Finally my first controller box

Andy2000

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After over a year of reading and asking questions I finally got my controller box done and lights set up. Thanks to everyone who has helped. Left a space for another PixLite 16 next year. Any questions and comments are welcome. Thanks
 

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Andy2000

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I made sure I left space for 2 more fans if the temps get too high in the box, Will keep an eye on them once I have a show running
 

Andy2000

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Yes the 2 fans pull air out. I have 2 vented 90mm holes either side at the top of the box to draw air in
 

David_AVD

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Having the intake at the bottom and exhaust at the top would be better, but I understand why you did it that way.
 

Andy2000

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That was the original plan but space was an issue. If it gets too hot I can add another 2 fans to the bottom
 

Fing

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That's a nice size box, plenty of room for growth . I would put some finger guards on the fans, to not only protect fingers but to prevent other things being chewed up ;) . As a thought, if you reversed the fans it would give you a hot air exhaust at the top as David mentioned, the power supplies are the heat makers, exhausting at the bottom is dragging that heat across your circuit boards. Whether this really makes any difference in the real world is an interesting question. Please let us know how it all goes once it's up and running.


Cheers
Fing
 

kane

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Very nice looking box!

One thing I'd suggest is to have some sort of protective cover on the bare 240v terminals, as that always scares me.

Obviously in theory you should power down the whole thing if you're doing any work on it, but you might find yourself having an issue with your display somewhere, so you open up the box to have a look, and potentially could touch the terminals..

For my (much less fancy) setup, I've simply hot glue gunned a small piece of plastic over them.

Cheers
 

AAH

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Looks good.
On top of the covers for mains and sucking in from bottom and venting out the top I have 1 thing that the gurus have so far missed. It's a steel enclosure so you should make sure both the enclosure and the door have an earth connection to them.
Where did you get the little LED voltmeter modules? They are something that I'd like to see more of and I wouldn't mind adding a few myself.
 

multicast

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AAH said:
have so far missed. It's a steel enclosure so you should make sure both the enclosure and the door have an earth connection to them.


In deed. thats not just a nice to have, its a really must have.


I'm not so sure about using the Extension cables for powering the AC that way? have you got two crimp connectors on the terminals, or two wires into one crimp.. I'm not so keen on that as its quite hard to get a reliable connection, though it is acceptable if you have to.

You are ok, to remove the outside insulation from teh extension cable if you wanted to btw, as its in a cabinet.

You could put a small length of din rail and some circuit breakers in there, and perhaps even an RCD..
 

Andy2000

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The little LED voltmeters were from ebay. They do from 3 to 30v from memory. Around the $3.30 mark including postage so I ordered 10. Handy to have in case of a failure you have a visual and also if voltage is dropping too much. How do I earth the cabinet? It has an earth point in it and the hinges for the door are steel so thats not a problem
 

multicast

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Andy2000 said:
The little LED voltmeters were from ebay. They do from 3 to 30v from memory. Around the $3.30 mark including postage so I ordered 10. Handy to have in case of a failure you have a visual and also if voltage is dropping too much. How do I earth the cabinet? It has an earth point in it and the hinges for the door are steel so thats not a problem


You need a bond wire from the earth point to the door.. you cant rely on the hinges.. Hopefully teh door has a earthing point as well. Run a wire, from the case earth point to the case, and then from teh case to AC earth.
 

Andy2000

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Cheers Ill do that on the weekend. I only used the AC cable because thats what I had spare. Looking to change it for next year for some better AC cable. I have a dedicated powerpoint going in next week which will be RCD protected plus the case is locked 24/7 so no one has access. Might turn the fans around as well to blow air in
 
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