Many manufacturers waste time and labor costs hand modifying standard enclosures to meet their needs. AIC has a Kiesling Performex CNC Router that can quickly and easily provide custom-made solutions to house important devices, controls, and wiring that control your process or system. Our Kiesling CNC Router seamlessly modifies standard enclosures to have clean-cut openings and tapped holes saving you time and labor costs, especially on stainless steel enclosures where the metal is more rigid and less easily workable. Are you struggling to understand heating and cooling calculations? Or to determine the NEMA rating for your system? AIC can also offer accurate thermal load calculations (add Rittal Audit link) for your specific application. If you want to save money and get the proper enclosure for your application, get in touch with us today.
What Are NEMA Enclosure Ratings and Why Are They Important?
NEMA is the National Electric Manufacturer Association. NEMA defines enclosures by the type of environment in which they will be used. The standard rating system identifies the durability of enclosures to withstand various environmental conditions such as moisture, wind, dust, hazardous gasses, and temperature. When selecting an enclosure, safety, efficiency, and productivity are improved by considering these standards.
What Enclosure Material Should I Choose?
Choosing the material for an enclosure is not as simple as it may appear. Different materials have different characteristics, and some are not suitable for certain applications. For this reason, it is critical to understand an application thoroughly and take all factors into account. It is also very important to have knowledge of the available enclosure material types such as plastics, fiberglass, carbon steel, and stainless steel.
Some things to consider regarding the material for an enclosure include:
- The required NEMA rating
- The need or hindrance of EMI/RF shielding
- The need or hindrance to transmit radio frequency signals (wireless antenna)
- The requirement for cut-outs and tapped holes on the enclosure
- The need for impact resistance
- The environment that the enclosure will be installed in
- The overall appearance of the enclosure
- The heating and cooling loads of the components
- The physical dimensions and layout of the components
Working together with our team of experts at AIC will help you understand enclosure material selection. We can help you decide which material makes the most sense for your application.
How Should I Size an Air Conditioner or Heater?
When sizing an air conditioner or heater for an enclosure, the first and most important step is to calculate the total heat load present within the electrical enclosure. This step is critical and will require referencing the manufacturer's catalogs and IOM manuals to confirm power losses for each device within the enclosure. When calculating total heat load, heat transfer from the environment to the enclosure must also be taken into account, so it is important to know the ambient temperature where the enclosure will be located during operation and enclosure material. This can be significantly impacted by enclosures located outside in direct sunlight. Once the total heat load is verified, the required enclosure temperature can be confirmed. Our team can help calculate heating and cooling capacity requirements while considering the heat dissipation of the enclosure's size and materials. Depending on environmental seal requirements, fans and filters or air conditioning and heating units may be required. When selecting the heating and cooling equipment, take caution not to go too big or too small. If the unit chosen is too big, it increases cycling and wears on the equipment. If a unit chosen is too small, it results in excessive running times and an inability to control the internal temperature.
Can You Supply Prefabricated Enclosures for M22 and M30 Pilot Devices?
Prefabricated enclosures for M22 and M30 pilot devices are common in many different applications. These are canned solutions that will sufficiently work within a system for housing push buttons, indicator lights, and switches. These pilot device stations have many options available, including:
- Ergonomic designs
- Color options
- Material options in plastic and metal
- Multiple entry point locations
- Single or multiple pilot devices
- Environmental seal (NEMA) ratings
At AIC, we can take care of all your enclosure needs. Let us handle your heat load calculations, or we can perform an enclosure energy audit on your existing system (add Rittal Audit link). Get in touch with us today to get the process started.
Can You Supply Fully Custom Enclosures?
AIC can provide quality designed, custom control panel enclosures. No matter how big or small, whether it's a custom shape or custom device opening, we can accommodate your needs. Our custom enclosures are NEMA and UL 508A certified and are constructed from carbon steel, stainless steel, or aluminum.
We can also customize standard enclosures using our Kiesling Perforex CNC router.
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