An idea of a cheap anti-vibration chassis

[DECKY999]

I made this recently so I thought to share it here.

One of the ways to improve vibration response of a cheap steel rack mount chassis -

Parts needed:

- steel chassis - wall t~0.8-1mm
- aluminium panel 2-3mm thick
- polyurethane wood glue - gets cured by reacting with moisture in the air - expands during curing by forming an open cell foam .

Aluminium panel has tu fit inside the steel box so match the size of the bottom box panel (5-10mm undersized). Drill holes in both panels for connecting bolts - I used 5 bolts to hold panels together. Apply generous amount of glue between the box and the AL panel. Bolt the plates together and apply additional clamps wherever there is room around the edge. The glue will foam and tend to separate two plates.

Be warrned that this is potentially messy business - ideally you wound clean foaming glue during curing. It is very hard to remove it after curing. Use face mask and work in the open space. Wear gloves - this is a must PU glue cannot be dissolved by any known chemical.

After the glue is cured (48 hours) you will have very stiff and very anti-resonant box for very little money. It is important to maintain electrical connection between two plates (leave fixing screws in place) to improve shielding of the components.

Potential problems: some parts of the glue might remain trapped and uncured for long time. You might have leaks and foaming of the glue after drilling additional holes. If it happen just leave it for another day and wipe fresh foam from time to time. Wear gloves !

[454Casull]

Spray adhesive and 86225K21 from McMaster-Carr might do better.

[DECKY999]

I don't think it is the same thing. I am not sure that you will end u with the same stiffness. The PU glue that I used is very strong and stiff after curing. Also the foam sheets thickness is ~4mm - much more then the glue thickness. It might not be an issue depending how you are mounting your PCBs inside the box. However, the idea is the same - sandwitch of dissimilar materials to break up and absorb acoustic energy