Cut Panel Hole Too Big

[rob6239]

Well I searched for other threads and found plenty warning not to cut a hole too big but couldn't find any (like me) that actually did.

Using a PVC box for my panel and everything else cut great on front (still waiting for parts to do outlets etc on bottom and heatsink on top).

But cutting hole for my dual voltmeter/ammeter I may have slipped up a bit and cut hole too big, just slightly all around and the whole unit can just slip right through the hole.

Anyone know of a fix or a product like a plastic moulding or bracket that I can use to cover the hole first and then do a better job of mounting the meter into that?

 

[Deece]

What about a blank single gang cover?

 

[rob6239]

That might work. I was also thinking about those plain outlet/receptacle covers with the whole center rectangle cutout but it didn't fit entirely there and that plastic might be too brittle to try and cut & shape. But even still I was hoping for something with an even smaller footprint than that just to cover over that extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch of extra room around the rectangle

 

[summerofgeorge]

Try cutting out the right size holes in a scrap piece of metal/plastic. Then attach these to the inside. This will solve the fit issue. Then it's just cosmetics on the outside. I'm sure you could find something to fill the gap on the outside that wouldn't look too bad.

 

[LarMoeCur]

If you have a thin piece of sheet metal laying around cut it to cover the hole. JB weld it in place, recut to the correct size, tape off, spray paint to match. You would be the only to notice the mistake.

 

[rob6239]

Update in case anyone searching in future looks for a solution... I took some of the advice here and got a piece of scrap metal I snipped a piece to cover the whole. The harder part was, I then tried to cut out the proper size hole in the center of that - ending up with a kind of homemade bracket. Spray painted the metal to match the colour of the meter.

It worked but wasn't as pretty as I imagined in my head. The difficulty was cutting the center of the "bracket" with large tin snips and the sheet metal was so thin. Some waterproof silicone on the inside of the enclosure cover around the meter to make sure . Now watch me power up the meter and it doesn't work anyway or something...

 

[purdman10]

Look in the Electric Brewery website for a solution ... http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25827&view=next

 

[rob6239]

Look in the Electric Brewery website for a solution ... http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25827&view=next

I saw a similar suggestion but this would likely work for a metal panel but I think the thickness of the plastic in my PVC panel (Cantex 12x12x6) make that option a bit more difficult