Hello!
I recently received and wired up the above-mentioned product for some vibration tests I’m going to be running shortly. Soldering went relatively well, and I think I’m ready to try it out. However, I realized I might have an issue with the mounting plate material I’m using, as it is somewhat conductive.
The mounting plate the accelerometer will be screwed onto is composed of a PET-CF 3D-printed material. Due to the conductive nature of the carbon fiber in this material, I’m worried about interference between soldered ports of the accelerometer.
What are some ways you can recommend to isolate the EVAL board from the conductive substrate?
As a corollary to this question, I’m attempting to epoxy the nuts which will support the board to some mounting settings in the part. I’ve had some issues with the nuts detaching as I screw the board to them. I unfortunately need the EVAL to be removable from the mounting due to the configuration of the vibration equipment I’m using, so I can’t just slather epoxy onto everything and call it good. 
Any recommendations on best-practices for attaching the board to a 3D-printed part would also be much appreciated!
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Joseph
A piece of insulating tape over your solder would work to help you isolate your board.
Regarding keeping your hardware in place while threading many people create 3D Prints that have hexagonal cutouts to insert a nut.
This link could give you some ideas.
Typically one would design the fixturing using some sort of standoff feature to provide clearance for the components mounted on the board. The mounting holes are already connected anyway so it shouldn’t matter much if they become redundantly so.
When speaking of “mounting settings” are something such as these the thing in mind?
I’ve tried to design the mountings into my 3D printed part for continuity, as you can see in the attached (the hexagonal holes are sized to the nuts which fit the screws I’m planning to use. The offset from the surface of the part is 1 mm). Perhaps this is inadvisable?
If I just use some electrical tape to insulate and the seatings for the nuts, I guess all I have to worry about is the epoxy coming loose. I’ll give that a try and see what happens, though I’m a bit nervous as this is the only accelerometer I currently have… :-p
The standoffs should be of sufficient height to provide clearance for any components mounted to the board, as those components are not meant to be load-bearing. If we’re still speaking of accelerations in the 40g range, one may also wish to consider possible measurement effects arising from the material’s elastic properties.
And in what direction(s) are these accelerations being applied? What effect might assembly tolerances have?
Gluing plastic to metal is not something I’ve seen succeed that often, so looking at some of those knurled inserts or a design revision to permit a different assembly might be worthwhile.
