[volt-nuts] plastic caps on 3458A reference board

[dan at irtelemetrics.com]

Hi,

I wouldn't completely discount 3D printing due to temperature. There 
are companies claiming to print the high nickel super alloys. 
It's questionable whether the plastics are available in the form 
needed, but laser sintering technologies appear to be out there now. 

If stock is available in raw form, for a few 'one off' items CNC would 
probably be the way to go. 

Anyone have a few bars of this stuff laying around? ;) 

Dan

>
> The problem is that an LTZ1000 (or LM399) runs hot enough that most 
> plastics you find lying around won't stand up to it for very long 
> (some of them melt almost immediately when you power it up). This is 
> true even of polycarbonate, which is one of the most durable common 
> plastics, and is why the original caps were made from polysulfone. 
>
> Unfortunately, it also means that replacements may be hard to make by 
> 3D "printing," since the process depends on melting the base material. 
>
> Best regards,
>
> Charles
>