Just checked my email and totally forgot that I had asked the store helpdesk a similar question - must have had a brain freeze when i posted that. Here's their response:
"The standoffs and bolts for the circuit boards are 3mm diameter as used on Lian Le computer cases. Most computers use #6 bolts and stand-offs, but the stand-offs made for Lian Le computer cases will work perfectly."
The holes in the perforated base are 4mm in diameter. That means an M3 thread/screw will drop straight through (good if you are using a nut or matching female part), and an M4 thread/screw will "press fit" into it if you want to screw something into it.
Heatsink: M3 threads for M3 screws.
Perforated baseplate: 4mm diameter holes, no thread.
PIM? The perforated base? No. Front panel (on the most recent batch of Deluxe chassis)? Yes (M3).
The PIM is the power input module, with fuses and switch. The unit specified in the Deluxe 4U chassis attached to the back panel. From the pictures, there is mounting holes. My question was, is the hole threaded or just a plan hole? Is it 4mm plain hole like the bottom panel?
Also, what size is the mounting holes for the speaker jacks? Is it specific to one brand or more generic? I don't think it necessary to spend tens of dollars on such an item, and have several that many fit if I knew the dimensions.
Thanks again for any assistance.
Also, what size is the mounting holes for the speaker jacks? Is it specific to one brand or more generic? I don't think it necessary to spend tens of dollars on such an item, and have several that many fit if I knew the dimensions.
Thanks again for any assistance.
I have the 5U Deluxe and these holes are just plain holes, no threads. The module from the diyA kit I got mounts with machine screws. It's not 4mm, much smaller. I'd measure but I don't want to take it out now that it's on there. Not a bad idea to use bolts though, the screw tips have got me a couple times. These holes are easily drilled out.
The speaker jack holes are probably 10mm. The binding post itself is 9mm. Sorry, can't measure the hole itself as I already used Loctite on these.
A bit of a red flag. For the price being charged for the case, I would assume that someone has assembled a test unit, and that the supplied hardware works. I bought a cheap case from China for a Class D amp project, and despite the low cost, everything fit. Am I missing something here?
Firstly, thanks for all the questions! It's great to see people sticking these together and I can't wait to see finished photos 
The back panel questions were never an issue while we were still offering the back panel parts kit. It looks like we'll definitely offer that again, but in the meantime we'll work out how you can get compatible parts. Apologies for the delays on this - there has been some house moving / logistical issues getting the information.
Ah. Sorry I've only ever heard it as PEM (Power Entry Module), so it didn't click for me - we have so many 3 letter acronyms for stuff
The PEM mounting holes are not threaded. They are 3.2mm diameter holes through 3mm aluminum. I am waiting to hear back from Mark on the exact specs of the stuff we had in our kit - the details are unfortunately offsite.
I have attached a mechanical diagram for the 4U and 5U back panels that shows all the exact dimensions for everything, including the PEM mounting holes, RCA holes and binding post holes.
The binding post holes are 11.5mm in diameter with a 2.5mm notch. The notch is suitable for "locking washers" as seen in premium brands like WBT, and Dayton. You can of course use anything you like in there that will fit, including smaller ones using some kind of washer. If you want to do it all yourself or use a smaller size we do offer Deluxe chassis with a plain back panel so you can do it however you like and to your specification and there's even some spare blank back panels in the store to save you if you have borked it up completely.
I checked with Hifi2000 and it turns out there are two issues.
Firstly the supplied bolts for mounting the base are the same as they have been for many years and they work as Hifi2000 intended. That is, they work with the flanges up (what they consider a "normal" orientation for the base).
However, they aren't long enough to flip the perforated base upside down. Which is how I would recommend you mount it This is the first time anyone has reported this issue, and we will ensure all re-stocks include a set of longer bolts so you can mount the perforated base upside down - this gives transformers more room to slide off the edge of the base without encountering a flange and also enables the riser panels to work properly.
So yes, this is something that fell through the cracks when people in 3 countries were collaborating on putting these together.
As always with anything to do with the diyAudio store, we have a "100% satisfaction guaranteed" policy and we will do whatever it takes to make all our customers totally happy. So if anyone would like those longer bolts just contact store support and we'll send you out some. We will do whatever it takes to make every customer completely satisfied. I'll send you out a set of longer bolts.
I have checked on this and the feet supplied were compatible with iron covers not aluminum covers. I am speaking to Hifi2000 on this to find the best workaround.
I am still waiting to hear back on this myself, and have re-requested the information. Apologies for the wait. Hopefully the diagrams attached in the PDF will give you enough information to make some progress in the meantime.
The back panel questions were never an issue while we were still offering the back panel parts kit. It looks like we'll definitely offer that again, but in the meantime we'll work out how you can get compatible parts. Apologies for the delays on this - there has been some house moving / logistical issues getting the information.
Ah. Sorry I've only ever heard it as PEM (Power Entry Module), so it didn't click for me - we have so many 3 letter acronyms for stuff
The PEM mounting holes are not threaded. They are 3.2mm diameter holes through 3mm aluminum. I am waiting to hear back from Mark on the exact specs of the stuff we had in our kit - the details are unfortunately offsite.
I have attached a mechanical diagram for the 4U and 5U back panels that shows all the exact dimensions for everything, including the PEM mounting holes, RCA holes and binding post holes.
The binding post holes are 11.5mm in diameter with a 2.5mm notch. The notch is suitable for "locking washers" as seen in premium brands like WBT, and Dayton. You can of course use anything you like in there that will fit, including smaller ones using some kind of washer. If you want to do it all yourself or use a smaller size we do offer Deluxe chassis with a plain back panel so you can do it however you like and to your specification and there's even some spare blank back panels in the store to save you if you have borked it up completely.
I checked with Hifi2000 and it turns out there are two issues.
Firstly the supplied bolts for mounting the base are the same as they have been for many years and they work as Hifi2000 intended. That is, they work with the flanges up (what they consider a "normal" orientation for the base).
However, they aren't long enough to flip the perforated base upside down. Which is how I would recommend you mount it
This is the first time anyone has reported this issue, and we will ensure all re-stocks include a set of longer bolts so you can mount the perforated base upside down - this gives transformers more room to slide off the edge of the base without encountering a flange and also enables the riser panels to work properly.So yes, this is something that fell through the cracks when people in 3 countries were collaborating on putting these together.
As always with anything to do with the diyAudio store, we have a "100% satisfaction guaranteed" policy and we will do whatever it takes to make all our customers totally happy. So if anyone would like those longer bolts just contact store support and we'll send you out some. We will do whatever it takes to make every customer completely satisfied. I'll send you out a set of longer bolts.
I have checked on this and the feet supplied were compatible with iron covers not aluminum covers. I am speaking to Hifi2000 on this to find the best workaround.
I am still waiting to hear back on this myself, and have re-requested the information. Apologies for the wait. Hopefully the diagrams attached in the PDF will give you enough information to make some progress in the meantime.
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Aside from what Jason noted the case is flawless. I had a small issue with the holes for the top lining up but it turned out be user error. I reassembled and everything fit. I got the back panel kit and all of those parts too fit perfectly. I am very impressed with the fit, finish and quality of the case and components.
My workaround for the feet was to use a half inch long self tapping sheet metal screw. I think it was #6, I just have a bunch in my parts bin.
I agree that the case is beautiful. The only assembly issues beyond substituting a couple of screws were caused by my chosen amplifier board. I put a Jens Rasmussen 10 out put Leach clone in it. The board takes up almost all available space on the heat sinks once the angles are installed. There wasn't enough room to slide the base in between the angles and the circuit board.
Normal assembly would be as follows after the amp is mounted to the sinks:
1. Attach angles to heat sinks.
2. Screw sinks to front panel. A small handle diameter is helpful. You may want to use an offset screwdriver to do the final tightening depending on your finger strength.
3. Slide base in from the rear and attach. If you haven't already, attach the transformer(s), power supply and any other connections such as mains ground and main audio ground.
4. Turn over and attach bottom panel using self tapping sheet metal screws.
5. Make connections to rear panel, then screw it in place.
6. Lay the top panel in place with leads to check bias running out. With my Leach amps the bias increased almost 50% with the top installed.
7. Install the top cover and enjoy.
I agree that the case is beautiful. The only assembly issues beyond substituting a couple of screws were caused by my chosen amplifier board. I put a Jens Rasmussen 10 out put Leach clone in it. The board takes up almost all available space on the heat sinks once the angles are installed. There wasn't enough room to slide the base in between the angles and the circuit board.
Normal assembly would be as follows after the amp is mounted to the sinks:
1. Attach angles to heat sinks.
2. Screw sinks to front panel. A small handle diameter is helpful. You may want to use an offset screwdriver to do the final tightening depending on your finger strength.
3. Slide base in from the rear and attach. If you haven't already, attach the transformer(s), power supply and any other connections such as mains ground and main audio ground.
4. Turn over and attach bottom panel using self tapping sheet metal screws.
5. Make connections to rear panel, then screw it in place.
6. Lay the top panel in place with leads to check bias running out. With my Leach amps the bias increased almost 50% with the top installed.
7. Install the top cover and enjoy.
Lay the top panel in place with leads to check bias running out. With my Leach amps the bias increased almost 50% with the top installed.
I'm really glad you mentioned this, I would have been pulling my hair out.
I recently assembled the 4U Deluxe case along with the back panel parts kit. It's super high quality and very precisely manufactured. Very impressive.
- Everything will align perfectly if you loosely fasten and sort of square things up as needed.
- I bought longer M4/0.7 bolts so I could flip the perforated baseplate upside down to allow more flexibility for component mounting (per Jason's comment).
- I bought longer M4/0.7 bolts for the plastic feet.
- I ditched all self-tapping screws and tapped the corresponding holes on the steel brackets. There were enough "extra" black bolts in the kit to accomplish this. Not really a fan of self-tapping screws, but that's just me.
Now I just need to fit an amp to it.
BK
- Everything will align perfectly if you loosely fasten and sort of square things up as needed.
- I bought longer M4/0.7 bolts so I could flip the perforated baseplate upside down to allow more flexibility for component mounting (per Jason's comment).
- I bought longer M4/0.7 bolts for the plastic feet.
- I ditched all self-tapping screws and tapped the corresponding holes on the steel brackets. There were enough "extra" black bolts in the kit to accomplish this. Not really a fan of self-tapping screws, but that's just me.
Now I just need to fit an amp to it.
BK
I have had my Deluxe 4U chassis for a couple of weeks and just started to play around with it. For the most part it is very nice but there appear to be some significant QA issues with the one I received that are not apparent until you look at it very carefully.
1. The heat sinks do not have all of the holes that are shown in the specification for a Deluxe 4U and each heat sink is missing 3 holes. Did the specification change or is this a defect? Fortunately I don't need any of these holes for my project but it might affect someone else so heads up.
2. At least two of the holes (Ones that I need for my project) in one heat sink are not fully tapped or are not deep enough and the M3 standoffs from the parts kit don't screw in all the way. All the other holes I checked seem OK.
3. None of the holes in the front panel are tapped.
The hole tapping issue is not a deal breaker since I can run down to the hardware store and pick up a tap. However it is a minor disappointment and is something that should be corrected in the future. This is something that should never have been allowed to leave the factory.
As has been pointed out by others the screws for the bottom internal base panel are too short to mount the panel "upside down". Easy to fix. But I would like to point out that all of the drawings of possible internal layouts for the Deluxe 4U on the store web site show the panel "upside down". On the other hand the photo of the Deluxe 4U does show the panel mounted the other way. In addition, I will need to use this mounted "upside down" to have enough room for the mounting bolt/washer/nut for the transformer since there will not be enough room for this if the tray is mounted the other way.
1. The heat sinks do not have all of the holes that are shown in the specification for a Deluxe 4U and each heat sink is missing 3 holes. Did the specification change or is this a defect? Fortunately I don't need any of these holes for my project but it might affect someone else so heads up.
2. At least two of the holes (Ones that I need for my project) in one heat sink are not fully tapped or are not deep enough and the M3 standoffs from the parts kit don't screw in all the way. All the other holes I checked seem OK.
3. None of the holes in the front panel are tapped.
The hole tapping issue is not a deal breaker since I can run down to the hardware store and pick up a tap. However it is a minor disappointment and is something that should be corrected in the future. This is something that should never have been allowed to leave the factory.
As has been pointed out by others the screws for the bottom internal base panel are too short to mount the panel "upside down". Easy to fix. But I would like to point out that all of the drawings of possible internal layouts for the Deluxe 4U on the store web site show the panel "upside down". On the other hand the photo of the Deluxe 4U does show the panel mounted the other way. In addition, I will need to use this mounted "upside down" to have enough room for the mounting bolt/washer/nut for the transformer since there will not be enough room for this if the tray is mounted the other way.