Eurorack panel components

This information is for doing DIY, or repairs on Eurorack front panels. It's not comprehensive, everyone has preferences, but attempts to list the commonly used parts on the Eurorack panels, and what sort of things will work.

Specifications
The Eurorack format was developed in parallel by Analogue Systems and Doepfer, with different approaches to module power connectors and front panel mounting holes. These days the Doepfer standard predominates. The format is based on [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Institut_f%C3%BCr_Normung DIN] 41494 Eurocard standard.

Panels
Doepfer specifies the Eurorack front panel material as 2 mm anodized aluminium. In practice panels from other manufacturers may slightly differ, e.g. Synthwerks use the closest gauge that Metalphoto offer which is 0.0625" (1.59 mm). Also check data sheets for front panel parts, e.g. the maximum recommended thickness for 3.5 mm Cliff 1384 jacks is 2.5 mm. Front panel dimensions in the the Eurorack format are specified in U and HP not in inches or millimeters. One U (unit) or in German HE (höhen einheit) is 1.75 inches equivalent to 44.45 mm. The panels height is 3U (3x1.75"=5.25" or 133.35 mm) less any allowance for mounting rail flange. Width is measured in HP (horizontal pitch) or in German TE (teilungs einheiten); 1 HP is 5.08 mm, 1/5", 0.2" or 200mil. The actual width of a front panel is a few tenth of a mm less than whatever multiple of 5.08 mm it is, to give some tolerance for final assembly. A 19-inch rack has a usable width of 84 HP.

The vertical space available between mounting rails is: These don't include a tolerances for the screw hole in the panel nor for the nut in the rail moving up and down. It's better to give a little more clearance than suggested by these figures.
 * Schroff, 112.2 mm (4.415 inches)
 * Gie-Tec, Proma (now defunct) and TipTop Z-Rails, 112.5mm (4.429 inches)
 * Vector, 115.1mm (4.531 inches)

Panel mounting holes
If the Doepfer specification is followed, or rails with sliding nuts are used, elongated holes are not required. These are useful for non-standard panel widths like the Piston Honda's and to compensate for for manufacturing tolerances of the panel width or hole position. They help to fit the modules flush against one another. In a double width case, there will be a gap where the two threaded inserts meet, unless e.g. single 168 HP tiptop Z rails are used.

Oval holes were originally for mixed Analogue Systems and Doepfer systems. The AS holes are 0.2" from the panel edge and the Doepfer holes are 0.3" from the edge. The oval holes were originally used to allow these modules to be placed in the same threaded rows without having the 1/2 HP gap that would otherwise result. These days the oval holes are mostly just centered on the Doepfer spacing.

For front panels up to 10 HP two mounting holes are sufficient, wider than this and four mounting holes are usual. To attach the modules to the mounting rails M3x6 DIN 7985 cross recessed pan head machine screws are used. The mounting hole diameter is 3.2mm (0.13"), centered 3mm from top and bottom edges and 7.45mm from the left edge. The horizontal distance between the mounting holes has to be a multiple of 5.08mm.

Mounting rails
Unless attaching the panels directly into the wood of an enclosure; Doepfer aluminium mounting rails from Schroff or Gie-Tech usually have a 1.2mm lip and are fitted with a number of square nuts or a threaded strip with M3 tapped holes, spaced with 5.08mm between centres. Be careful not to get Schroff rails that take M2.5 screws. Vector T-Strut rails do not have a lip and take a M2.5 threaded strip or 4-40 square nuts. Nuts are more fiddly than threaded strip, but the modules can then be butted flush against each other, for example when Analogue Sytem and Doepfer-style modules share the same rack rails.

Brands using M2.5 square nuts or tapped strips and M2.5x6mm machine screws: 4ms, Elby Designs (SRS), Enclave, Rittal

Brands using Vector rails with M2.5 square nuts or tapped strips and M2.5x6mm machine screws: Erthenvar, Goike

Brands using Gie-Tec rails with M3 nuts or tapped strip and M3x6 machine screws: Tiptop, Gorillabox, Doepfer

Eurorack rack fittings can be bought from: Tiptop Z-Rails can be purchased from: Vector mounting rails can be purchased from:
 * Clicks & Clocks:DIY Eurorack Materials and Parts: All You Need?, Germany
 * Elby Designs:Construct-A-Rack, Australia
 * Tiptop Audio
 * Erthenvar
 * Component suppliers such as Digi-Key, Farnell or Mouser

Blank panels
6061 aluminum alloy, T3 or T6 temper, is easy to come by, can be easily worked. Thickness usually ranges between 1.5 mm (0.62") and 2.5 mm (0.12") but see what is standard for the format, e.g. a thickness of 2 mm (0.08") for 3U. Softer 1100-H aluminium alloy from MetalPhoto and 1.59 mm (0.625") thick, is used for many Euro panels but is usually punched rather than drilled.

For small panels it's cheapest to buy Doepfer pre-made blank panels. For wider panels it might be worth getting them done by Frontpanel Express, without labeling and with whatever holes are required. Getting aluminum cut by general online metal suppliers is going to deliver metal that is approximate in size and the edges will need filing down to get it to the correct size.<ref name="guage"
 * Synthrotek, USA
 * Reichelt Elektronik, Germany
 * syinsi.com, USA, blank/blind panels for Eurorack

Suppliers:
 * OnlineMetals.com, USA – large blank panels
 * All Metal Parts, UK – large blank panels
 * Metal Supermarkets, UK and USA
 * Farnell
 * Aluminium Warehouse, UK
 * MetalOffCuts, UK
 * Eurorack Blank Panels, Canada

Custom panels
Custom panels can be manufactured by: For FPE and Schaeffer, you need to supply the blank Euro panel.
 * Re:Synthesis, UK
 * Front Panel Express, USA
 * Schaeffer, EU
 * Ponoko

Project panels
Panels for specific projects can be purchased from:
 * Grayscale, USA
 * Modular Addict
 * synthCube, USA
 * Thonk, UK
 * Synth Panels, USA

Front panel labelling options
See Panels (homebrew)

Front panels parts
The lists in this section need checking and tidying up.

Avoid cheap parts, especially if mechanical. Invest in quality, you always get what you pay for. Otherwise your entire system might later develop intermittent faults. Vertical mount front panel components will need to of a similar height to neatly fit the gap between the PCB and front panel.

In order to construct low profile Eurorack modules vertical mount components are required. These allow the PCB to be mounted parallel to the front panel, keeping module depth to a minimum.

3.5mm jack sockets
These are not 1/8 inch but are 3.5mm. Popular brands of vertical mount 3.5mm mono jacks for Eurorack are Cliff (used by Doepfer), Erthenvar aka Flight of Harmony, Kobiconn (used by Cwejman, Make Noise, Malekko and Metasonix) and Switchcraft. These are available switched (for normalisation) and unswitched. Erthenvar 3.5mm vertical mount jacks with a thread diameter about 5.9mm (0.232"), will fit well with panel drill holes of 6.0 to 6.5mm diameter. Suppliers:

Cliff horizontal PCB mount

 * Newark:3.5mm mono PCB jack socket
 * Rapid:3.5mm mono PCB jack socket

Vertical PCB mount
Vertical mount 3.5 mm jack sockets are hard to find. Options include:
 * Cliff, used by Doepfer
 * Erthenvar 3.5mm vertical mount jacks, switched
 * Jalco YK21-5157 and variations. 10.5mm high versions and in mono, unthreaded bush
 * Mouser:Kobiconn 16PJ138
 * Farnell:Lumberg 1502 03 looks like a wired chassis socket with solder tags, it also has a PCB template
 * QingPu, available from Thonk:
 * WQP-PJ3410, plastic bush
 * WQP-PJ3010BM, metal bush model with two ground lugs. PCB to panel gaps of 9.0 to 12.0 mm look feasible, with the lower values achieved by bending the four feet diagonally or at 90 degrees.
 * WQP-PJ301M-12, an alternative to Kobiconn 16PJ138, all PCB mount pins, with the reliable beryllium copper spring
 * Rapid:TruConnect PJ-360, stereo, unthreaded bush

Wired/panel mount

 * Mouser:Kobiconn 16PJ138, mono 3.5mm, switched

Horizontal PCB mount

 * Mouser:311-1902F
 * SmallBear:PC Mount Right-Angle potentiometers
 * SmallBear SKU 1012A
 * Tayda SKU A-1847

Vertical PCB mount

 * Thonk:Alpha 9mm Pots
 * Mouser:Alpha RK12L types
 * Mouser:BI Technologies 10.5mm high linear pots
 * Bourns:
 * PDB12-M, PCB mount, 9mm high, no thread, 12mm package
 * PTV09A-4
 * Farnell:3310Y series, 5mm deep with 6mm of thread so may be too low to be used easily
 * PTV111-3 7.5 mm high body with 5.0 mm high bushing, available with centre detent
 * Digital continuous encoders for microcontroller based products
 * Vishay:
 * P12 series 11mm to panel
 * P9 vertical mount 7mm high with 7mm bushing, only up to 10V

Wired/panel mount

 * SmallBear SKU 0221C1
 * Jameco 317236
 * 0.55" 136241
 * 19.8mm 264990
 * 33.3mm 264946
 * Mouser 633-M201901-RO
 * SP3T toggle switch 633-M202402-RO
 * 633-FB15ANEP2

Wired/panel mount

 * Mouser 3mm LED 593-2000C (C stands for clear)

PCB dimensions and mounting
These days Eurorack modules tend to mount the PCB parralel to the front panel, held in place by the pots, jacks and switches. Modules with wired front panel components cost more to manufacture than PCB mounted, however these electro-mechanical components have limited lifetimes and while PCB mounted parts can be repaired it's not as easily as wired components. Also PCB mounted components mean the board is designed around specific parts. If any of these parts goes out of production the modules have to be redesigned, with the additional cost of updating the PCBs.

The vertical distance between the mounting holes on Eurorack rails is 122.5mm apart (4.823"). Based on the manufacturer's drawings for the most common rails used in Euro cases, the clear space between pairs of rails is: Those don't include the tolerances (slop) of the nut in the rail moving up and down and the screw hole in the front panel. These can cause the rails to be closer or further apart when any given module is tightened in. It's better to try to give a little more clearance and not count on these exact figures.
 * 112.2mm, 4.415" = Schroff
 * 112.5mm, 4.429" = Gie-Tec and TipTop Z-Rails
 * 115.1mm, 4.531" = Vector

To fit between the mounting rails the maximum vertical PCB size can be from 108mm (4.25") to 110mm. The width of the PCB needs to be a touch less than that of the front panel, whilst allowing for clearance and taking tolerances into consideration.

Stacked PCBs
Stacked PCBs can be connected with standard 0.1" single and double row male/female pin headers. These combine to a height of 7/16 inch or 11mm and boards can be mounted to each other with spacers of this length.

Don't use tools you value highly, the headers are made of brittle glass filled epoxy which will damage the edge of any blades used to cut it. To get the single row male headers to length, grip the last pin of the length you want firmly in pliers and snap the rest off. The female headers don't snap easily so first pull the pins out of the body at the point where you want it to snap, then file the ends smooth. Alternately combine smaller lengths to make up the length required. To get them to butt against each other at 0.1" if there is extra plastic on the ends file it down.

Suitable parts can be purchased for example:
 * 517-929974-01-36-RK, Mouser female 2.54mm pin header, 36 way, tin plated copper
 * 517-834-01-36, Mouser male 2.54mm pin header, 36 way, tin plated copper
 * 855-R30-1001102, Mouser M3x11mm hex spacer. Fit to the PCB with M3x5mm machine screws.

Schematics, PCB overlays, BOMs and assembly instructions

 * Fonitronik Synth DIY
 * Home Made Synth
 * Music From Outer Space
 * YuSynth
 * CGS
 * GitHub

Muff Wiggler forum

 * Panel mounted controls vs PCB mounted controls, and more!, April 2012
 * Potentiometers / Mouser, August 2011
 * DIY euro case...rails?, December 2009
 * The Pitfalls of Choosing Quality Brands of Components?, March 2014