Panel thickness and shielding

homer09 · 5th March 2005, 04:05 PM

Im about to dive into my first chasis construction for my first gainclone.

It will be an aluminium case. Now my question is: how important is the thickness of the aluminium for shielding? Like i've seen some cases that have half inch panel thickness and others made of wood with aluminium paper shielding.

Basically i "found" an old street sign wich is a nice strong piece of 1/16" aluminium, and would be much easier to work than that thick aluminium.

Mr Evil · 5th March 2005, 05:14 PM

So that's about 1.5mm. It all comes down to the electrical resistance of the panels: Lower resistance = better shielding. Since aluminium is a good conductor, 1.5mm will provide excellent shielding.

You should bear in mind that the oxide that forms on aluminium is an excellent electrical insulator, which can make it hard to join panels together to make the shielding continuous. Ideally you should use some sort of joint that pierces the surface of the metal to ensure good electrical contact.

Steve Eddy · 5th March 2005, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by homer09
Im about to dive into my first chasis construction for my first gainclone.

It will be an aluminium case. Now my question is: how important is the thickness of the aluminium for shielding?

Not very.

It's almost worthless in terms of shielding from magnetic fields and shielding from electric fields is primarily via reflection loss rather than absorption loss and is more of a surface phenomenon.

More important than thickness in terms of shielding will be the holes and seams of the chassis.

se

homer09 · 5th March 2005, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Eddy

More important than thickness in terms of shielding will be the holes and seams of the chassis.

se

How does one make good seams? What are bad things to avoid?

Steve Eddy · 5th March 2005, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by homer09
How does one make good seams? What are bad things to avoid?

Basically you just want to keep a good close fit without big gaps and other discontinuities.

se

Peter Daniel · 5th March 2005, 07:46 PM

It's also much easier to make a nice looking case out of a thick aluminum than the thin one. The cost of aluminum is negligable comparing to amount of work one puts when building chassis by hand. Shielding shouldn't be an issue here.

Upupa Epops · 5th March 2005, 08:23 PM

Thick or thin ? It is not about shielding, but only about design ( about proportion of case ).

If you need good shielding, make it from permaloy sendwich

.

Steve Eddy · 5th March 2005, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Upupa Epops
If you need good shielding, make it from permaloy sendwich .

Yup. Just remember to hold the mayo.

se

Upupa Epops · 5th March 2005, 09:19 PM

I'm not drilled in english - what is mayo ?

Upupa Epops · 5th March 2005, 09:29 PM

BTW, the best shielding is " black hole ".

5th March 2005, 04:05 PM	#1
homer09 diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Montreal	Panel thickness and shielding Im about to dive into my first chasis construction for my first gainclone. It will be an aluminium case. Now my question is: how important is the thickness of the aluminium for shielding? Like i've seen some cases that have half inch panel thickness and others made of wood with aluminium paper shielding. Basically i "found" an old street sign wich is a nice strong piece of 1/16" aluminium, and would be much easier to work than that thick aluminium. __________________ Most people wouldn't know good music if it came up and bit them in the ***. - Frank Zappa

5th March 2005, 05:14 PM	#2
Mr Evil diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Behind you	So that's about 1.5mm. It all comes down to the electrical resistance of the panels: Lower resistance = better shielding. Since aluminium is a good conductor, 1.5mm will provide excellent shielding. You should bear in mind that the oxide that forms on aluminium is an excellent electrical insulator, which can make it hard to join panels together to make the shielding continuous. Ideally you should use some sort of joint that pierces the surface of the metal to ensure good electrical contact. __________________ https://mrevil.asvachin.eu/

5th March 2005, 07:46 PM	#6
Peter Daniel diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Toronto, Canada	It's also much easier to make a nice looking case out of a thick aluminum than the thin one. The cost of aluminum is negligable comparing to amount of work one puts when building chassis by hand. Shielding shouldn't be an issue here. __________________ www.audiosector.com “Do something really well. See how much time it takes. It might be a product, a work of art, who knows? Then give it away cheaply, just because you feel that it should not cost so much, even if it took a lot of time and expensive materials to make it.” - JC

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5th March 2005, 08:23 PM	#7
Upupa Epops diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Prague,Czech Republic	Thick or thin ? It is not about shielding, but only about design ( about proportion of case ). If you need good shielding, make it from permaloy sendwich .

5th March 2005, 09:19 PM	#9
Upupa Epops diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Prague,Czech Republic	I'm not drilled in english - what is mayo ?

5th March 2005, 09:29 PM	#10
Upupa Epops diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Prague,Czech Republic	BTW, the best shielding is " black hole ".

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