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RF shielding

I want to shield electronics in a plastic box from RF. My first thought was to get some copper foil tape with conductive adhesive and use that to line the inside of the box. Then I priced the copper foil tape with conductive adhesive, not cheap. I was wondering how much, if any, worse it would be to simply use aluminum foil tape with out conductive adhesive, which is much cheaper. Of course I would overlap each piece of tape but there would be no electrical connection.

The RF I am concerned about is all less than 1Ghz, some as high as 930Mhz.

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Chris W
KE5GIX

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Reply to
Chris W
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"Chris W"

** Use tinplate.

** Use tinplate.

** Use tinplate.
** Use tinplate - it's cheap.
** Nice aluminium inductor you are winding ....

** So mobile phones are NOT an issue ?

........ Phil

Reply to
Phil Allison

No cell phones are not an issue.

How is tinplate a good alternative to foil. The plastic has lots of complex curves which is why I planed to use foil which is easy to form around curves.

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Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com
Reply to
Chris W

The problem with aluminum foil is that you really can't solder it, certainly not without a lot of work. And that makes for leaky seams.

Get some very thin sheet metal, and fold it to fit in the box, soldering the corners. The sort of stuff you see used as shielding in commercial equipment. If you want to go cheap, cut up a tin can and use that to make an inner box, though watch out, the edges will be very sharp.

Rethink things, and build in an aluminum box.

Or, find some scrap piece of electronics and extract some shielded section from it to use inside your plastic box.

Or, buy some scrap circuit board, and cut it to fit inside the plastic box, soldering the corners together. If you've got space, just make the box big enough to shield what you need, and use it as a sort of chassis inside the plastic box.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

I have a roll of 6 inch wide, 2 mil thick brass shim stock I use for this sort of thing. It solders very nicely.

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Regards,

John Popelish
Reply to
John Popelish

There is also conductive paint that can even be sprayed but you'd have to price that out to see if within budget.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Reply to
Joerg

I agree with earlier posts suggesting that you shield the circuit, rather than the box.

Larger hardware stores sell rolls of copper flashing that is only slightly thicker than HD aluminum foil, but has the advantage of solderability. Some of this flashing has a paper adhesive that can be easily removed. You might persuade some friends to contribute to the purchase of a roll, or get a couple of square feet from a contractor.

All you need is a pair of scissors, a soldering iron, and a ruler and you can make a simple box or cylindrical shield.

Chuck

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Reply to
Chuck

conductive paint.

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Reply to
Jamie

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