Has anyone got any experience of enclosures for PICAXE projects? I need a metal box with connectors or terminals on the outside, and it needs to be somthing that stands a chance of meeting EMC regulations and passing CE testing. What I am really looking for is someone to supply enclosures for me, probably about 10. Anyone up for the challenge?
Industrial enclosure help needed
- Thread starter wgs
- Start date
hippy
Ex-Staff (retired)
Most metal boxes should help provide EMC compliance but it's probably more about what RF leaks out the box through holes and via connectors and cables and that likely comes down to circuit design and filtering on signals and cabling not the box itself.
In previous employment I worked for a company which manufactured finished electrical product. We'd design an enclosure which suited the product, assemble and send for EMC / CE conformance testing, read the reports, fix whatever needed to be fixed. I don't recall there were many problems, and don't recall any being down to enclosure design or would have been solved by changing the enclosure itself.
The only significant problem we did have was EMC on power leads and that was fixed by changing the mains filtering on the PCB. That was discovered in the first EMC / CE tests we ever did and was never a problem after that.
For particular enclosures; there are probably tens of thousands to choose from in various styles, shapes, sizes and for particular uses. Most electronic component distributors stock some enclosures and there will probably be numerous suppliers who specialise in those. Google or your favourite search engine would perhaps be a good place to start.
In previous employment I worked for a company which manufactured finished electrical product. We'd design an enclosure which suited the product, assemble and send for EMC / CE conformance testing, read the reports, fix whatever needed to be fixed. I don't recall there were many problems, and don't recall any being down to enclosure design or would have been solved by changing the enclosure itself.
The only significant problem we did have was EMC on power leads and that was fixed by changing the mains filtering on the PCB. That was discovered in the first EMC / CE tests we ever did and was never a problem after that.
For particular enclosures; there are probably tens of thousands to choose from in various styles, shapes, sizes and for particular uses. Most electronic component distributors stock some enclosures and there will probably be numerous suppliers who specialise in those. Google or your favourite search engine would perhaps be a good place to start.
I've had custom metal enclosures folded up at sheet metal fab places and was surprised at how cheap it was. That's here in au, I presume its the same over there in the UK.
Try and find a place that has a laser cutter, they just cut the thing out of flat sheet with penetrations and all done and then fold it up. Most laser cutters can import art work out of corel draw, adobe etc. You could draw up the design yourself and email it to them and they would cut it/them out.
Of course it wouldn't have a EMF interference certification being a one off to your design but as Hippy says there are certain known things that cause problems.
Try and find a place that has a laser cutter, they just cut the thing out of flat sheet with penetrations and all done and then fold it up. Most laser cutters can import art work out of corel draw, adobe etc. You could draw up the design yourself and email it to them and they would cut it/them out.
Of course it wouldn't have a EMF interference certification being a one off to your design but as Hippy says there are certain known things that cause problems.
westaust55
Moderator
wgs,
firstly welcome to the PICAXE forum.
It may help if you indicate:
1. The size of enclosure you need.
2. what type of metal is acceptable - Aluminium, mild steel, stainless steel.
Aluminium, for example, no good in an Alumina refinery as the caustic will corrode the box in no time.
3. What IP rating you require against dust and water ingress
4. Will it be outside in the sunlight. Internals will get much hotter than ambient if in the sun.
Plenty of companies out there ( eg Rittal) who make medium to large enclosures. Jaycar have a range of smaller steel and aluminium boxes.
More info helps members here help you
firstly welcome to the PICAXE forum.
It may help if you indicate:
1. The size of enclosure you need.
2. what type of metal is acceptable - Aluminium, mild steel, stainless steel.
Aluminium, for example, no good in an Alumina refinery as the caustic will corrode the box in no time.
3. What IP rating you require against dust and water ingress
4. Will it be outside in the sunlight. Internals will get much hotter than ambient if in the sun.
Plenty of companies out there ( eg Rittal) who make medium to large enclosures. Jaycar have a range of smaller steel and aluminium boxes.
More info helps members here help you
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Have a look at
http://www.protocase.com
Probably not the cheapest you can find, but they offer a (very basic) free design entry tool that also gives instant price quotes. They can do steel and aluminum, silkscreening, powdercoating in different colors. I have done a few boxes through them for my daytime job and was very satisfied with quality and delivery time.
Wolfgang
http://www.protocase.com
Probably not the cheapest you can find, but they offer a (very basic) free design entry tool that also gives instant price quotes. They can do steel and aluminum, silkscreening, powdercoating in different colors. I have done a few boxes through them for my daytime job and was very satisfied with quality and delivery time.
Wolfgang
It may sound trivial, but I've seen some great ( admittedly semi-professional) WiFi setups mounted in gutted microwave ovens. The oven's 2.4GHz shielding is/was of course normally extremely solid, & heat handling issues will naturally be incidental. You can even inspect the winking lights thru' the screened glass door.
Those & old fridges-Brendan neglected to mention that a popular Australian outback use for discarded beer fridges relates to rack mounting of electronic gear. Yeah- well so I'm told you'll understand. Maybe this is just an excuse for one in the workshop.
But on a more sobering note, my NZ & UK experiences with "low-tech" EMC professional housing cabinets (especially custom made versions), tend to show they'll often end up costing more than the hi-tech electronics within. Sheetmetal versions made locally often may not cut the mustard when it comes to certification. Back in the 1980s I recall a costly $$$$$ microwave facility RF screened room we commissioned, that years later ('90s) was found to astoundingly still allow cell phone calls from within (thanks to design "oversights" about ventilation cutouts etc). Stan
Those & old fridges-Brendan neglected to mention that a popular Australian outback use for discarded beer fridges relates to rack mounting of electronic gear. Yeah- well so I'm told you'll understand. Maybe this is just an excuse for one in the workshop.
But on a more sobering note, my NZ & UK experiences with "low-tech" EMC professional housing cabinets (especially custom made versions), tend to show they'll often end up costing more than the hi-tech electronics within. Sheetmetal versions made locally often may not cut the mustard when it comes to certification. Back in the 1980s I recall a costly $$$$$ microwave facility RF screened room we commissioned, that years later ('90s) was found to astoundingly still allow cell phone calls from within (thanks to design "oversights" about ventilation cutouts etc). Stan
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