Need a plastic electronics enclosure cheap!

[coloradonewbie]

I've been looking at all the really cool enclosures that are created by you folks on the Zone.
Amazing to say the least. I just need a place to get a plastic box or panel, semi rigid so it doesn't flex too much.
I'm just mounting a 24VDC/5A flat power supply and a 3 axis Toshiba TB6560 stepper controller in it.
I have a power switch and an e-stop I'd like to mount as well. The original Xylotex box I have is little small
for good air flow in there.

Any ideas on where to get one locally would be great. Online is ok too.

If I can't find anything I like that's cheap, I'll probably just build a wood one
with a clear plexi door or something.

Thanks in advance,
Colorado Newbie

[quazga]

Take a look at these. Not pretty, but they'd keep the metal chips out.

Shop Storage : Totes & Baskets at Lowes.com

[Iron-Man]

Originally Posted by quazga Take a look at these. Not pretty, but they'd keep the metal chips out. Shop Storage : Totes & Baskets at Lowes.com

What size do you need?

I found some excellent enclosures on ebay [Hoffman Cases]. Most are metal and fiberglass, but make a professional set-up.

HOFFMAN Enclosure Box - 8" x 8" x 4" - eBay (item 180564198418 end time Oct-21-10 07:37:33 PDT)

Hope this helps,


Iron-Man

[toughtool]

You can get a 12"X12"X6" Gray plastic box (NEMA type 6P) from here for about $33.00. They have smaller ones too.

Carlon 12 In. x 12 In. x 6 In., Gray, Junction Box - E989R-UPC at The Home Depot

Joe

[jsheerin]

How about plastic storage containers? Lots of sizes, various types of sealing, cheap and easily available. Some of them might need a bit of reinforcement.

[RomanLini]

I would be a little wary about the safety of plastic storage containers. Usually they are polypropylene and are brittle, ie trip over and fall on one and it can shatter and fry you with live wires, they can also crack and fail due to drilling even if the holes initially look ok when you drilled them.

They also tend to degrade quickly (getting even more brittle) if they get any exposure to sunlight etc.

[Regnar]

For a few dollars more you can pick up a steel enclosure and all your other needs from Factory Mation.

Here is a link NEMA 1 Continuous Hinge

And a picture of mine that all but a few parts where sourced from

[doorknob]

Originally Posted by Regnar For a few dollars more you can pick up a steel enclosure and all your other needs from Factory Mation. Here is a link NEMA 1 Continuous Hinge And a picture of mine that all but a few parts where sourced from

How do you route the PC cable, stepper motor cables, AC supply cable, and the like? Do you punch or drill holes in the enclosure and mount connectors, or something else?

[quazga]

Originally Posted by RomanLini I would be a little wary about the safety of plastic storage containers. Usually they are polypropylene and are brittle, ie trip over and fall on one and it can shatter and fry you with live wires, they can also crack and fail due to drilling even if the holes initially look ok when you drilled them. They also tend to degrade quickly (getting even more brittle) if they get any exposure to sunlight etc.

Polypropylene is one of the least brittle plastics known to man. They make what is known as living hinges out of it that can be flexed for millions of cycles before failure.

It's true that it can degrade in ultraviolet light, as with most plastics that don't contain UV inhibitors, but that takes time, at least a few months before the material properties change enough to be significantly noticeable.

Your comment sounds as though it is based on experience. So the only thing I can think is either the material you had was sitting in the sun for a year or more, or the polymer was manufactured with very low quality methods and materials.

Then again, you may have experienced these properties with a plastic that was something other than polypropylene or polyethylene.

[Regnar]

You could use connectors but it will get expensive quickly. I use cord grips and run the wires to where they need to go.

Cord Grips

[doorknob]

Interesting...

I had never before heard of "cord grips" - but I guess that they make sense if you need to have environmental isolation (or if you want to save the cost of connectors)...

[RomanLini]

Originally Posted by quazga Polypropylene is one of the least brittle plastics known to man. They make what is known as living hinges out of it that can be flexed for millions of cycles before failure. It's true that it can degrade in ultraviolet light, as with most plastics that don't contain UV inhibitors, but that takes time, at least a few months before the material properties change enough to be significantly noticeable. Your comment sounds as though it is based on experience. So the only thing I can think is either the material you had was sitting in the sun for a year or more, or the polymer was manufactured with very low quality methods and materials. Then again, you may have experienced these properties with a plastic that was something other than polypropylene or polyethylene.

My opinion was based on experience! I have used small PP containers for bulk parts storage for about 15 years, it is very brittle and most of the well-used containers have needed replacing due to cracking and failure.

I have also used larger PP containers for tool storage and some have also cracked and failed. One left in the australian sun for only a couple of months failed terribly with change in colour and literally fell apart. Storage containers (as specifically mentioned by jsheerin "cheap and easily available") from the house goods stores are almost always PP and are BRITTLE. Stomp on one if you don't believe me, it will explode into shards.

As for living hinges, that would be polyethylene or a styrene (like ABS) as PP is generally unsuitable.