I cracked my plastic enclosure, now what?

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CalypsoCowboy

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Title says it all. I've been working on my electric brewery for I don't know how long. I purchased a 12x12 Carlon box from Home Depot and was planning on using it for my panel. I've got it drilled, and probably 95% of my wiring is done. I go out to the garage this morning to get the box to bring it inside so I can silicon the heatsinks in and I find cracks in my front panel.

I'm guessing that yesterday when I was installing some pieces, I pressed down a little too hard on the side and with it being cold, that's when the cracks developed. One crack extends about 4 inches down from the switch the other runs almost the entire length of the panel through a couple of lights and switches.

Now what? Do I just go forward as planned? Do I look for something, not sure what what, maybe a sticker that could go over the front of the entire panel, or maybe something stronger like a sheet of plastic. Do I get another panel and drill it out and start again, start again with a new metal box.

Looking for thoughts. The only wiring I had left was wiring the SSR, and the current donut, and connecting the RTDs at the PID.





-Josh
 
A) Live with it and nickname it FrankenBrau.
B) Seal the cracks with epoxy, gorilla glue or whatever and see step A.
C) Replace the box and re-drill.

I'd be inclined to go with option B.
 
As an Electrician i say

Replace it, it is a safety factor you are dealing with liquid and electricity

I an sure you will get other opinions, but the entire point of an enclosure is ti isolate the electricity and make the system safe.
 
Replace it. What type of drill were you using? Step drills can crack plastic easily, the way they're made puts a lot of force outward from the hole. If you use hole saws this should keep this from happening.
 
I used a step bit on mine and its the same enclosure... went through it like butter...easier actually than the hole saw bit I used to cut the fan hole locations...
Epoxy should work and make it stronger than new...but you can always buy another and just use the cover....
its a crack not a gaping hole..you can easily safely repair it... and even unrepaired will let less moisture in than the openings and seams where switches and such are mounted... a little common sense goes a long way here.
I have two big holes in mine with a fan for airflow... with my hood working theres no danger of water somehow making its way inside and shorting my panel...its not like its going to be mounted in a sauna.... if you have no exhaust hood then I would be more concerned.

This is were everyone with metal enclosures will likely chime in...
 
Are you concerned about aesthetics or safety?

I suppose the impact on safety depends on how water tight the rest of the panel is or isn't along with the rest of your setup (proximity to liquids, etc).

For aesthetics, I'm sure you could work some epoxy and paint if necessary if you want to save what you have.

I had a smaller 8x8 panel I put together several years ago in a plastic box. I used the plastic lid as a test run and then had a metal faceplate made at Front Panel Express. They're not cheap but you can find coupon codes at times. You just draw out your panel with their software and can place everything down to the millimeter with ease. You can also have all your labels engraved, etc.
 
Oh no! :smack:

Some electrons might escape!!

Drill the ends of the cracks so they don't go any further then mix some 5 minute epoxy up and smear on the back side - if you happen to have any fiber glass cloth laying around, lay strips of that on top of the wet epoxy.

Or

If the box isnt too expensive just replace it.
 
Quick update, I took all the switches off and looked at the cracks more. Total of three, one of the cracks was pretty deep and the panel flexed quite a bit.

I had a piece of plastic pegboard I was planning on using as a backplate, but it didn't work as I expected. I took that and it's currently being jb welded to the backside of the panel. I thinned the JB weld a bit so it may take a bit the dry. The nice part about the panel is it has plastic ribs running vertically and horizontally so that will add rigidity. Once that is done I found some contact paper for the front.

It's looking like it will clean up nicely.
 
I was going to say, slap a lil sheet metal on the face. I'm doing my build now and didn't think the box was going to cost as much as it did. I didn't think any of this stuff was going to cost as much as it did.
 
You could buy a new box from HD and use the new lid to save on rewiring the whole box.

A step drill bit and/or knockout punch should allow you to quickly modify the plastic lid.
 
I thinned the JB weld a bit so it may take a bit the dry.

Yes, yes it will. Like days.

The idea of a piece of sheet metal over the top would work well also, could cut out the middle part of the box, JB Weld around the edges with pop-rivets to help secure it, then drill new holes in the metal.
 
You could buy a new box from HD and use the new lid to save on rewiring the whole box.

A step drill bit and/or knockout punch should allow you to quickly modify the plastic lid.
Yup same thing I suggested...that box is $30. I use the same one and am doing the same because my layout is a mess and all wrong now that I added things.
 
If it really is $30 I would replace it. It would really suck to get everything wired in and have a catastrophic failure. For $30 why risk it IMO.

Well in western new york they are indeed $30 at least they were 2 months ago.... not sure how a cosmetic crack will cause catastrophic failure... These arent being operated underwater? and its just a cover plate. But if the cracks are bad enough to effect structural integrity of the mounting of the switches than yeah I see your point... The epoxy would fix that cheap as well though.
 
Last update, the boxes are about 34 here in Idaho.

The JB weld seems to have held good, but ran into another problem, the combined thickness of the lid and plastic pegboard is too much for my selector switches. The two pieces won't connect.

So I'm back before square one. There is no way to remove the pegboard from the front without destroying the panel. I'm either getting a new box and using the lid or may splurge for a metal box or something different enclosure wise. Nuts!

I was use a hole saw when drilling. I think what happened was I installed hinges on the box and had on end propped up on some wood and was pressing down on a wire holder that was attached in the middle. I didn't support it from the back site and voila, crack.

-Josh
 
If you are still going the plastic box route, When you go to re-drill try flipping it upside down, lay it on a piece of wood, and drill from the back so that it's better supported. THEN install your hinges.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Out of curiosity, what did you use for hinges? And did you use some type of clasps on the opposite side, so you wouldn't need any screws?
 
Out of curiosity, what did you use for hinges? And did you use some type of clasps on the opposite side, so you wouldn't need any screws?
Why do you need hinges? Do you open your control panel up on a regular basis once its done?
I dont have any doors or hinges on mine.... just screws... it takes all of a couple minutes to remove them it something were to fail and I need access.
 
Why do you need hinges? Do you open your control panel up on a regular basis once its done?
I dont have any doors or hinges on mine.... just screws... it takes all of a couple minutes to remove them it something were to fail and I need access.

Why are you asking me? The OP said he used hinges and I was curious as to how he did it. Personally, if I wanted hinges I would buy a different box that had them, but is there something wrong with wanting to understand how others approached the issue?
 
The hinges were just a bling thing that I thought would be nice to have. I could open the panel while it was on the wall and not worry about the cabling. They are a cabinet hinge that I flatted on one side so I could get a 90 degree angle. I chose these hinges as the pivot could be on the outside. I did need to trim down the front panel by the hinges to get it to fit. Yes it would have been held in by screws.





-Josh
 
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