Plexiglass control panel

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jyorger

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Several web sights say plexiglass melts at 320 degrees. If I have a computer fax venting heat what are my odds of this working.


image-2430010142.jpg
 
I've been looking at the diagram for 2 hours. Scared to start wiring it up
 
Ahhh, that'll never work! ...you better box that up and send it to me for disposal . ;)

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looks cool man, keep the wiring tidy inside and maybe install a few blue LEDs in there too and it'll be the envy of all of us at HBT
 
A blue light on the inside to give a glow through the entire case. I like that idea.
 
that...is beautiful. now, you have to make your wiring neat and clean.

questions:

1. is it watertight?
2. how did you cut it?
3. got any build pics?
4.cost for building it?
5.are you a wizard?
 
How thick is that plexiglass? Did you have any trouble mounting any if the components in it, due to the thickness?
 
I have often thought a clear box would be very cool, especially with LED's. Congrats on doing what others have only thought about!
 
Nice work! Raises lots of questions in my mind: Is that 1/4" thick? Did you use a table saw to cut it, or something else? How big did you make it? How is your cost breakdown on this?
 
Looks great...now, sheathing all of the wires and being meticulous about wiring will be tedious but should be a work of art when its finished. Is it bonded with acrylic cement (the liquid type that actually melts and fuses the two pieces)? I dont think the melting temp will be of any worry to you unless something overloads...especially if you have fans installed. You could make it more water resistant by foregoing the fans and cutting holes to mount the heatsinks outside the box. Then the only places of ingess are your seams and the hinged lid. Keep the pictures coming! btw, are you a gamer by chance? This is very similar to many case mods I have seen.
 
Damnit! I considered doing this when I built my E-BIAB, now I wish I had. You will be OK with that box because I am currently using this plastic Carlon 12x12x6 junction box with no problems. My SSR heatsink is cooled by a 30mm computer fan and the case if vented.
 
It's 1/4" thick. Not bonded at seams yet only bolted by brackets. I will bind it with aquarium type adhesive once I know it's complete. I cut it with a metal blade jig saw, drilled hole with a normal hole saw. You must put water or anti freeze on while cutting or it melts back together behind the saw blade. I didn't do that but it would really help. All internal components are from electric brewing supply. All fit nicely even though the lid is 1/4" thick.
 
Just a heads up, aquarium sealant or any type of silicone caulk won't stick to well to acrylic. I've built a few small aquariums and have worked with both glass and acrylic. You need a product called Weld-on to actually bond acrylic. Silicone might be ok for just sealing it, but don't count on it for any structural help.

BTW: Looks great!
 
Ah. Thank you for the info. I would hate to have come this far just to mess it up on the last step. Although it would be par for the course. I've been working on my brewery for a year now and I think I've had to do every step twice.
 
Yea that usually happens at some point. I've done quite a few things twice when I built my brewery. Think of it as practice!
 
Looks really cool. I work with plexiglass a lot and the best solvent to bond together is weldon #3 or #4. I have a CNC machine at home and can cut plexiglass with it..... you have given me some ideas for my control panel!
 
I love the idea of a clear enclosure but my buddy's SSRs melted his plastic storage bin. You might consider cutting a metal piece to mount the SSRs and heat sinks and then mount that to the rest of the plexiglass box.

As for keeping the wiring neat, I used a ton of the peel and stick ziptie thingies. Also, I recommend

1 make the wires a few inches longer than you think you need... The wires should be long enough to make smooth curves or 90 degrees turns.
2 run wires through loose ziptie ties on the peel and stick mounts. Then, just keep cutting/replacing the zip ties as you add more wires to a given mount.

If this doesn't make sense, PM me and I will upload pictures of what I mean.
 
I have a polycarbonate front enclosure, I think it's from Serpac. I haven't used it yet but I was thinking it would be useful for display parts because I wouldn't need to cut holes. The way I wire things I would probably hide the guts behind adhesive vinyl sheet.
 
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