Re: Chassis Types

Stephen wrote:
Hi Gents, Getting ready for another project and I wanted to solicit
opinions on the pros and cons of an aluminum vs. steel chassis, both large
and small.

Production, or one-off quantities? If one-off:

Aluminum is easier to cut holes in, and is a better conductor than steel. However, you can't solder to aluminum (it can be done, but it's a real PITA). And aluminum isn't as strong as steel (for the same thickness). Steel may vibrate from stray 60Hz power transformer magnetic leakage. But if that happens, you got bigger problems with hum being induced in the audio circuits...

In any event, I'd use a star grounding system to manage return currents from the power supply. To avoid ground loops. The chassis would be tied to this star, and not pass any current. The chassis would act as a shield only. Once the circuits are behaving well, and you are looking at production runs, you can try passing current thru the chassis and see if any ground loops happen. And correct accordingly.
.

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