PCB Spacers

Ajax · Nov 8, 2005

I have noticed that when I change carts on my board, it flexes quite a bit. Both when pulling a cart out and putting one in. Is this normal?

Also, I just installed my Unibios and noticed that there are screw holes for those little metal spacers all around the slots and mine only has 3 out of a possible 16. (There are 2 on either side of every cart slot) Is this normal? Hopefully I'm making sense... :P

Ajax · Nov 10, 2005

Bump.

Come on, somebody has to know the deal with these...

Murray · Nov 10, 2005

This is what you're looking for:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131265&highlight=pcb+feet

MKL · Nov 10, 2005

I assume it's a 4-slot right?

Each cart slot has 4 screw holes but you can only have 2 spacers for each slot: if you look at the bottom board there are only 2 holes under the slots, so a 4-slot can have up to 13 spacers, 8 for the slots and 5 in the corners and along the edges (that you probably have). Of course you can run into problems if you don't have all the spacers. Replacements may not be easy to find because these spacers are 16,5mm long while usually the hex spacers you can buy are 15 or 20mm and I wouldn't use 15 as they would flex the board too much (I've checked this myself).

MKL · Nov 10, 2005

LOL you pointed him to his own thread... and in fact he has a 4-slot. Anyway feet are one thing, spacers are another.

Murray · Nov 10, 2005

Wow, spacers != feet. I am completely a dick for that. Sorry.

Ajax · Nov 10, 2005

Hahaha, it's cool.

I got some feet. This is an entirely different problem. Any info on who might have some of these?

Ajax · Nov 10, 2005

Are they even called spacers? Lol. It might help if I knew the real name for them.

MKL · Nov 10, 2005

Yes they're called spacers. Those used on MVS boards are Male/Female hex spacers. I know of a place that carries the more unusual 16mm or 17mm spacers (I would go with 17mm) but you need a VAT number to order from them. Mouser has 0.625" which corresponds to 15.87mm, not sure it'll work. And the thread must be 3M, I don't know the equivalent in inches. You could get longer ones and trim them down to the right length.

Dean · Nov 10, 2005

Jameco or DigiKey sells tons of these in all sorts of sizes.

EDIT: You will have a much better time finding them as "stand offs" or standoffs. Spacers aren't always threaded.

Gummy Bear · Nov 11, 2005

Spacers can be awkward.

When I was consolizing my 6F, I had to use two different lengths of straight-through spacer, stacked, with a long screw going through both.

J0e Musashi · Nov 11, 2005

I found that M3 16mm hex spacers are perfect for 4-slots. I have strengthened my board perfectly using 7 spacers (5 around the edge and 2 under slot 2 or 3) You don't need to put them under every slot and it would be a pain when fitting a Unibios chip to have to undo all of them.

Ajax · Nov 12, 2005

Ehh, already got unibios in.

So, is there anywhere on the 'net where I can get these? Links, anybody?

Thanks for your help thus far too.

J0e Musashi · Nov 12, 2005

For £10 I can get you a bag of 20x 16mm M3 nickel plated brass spacers. The £10 will include shipping to the USA from London.
Infact I can get pretty much any size of nickel plated brass hex spacers ranging from 5mm to 40mm, so if anyone else needs them I can do a group order, which could bring the price down by almost half depending on how many are purchased.

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