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I saw on buildyourcnc that the guy mounted the PS, BoB and drivers in a wood letter tray. Looked like a neat solution but I don't have a letter tray sitting around, so I'd need to buy or build something.
Does anyone have a clever solution they'd like to recommend?
A lot of people mount them in old PC cases. Those are useful because they have ready-made ventilation fan mounting holes, plenty of metal for shielding of EMI or for heat sinking, and they are often available for free.
If you use a PC case, however, beware that they are not well sealed against things like chips and other debris getting inside. Some people prefer to use NEMA-rated equipment enclosures to keep the drive electronics clean, however those can be pricey unless you can find a used or surplus source. So, the alternative may involve simply moving the electronics enclosure far enough away from most of the flying chips to keep it clean.
I have bought used electrical enclosures off ebay for cheap, these often have a disconnect, terminal strips, push buttons and wire trough included.
Al.
I build a wood sided and backed box, and used a metal front plate (DumpsterDiver-ed). The wood sides were 2x6, which made for a good strong frame for a very heavy power supply. The back plate is larger than the box to carry some std 120V outlets that are switched by the G540 driving solid-state relays. I mounted a 120V fan to blow air through a 3" hole in the back into the box, and a few vent holes on the sides. This whole thing is up on the studs of the garage near the ceiling to keep little fingers out. The computer is up there too, and there is no sign of dust/chips near either one.
My stepper wires come down from above the table, where they find the moving gantry (all my motors are on the gantry, like Patricks).
Total case cost ~0.
My small machine has 2 plastic enclosures each 8"x4" screwed to the back of the fixed gantry. One has the BOB, the other has the 3 SLAmStepper drivers. The SLAms are good as they are quite small and require very little heatsinking for my 2.6A motors. The only 2 cables to the machine are the 33v DC power and the incoming serial data lead.
The one down side that I can see in using wood or plastic is that there should be extra steps taken to observe earth grounding and bonding of any electronic metallic frames which occurs easier with a metal enclosure.
Many 'noise' issues have been reported in the forums which often lead back to these omissions.
Al.
My PC motherboard, hard drive, power supplies and drives are all mounted in an MDF box with automotive air filters to keep the dust out. I have 5 fans, 2 in, 2 out, and 1 blowing across the drives.
Metal is a good choice not only for noise cancellation for also for heat management. Many drives can be mounted on a metal plate and are designed to act as a heat sink. In additional to this, I also have a fan venting my box.
In my case the plastic box surrounds the drives, but the box is mounted on the rear of the metal gantry which has (grounded) aluminium plate on 2 sides.Quote:
Originally Posted by Al_The_Man