started looking at my favorite online store, eBay. Here is a list of the parts I hope to purchase and was hoping someone could point out any issues I may have.
    
    So, instead of the 24pcs M3 x 6.0mm Screw (Mouser P/N 534-29311) $0.364 ea X 24 = $8.74 I was hoping to use one of the two options:
    
    
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    • 25pc Metric SCREWS M3-.5 x 6mm Phillips Pan Washer Head - $1.38 + s/h
      
      
      or
      
      
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      • 25pc SCREWS M3-.5 x 6mm Slotted Pan Head - $1.34 + s/h
        

      If I went with the first one, I would hope I wouldn't need washers. However, in Hawkeye's tutorial, he suggested using nylon washers that he could then cut to get make room for the solder pads. However, those washers look huge in comparison to the ones from the first ebay listing.

      On wilba's parts list (the wiki entry) he suggests "spring washers" which I assume are what I consider "lock washers." I think they are a good idea and available from the same eBay seller:

      [*]25pc Metric Lock WASHERS - Internal Star for M3 Screw - $1.28 + s/h

      Next, I need the 10mm spacers, which instead of 24pcs M3 x 10mm Thread Hex (Mouser P/N 855-R30-1001002) $0.285 ea X 24 = $6.84 going with:

      [*]10pc Hex STANDOFF M3-.5 x 5mm x 10mm Aluminum x 3 @ $1.98 ea + s/h

      All of these are from the same seller and they currently offer $4.95 total shipping for all orders.

      The only remaining bolts I would need would be for the 4 corners of the panel and the LCD. Hawkeye suggests:

      [*]4pcs M2.5 x 10mm screws, washers, and 8pcs M2.5 nuts for the LCD

      [*]4pcs black countersunk M3x20mm (optimal) or M3x25mm (not longer!) allen screws, washers, and 12pcs M3 nuts.

      His source for these were Reichelt and another eBay seller, but I'd rather not order from a 3rd source if I can get away with it (also, I cannot seem to find an English version of the site, which was discouraging). I haven't looked on mouser yet, but since it is for such a small quantity, I'd probably just order from them if available (anyone know part numbers that work?). I can always check my local hardware store for alternatives.

      The other parts I was hoping to purchase off eBay were LEDs. I really liked the idea of using flat top 3mm LEDs similar to Hawkeyes and I found this ebay listing:

      Lot (1000) Red 3mm Flat-Top LEDs Stanley # BR3365S-1 - $14.99 + $2.50 s/h

      This seemed like a good deal and I could see myself using these for other projects (or potentially selling some to other midibox users if they worked out well). Two issues I can see with these particular LEDs. One, they are not fully tinted red, kinda a clear red. I am worried they could be too bright. I know I can always use larger resistors to dim them, but would avoid this if it were going to be an issue. The second issue is I notice the LEDs have lead standoffs. The LED itself is 4.1mm high and the stand-off is 6mm from the base of the LED. You can see from the ebay listing photo that the standoff is just about 10mm from the top of the LED. I could imagine these being a perfect fit in conjunction with the 10mm hex spacers. Since we want the LEDs flush with the top of the panel, I may need to extend them away from the CS board just a bit, but no more of an issue if I were to use LEDs without stand-offs. The bad thing would be if the stand-offs were just two tall and the LEDs stuck out of the panel. What do you guys think?

      Woo, long winded post! Sorry about that, just trying to be complete. And actually, I just realized that really I am only going to be saving a few bucks by doing it this way (after totaling and accounting for the fact I need 3 orders of the spacers). But, I figure this post can point some people to alternatives to parts. Specifically if someone wanted to do a bulk order for these bolts, this eBay seller could be a good source with a fixed shipping rate like that.

      Any and all suggestions or critiques appreciated.

[nebula]

The LEDs I used for my MB-6582 had similar lumps on the leads. As I recall, the little lumps were small enough that they still fit through the thru-holes in the PCB, so they were irrelevant.

When it comes time to solder the LEDs, you'll want the front panel attached and propped above the surface you're working on so that the LEDs can just fall into the holes on the panel and protrude a bit beore you solder them. The LEDs in the auction look like they'll do this nicely.

My LEDs have a similar pale tint (but green instead of red) and IMHO they look awesome in the MB-6582. So I think these look like a worthwhile buy ... but make sure you fire them up before you build with them.

Edited March 2, 2011 by nebula

[Wilba]

My 2 cents:

Washers aren't absolutely required, but cheap enough to get if you want. There's plenty of clearance around the holes for a standard M3 screw head (well, for Philips head at least), so I don't know what Hawkeye means by "make room for solder pads".

Spring washers are like lock washers, they look like a ring that's been cut and bent. I think either will work.

I have no idea if aluminium spacers will stick as well as plated brass.

Regarding LEDs:

It's easy to set the resistors to suit whatever LEDs you use.

Ignore the lead standoffs. You can set the height of the LED to whatever you want, but it's easiest to set it to either flush with the panel or exactly the same height as the switch tops. For flat-top LEDs, flush with the panel looks best and is easy to do, just solder the LEDs before the switches, so the panel can be put flat against something so the LEDs don't protrude past that while soldering.

[nebula]

I have no idea if aluminium spacers will stick as well as plated brass.

I have no idea if plated brass will stick as well as aluminum spacers. My aluminum spacers still won't let go.

Prior to jb-welding, I did degrease them by soaking in some isopropyl alcohol just to be sure.

Edited March 2, 2011 by nebula

[woolsey]

Thanks for the input! I think I am going to go with those LEDs and once I have figured out all of the mouser parts I am going to order, see if its truly worth the trouble to try and save a few bucks on the other parts. Mouser was currently out of stock on the hex spacers, so that may be reason alone to get those through eBay.

[Wilba]

Wilba uses and recommends LEDs from Mouser, parts 638-204GD and 638-204ID

Excellent diffused and bright light at low currents.

20000 sold, never a complaint. :wink:

[Hawkeye]

Hey, thanks for referencing the tut and enjoy building your mb-6582 - it still rocks every day and i hope TK still needs some time before mbsid v3 is released and Wilba makes a mb6582-v2 (Wilba, if you ever do this, i would love to see an integrated version with "external" filters and VCAs - a real virus killer ;-))

Ah, sorry for ot... Regarding the to-be-cut-nylon washers - these were the only ones i had available, if you have smaller ones, of course you do not need to cut them. (Mine were overlapping some solder pads). You may not need to use washers at all, the design with ~ 20 screws will hold very well, no need to tighten them much.

What i still would recommend is to use an LCD with a quicker update rate - mine is horrible - still looking for alternatives like oled/pled/vfd, but found nothing much yet.

Have fun!

Bye,

Hawkeye

Edited March 7, 2011 by Hawkeye