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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591

    Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Been adding components to my cnc and it's definitely not organized in a way that I'm happy with. Right now I have a g540, smoothstepper, 48v psu, 2.2kw vfd, couple small psu's for 5v, 12v psu for air solenoids, and now adding a breakout board, dmm dyn4 drive, contactor, line reactor, filters, etc with more lines for a.c. power, more wires going back and forth. Just gonna be a mess if I try to add on to my current setup. I started out with a small control box that housed the 48v psi and g540 with the smoothstepper mounted to the outside with protective plexiglass cover, but now it's just becoming too much. Need to start fresh with a proper control cabinet now that I'm adding the dmm stuff for mill turn. Just want everything to be clean and organized. Anyone have ideas of how to handle all this neatly? Preferably some pics of your own setup with maybe some similar components?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Here are a few panels I built in the last year or 3


    Servo driven punch press




    Lathe power panel, not quite as neat as the panel I built for the customer above, but in this case I was using a lot of the original installed hardware.



    And the lathe computer panel, in-process



    Router panel, for a customer, using a lot of original hardware.



    My mill panel, in process



    And my RPC panel

    Panel



    and the panel door

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_1787.jpg  
    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Yes, exactly what I want my setup to look like, but not sure where to start. What type of cabinet should I be looking for? Do you just start with some kind of basic metal cabinet and mount everything how you want it by drilling/tapping for specific electronics? Or is it some kind of specific cabinet designed for this kind of stuff? I learned how to wire and setup my cnc, but as you can probably tell, I dont know much about proper layout and organizing of this type of stuff.

    Ok, looks like for starters I need to learn all about din rail and proper distribution

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    I normally buy all of my hardware from Automation Direct. They have everything you need to build a professional panel. https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/home/home

    First create a complete parts list, include everything. Once once you have all of the hardware then you can do the layout. By looking at the sizes of the parts in the catalogs, or just measuring what you have, you can get a pretty good idea of the size of enclosure that you need. I normally make a layout drawing to start with. Automation Direct has downloadable 2D and 3D drawings of almost all of their components.

    Do Not short your self on panel space, you never have enough room. My lathe panel is too crowded for my taste, but I had the back panel on the shelf so that's what I used. That's why there are no wireways on it.

    You start by laying out all of the hardware on a flat surface. Everything on the pallet except the DMM hardware came from Automation Direct



    Enclosures
    https://www.automationdirect.com/adc...ing/enclosures

    If you need some guidance in this, I'll be happy to get you started.
    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    333

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    I normally buy all of my hardware from Automation Direct. They have everything you need to build a professional panel. https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/home/home

    First create a complete parts list, include everything. Once once you have all of the hardware then you can do the layout. By looking at the sizes of the parts in the catalogs, or just measuring what you have, you can get a pretty good idea of the size of enclosure that you need. I normally make a layout drawing to start with. Automation Direct has downloadable 2D and 3D drawings of almost all of their components.

    Do Not short your self on panel space, you never have enough room. My lathe panel is too crowded for my taste, but I had the back panel on the shelf so that's what I used. That's why there are no wireways on it.

    You start by laying out all of the hardware on a flat surface. Everything on the pallet except the DMM hardware came from Automation Direct



    Enclosures
    https://www.automationdirect.com/adc...ing/enclosures

    If you need some guidance in this, I'll be happy to get you started.
    Dang those are pricey enclosures.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Did a bit more looking around and starting to get it. Basically I had no knowledge of what din rail even was when I first built my cnc so I have a mess of like 4 different plug in power supplies for various voltages plugged into a power strip with wires going to various components. It's terrible lol. Looks like i need to replace a lot of what I already have with proper din rail mounted type stuff. I can see now how all this can be done neatly.
    One question, can I put my 2.2kw vfd in the box with everything else? Or is it just too much noise? It's controlled by mach3 so I don't need access to the front panel of it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    You might get away with having the VFD in the control cabinet if everything is well grounded and filtered. My preference is to hang the VFD outside the cabinet. I suspect the DYN4's may be noisier than the VFD.

    In the punch press panel above, everytime I turned on the DYN4's it killed the Ethernet connection to the controller. Never did get that resolved, so I used the serial connection on the controller for comms. You may not have that problem.

    On the lathe, the DYN4's and the VFD is in the ''magnetics'' cabinet. Well separated from the control system, and everything is properly grounded.
    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    You might get away with having the VFD in the control cabinet if everything is well grounded and filtered. My preference is to hang the VFD outside the cabinet. I suspect the DYN4's may be noisier than the VFD.

    In the punch press panel above, everytime I turned on the DYN4's it killed the Ethernet connection to the controller. Never did get that resolved, so I used the serial connection on the controller for comms. You may not have that problem.

    On the lathe, the DYN4's and the VFD is in the ''magnetics'' cabinet. Well separated from the control system, and everything is properly grounded.

    It might actually make sense to separate the vfd and dyn4 into another enclosure, especially if they can go together. They are the 2 largest components by far so if including them in the main control cabinet, it would need to be pretty deep just to accommodate those 2 components. If putting them on their own somewhere else, the main cabinet could be much shallower and take up less room. They also happen to be the only 2 components needing 240v ac, so yeah I think they will live together somewhere else.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Yeah, the DYN4's require a 12 inch deep enclosure, won't quite fit in an 8, maybe a 10, a little tight on the cables. Fan cooling is a good idea when installing heat generating devices.
    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Dawson View Post
    Yeah, the DYN4's require a 12 inch deep enclosure, won't quite fit in an 8, maybe a 10, a little tight on the cables. Fan cooling is a good idea when installing heat generating devices.
    So I'm assuming there's no problem putting the dyn4 and vfd together in their own box? I'll add a cooling fan. Line reactors on both and might add a contactor for the vfd since I need one for the dyn4 and that cabinet will have a 24v power supply in it.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    5717

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    No problem at all. A contactor on the input power side of the VFD is fine. I would put a time delay between powering up the VFD and the DYN4, I power mine on with a 1 second delay between them to keep the inrush as low as possible.

    On my lathe, the VFD is directly connected to the panel main breaker, but the DYN4's have contactors that are computer controlled.

    On my mill, the VFD is never turned off, direct wired to the shop breaker panel. My air compressor VFD is wired the same, direct to the breaker panel.
    Jim Dawson
    Sandy, Oregon, USA

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    126

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    24x36x8" Nema 12 enclosure (Hoffman Eqlv.). 6 axis AC servo CNC control Panel.

    General thoughts, power comes in at the top and leaves on the bottom. Separate AC power and DC signal as much as possible (Do not share a wireway). Circuit protection is a must and takes up room. Break out all your interconnections and especially field connections to terminal block (automation direct has good prices). Wire duct is your friend and will hide all your wires.

    Attachment 416640

    Attachment 416642

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    126

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Much older design of mine, 1 DYN3 servo drive and 4 axis steppers.

    Attachment 416644

    - - - Updated - - -

    I think a lot of people overlook the time it takes to do a nice panel build (and the fun of it too). I think of it as at least 50% of the machine build if not more.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Posts
    411

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Those are some well designed panels Jim and some good advice.

    It's also a good idea to try and keep the high voltage components separate from the low voltage one's. Connectorize or screw terminal everything (no wire splices). And keep the hot components in the airflow path. And oh, don't use the bottom of the box for fuse and cable storage like I do. Lol.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 2019-02-15 11.47.34.jpg  

  15. #15
    ericks Guest

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Hi, i connect the mains earth to anywhere where it is required/where there is an indicated earth connection. But i do not tie/connect the neg of any SMPSU to earth

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Posts
    126

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Oh, and go buy yourself some ferrule crimpers. Something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/Crimp-Tool-...4AAOSwfYBcfiZ7.

    They keep stranded wires at bay and make connections much more reliable. Cheap ones last a while, and the good ones are VERY expensive.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Thanks guys. Really nice looking panels. I think I'm starting to get an idea of how I want to lay things out. I'll have 2 cabinets. Main control cabinet will have 110vac coming in the top which will go to a distribution din rail. Another rail will be below it with my various din rail mounted dc power supplies for 5v, 12v, 24v, as well as my larger 48v supply which will be mounted next to that rail. The 48v supply will first pass through dmb break out board which has large caps to smooth out the power, then go to another distribution rail for splitting off to g540, couple other stepper drivers. The other power supplies on din rail for 5v, 12v, and 24v will have terminal blocks for distribution for going to smoothstepper, dmb board, air solenoids, etc. Below all this power distribution will be dmb board, smoothstepper, g540, couple other gecko drivers. Stepper motor cables will come off the drivers and out the bottom along with cables for air solenoids and e stop. No limit switches on my machine, just soft limits so much less wire going from control cabinet to machine.
    Second cabinet will have 240vac coming in the top which will split off to breakers for vfd and dyn4 as well as a 24v dc supply for powering contactors. After the breakers I'll have the contactors and line reactors, then the vfd and dyn4. This cabinet will have rs485 coming in from pc for vfd control and a single cable coming in from dmb board inside other cabinet into the dyn4 in second cabinet. Cables coming out of second cabinet will be spindle cable and encoder cable/motor cable for the servo.

    I'm sure I'll have more questions for you guys as I move on designing it. I'm still a bit unclear on my options for how I can assemble components on a din rail, like if I can have multiple dc power supplies with a few terminal blocks next to each one for distribution all in one rail, or if I need to have the power supplies on one rail, then have separate rails for each group of terminal blocks, ie one rail for each voltage. I think I can figure most of this out as I keep searching. I'll probably model the whole thing up in fusion and post it for you guys to look at, see what should be changed. I want it to look pretty and be easy to diagnose problems.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    4252

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    I laid mine out horizontally and gave it a serious front panel.
    Ammeters on all axes, status LEDs on many signals, and some more controls in the blank space at the bottom right.
    If anything happens, I can SEE what it is.

    Cheers
    Roger

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    591

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Wow, after looking at those enclosures on automation direct, I think ill just go to harbour freight and invest in a sheet bender and rivet gun. Make exactly what I want for much cheaper. That way I can also make a nice case for my mill turn setup.

    I'm thinking it might be pretty cool to go pc tower build style. Plexiglass panel in front door, some leds, make it look really sweet.

    Actually, thinking a bit more, I could skip the bender and rivots, get some thicker aluminum sheet, cut all the pieces on my cnc, fasten it together with countersunk screws from the outside with corner stock on the inside. Could make a really precise sharp looking enclosure. All holes for Cables positioned exactly where I want with no extra openings, precise drill locations for mounting boards on standoffs, some custom engraving, nice flush inset plexiglass window. My work area is 26x18, plenty big enough for all pieces since I'm splitting into 2 enclosures. This is gonna be a fun project lol.

  20. #20
    ericks Guest

    Re: Any pics of cnc control cabinets?

    Sounds good...

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