Nonmetallic control panel enclosures

I recently decided to move to electric brewing from propane and in looking over many builds, I see alot of people using steel enclosures for their panels. The steel enclosures seem heavier, more expensive, and harder to cut holes in than the ABS and fiberglass type (which I just picked up from BUD industries). Is there any reason why the nonmetallic type arent more prevalent? They carry the same NEMA specifications regarding water/dust ingress and are more than strong enough for our use...they also seem safer in the very unlikely event that a hot lead comes into contact with the enclosure since they wont carry current (Well, I guess that would trip the breaker since the case is grounded...so that makes the safety thing a moot point, but still). There seem to be lots of issues around cutting holes, most all of which are much easier to deal with in a softer medium like ABS. Am I making a mistake by using one of these enclosures, or just not following the norm?

I'll be following this thread.

Very reasonable choice. Which one did you get, and what will you use for a back plate to mount the components?

I used the BUD Industries NBF-32026, it is roughtly 15x11x5.75 internally and less than $50 shipped from here:
http://www.futureelectronics.com/en...rtNumberSearch|NBF/-32026|1|,Ny:True,Nea:True

I dont know if it comes with a backplate or not, although I'm pretty sure that you can buy them separately...I'll have to check and see when I get home if the UPS man left me presents! If not, I'll just cut some sheetmetal from HD or even plastic plate as I have some lying around. Most all of what is going on the backside is DIN rail mounted, so I may end up just making a track system on each side and mounting the horizontal DIN rails to that, we'll see once I have a chance to dive in. I'll keep you guys posted and post pics when I get the panel mocked up.

Great. Depending upon what you are trying to do, you may find the 5.75" internal height a bit tight, particularly if you add a back plate. I'm interested to see what you come up with.

I goofed, its ~6"(5.98) inside, so that gives a bit more space, but you're right, it may be a bit tight especially if you have large contactors or deep PID's and switches. They are made in lots of sizes however, so if wanting a deeper, wider, taller, whatever panel...you can get those just as easily.

I used a smaller version for eBIAB and it worked great, much easier to modify than steel.
Mine did not come with a back plate but has internal bosses for one. I ended up mounting all components to a DIN rail and didn't use a back plate. Mine also came with mounting brackets and HW. I don't see any downside to this type of NEMA rated ABS enclosure.

The bud box does NOT come with a back-plane; has to be ordered separately. The room IS tight if you have a 3 contactor build for sure; see my pics in this FB album: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1336290566929.536472.776771928&type=3&theater

You can't use plastic boxes as heatsinks for your SSRs (You'll need a real heat sink) -that's a downside.
They're more easily scratched -that's a downside.
The whole box itself can't be grounded, but then again it's not conductive... I'm not sure whether this is an upside or a downside yet.



I'm pretty happy with mine, I wish bigger NEMA 4 plastic boxes existed.


Adam

I've seen posts with people using plastic toolboxes. That sparked my interest. But then I saw one in which someone was just using a storage box you can buy from walmart or target. For four bucks I gave that a try and it's working fine so far. Super easy to cut.

My buddy used a plastic storage box. After a few brews, the plastic was weakened enough to crack near the SSR. He still uses it... I will say his is a fairly simple BiAB setup so he doesn't have a ton of components in there. Only one PID, etc.

I made my kal clone with the enclosure he recommended... Ordered the 16×16x8 on ebay for $100. They were out of stock so they sent me 20x20x8. Space was still really tight. I actually ended up turning it 90 degrees to make more room between components on the door. Now I can't open the door easily to show people because it lifts upward. I digress....

The point is space was tight, even with the 20x...

Be safe!

I have used PVC junction boxes from e.g. Carlon. It is also possible to get nice big see through carbonate enclosures, which is definitely a plus (no need to make holes for LEDs, displays etc.) Waterproof is a plus, easier to cut is a plus, corrosion resitance is a plus, the main downside is that you cannot heatsink SSRs directly to the wall.

Here are some pretty cheap ones. http://deepsurplus.com/HOME/Enclosure-Boxes_2/Non-Metallic-12-x-12-x-4-Enclosure-Box

Adam: I just looked on BUD Industries site, and in this series they have enclosures as large as 27x20x10...I'm sure they get a bit more spendy in the larger sizes, but I think that is the case regardless of material.
http://www.budind.com/view/NEMA+Boxes/UL_NEMA_IEC+NBF+Series

Please delete. Found the answer to my question.

NewBrewB:
I'm confused, you mentioned that you got a 20x20 enclosure here, but turned it 'sideways' to get more room. If it was a square enclosure, how did this buy you more room for components on the door? Maybe I missed something, or it is just how things are laid out internally. Just curious.

They were out of stock so they sent me 20x20x8. Space was still really tight. I actually ended up turning it 90 degrees to make more room between components on the door.

Click to expand...

hot_carl said:

I recently decided to move to electric brewing from propane and in looking over many builds, I see alot of people using steel enclosures for their panels. The steel enclosures seem heavier, more expensive, and harder to cut holes in than the ABS and fiberglass type (which I just picked up from BUD industries). Is there any reason why the nonmetallic type arent more prevalent? They carry the same NEMA specifications regarding water/dust ingress and are more than strong enough for our use...they also seem safer in the very unlikely event that a hot lead comes into contact with the enclosure since they wont carry current (Well, I guess that would trip the breaker since the case is grounded...so that makes the safety thing a moot point, but still). There seem to be lots of issues around cutting holes, most all of which are much easier to deal with in a softer medium like ABS. Am I making a mistake by using one of these enclosures, or just not following the norm?

Click to expand...

I was running along the same line of thought as you are until my ABS panel cracked after 10 months of light use. I used Bud Industries enclosure Hb 32026 16x12x6.3" made of ABS plastic. I paid about $80 including backplate and shipping. I could have bought steel enclosure for about the same amount of money...
It was easy to cut holes in and was very light to handle, hang on a wall etc. One day I noticed a hairline crack below my RIMS PID - I guess that is the worst stress point on the entire front panel. That crack quickly extended towards a switch below PID.
My plan was to upgrade this panel to 240V and add a second PID for electric BK.
Well, now I am looking into buying a metal enclosure because if my 240v enclosure cracks and causes house fire I will not be happy
Neither my home insurance...

Another point against plastic panels (at least made by Bud Ind.) is that any screws that you are supposed to drive into its plastic body (for wall hangers, back plate attachment etc) will only do it once i.e. go one way. If you attempt to unscrew and re-set those screws you will be weakening (or cracking) the panel around the fastener.

Digging up an old thread -- this was very helpful. I was (maybe still am) sooo close to buying this enclosure:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005UPANU2/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I'm not concerned about buy-once as I like to iteratively upgrade my system anyways (part of the fun for me ). The points that vash86 makes are very good though...

One of the benifits of a metal box is its easy to ground. Not sure how you would go about it with a plastic one

newtobrew1981 said:

One of the benifits of a metal box is its easy to ground. Not sure how you would go about it with a plastic one

Click to expand...

Just have a central ground connection all grounding wires run to.

You're right though, having a big metal box can definitely make this easier

Search tool box brew controllers. You can get a steel 20" tool box with plenty of room for the same price point. I picked up a 16" tool box on Amazon for $18 to use in my 120v system build.

Not technically a "panel" I suppose. Raspberry pi controller in a $7 tool box.

golfindia said:

Not technically a "panel" I suppose. Raspberry pi controller in a $7 tool box.

Click to expand...

Do you have a build thread behind this? I'm in-between on whether I want to go the PID route or a Raspberry PI...

Currently I'm just using a cheap SSVR w/ a potentiometer.

No thread. Maybe I will do that. I have zero skills making wiring diagrams though.....