Waterproof box for J1SYS P12S board and 2 power supplies

[hdracer]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-12-in-x-12-in-x-6-in-Junction-Box-E989R-UPC/100404149?keyword=693-878

 

[logandc99]

I've used the cg1500 boxes as well. I've had to use two boxes per p12s setup, one box containing the two power supplies (the fit is fairly snug) and a sep box for the P12s. I had ordered about 6 of the boxes from creative lighting displays last year. They are $15.95 each US. Unfortunately postage was about expensive out to NZ but still worked out way cheaper than buying anything here.

I hope you used some ventilation in that case because thats 700 watts of power supply all enclosed into a tight space. There is a reason the power supplies have their own fan and that is so cool fresh air can ensure the components dont overheat or dont have a shorter life due to heat stress.

At the base of the enclosures (just beneath where my cables come out) there are pre-made holes for cables with a sponge on the inside to stop bugs getting in but useless for waterproofing. I removed the sponge and then hot glued some mesh to cover the premade holes that stopped bugs but allowed airflow. As for water proofing, well these enclosures have a larger box sitting over the top of them and they are tucked in behind the base of my megatree hidden by a sheet of black coro at the bottom of the tree and behind some lit presents.

 

[Salvatore Anello]

No go on the box I bought. It needed to be about half a cm thicker and the latch was really not well positioned to close it properly. Still searching. Is there some 600 watt power supply out there I can use instead of 2 300 watt ers? I can't believe finding a box for this application is so daunting. (at least one that doesn't cost more then what is inside it.)

 

[mborg10]

No go on the box I bought. It needed to be about half a cm thicker and the latch was really not well positioned to close it properly. Still searching. Is there some 600 watt power supply out there I can use instead of 2 300 watt ers? I can't believe finding a box for this application is so daunting. (at least one that doesn't cost more then what is inside it.)

I have also found it really difficult to find affordable boxes. Last year I ordered to boxes off eBay for approx $50 each. When I got them they were not quite good enough. They could hold a p2 and 1 power supply but not 2 supplies and a p12.
I found some boxes thru one of the guys on here. They were a one off buy as they didn't come with waterproofing paperwork. Normally $66 but I got them for $11 each. I bought all 6 that he had.

I feel your pain but boxes are out there you just have to find the right supplier with the right price.

 

[SLIMaxPower]

I have given up worrying about water-proofing due to not being able to find reasonable enclosures, and since like you know it doesn't rain here in Perth


I am going to mount a small flat-pack cabinet in the carport and remove it after the season.


It will house 3 controllers, 4 psu's, switch, raspberry pi etc. Even with rain this is fine, although security is an issue for me.

 

[joeengler]

I built 2 for my mega-tree like this, I have more photos with all the cables that I can find later.

 

[plasmadrive]

You guys do know that those supplies are not meant to be mounted in that tight of an enclosure, right? I suppose if you only play flashy blinky you should be ok since the duty cycle is pretty short, but man It sure seems weird watching everyone post about something that is so not right... LOL

 

[kane]

I have given up worrying about water-proofing due to not being able to find reasonable enclosures, and since like you know it doesn't rain here in Perth

Although we don't get a huge amount of rain, you'll still want to make sure you're covered. 2013 was unique in that we had zero rain for the whole month, but the two previous years, we had some decent rain both years, and each time I lost pixels. (all my controllers were okay as they're in waterproof boxes)

 

[AAH]

It's okay plasma it doesn't get too hot down here in the land down under around Xmas season. It's only rarely that the temp gets above 40C at the time the lights are powered up. If the boxes are in direct sunlight before powering up the temp inside should just sneak in under 60C which leaves plenty of temperature headroom before hitting the 85C max temp for most commercial gear. Of course once those 2 350W 90% efficient power supplies start radiating heat into the boxes things might get hot. {end.sarcasm}

Alan

You guys do know that those supplies are not meant to be mounted in that tight of an enclosure, right? I suppose if you only play flashy blinky you should be ok since the duty cycle is pretty short, but man It sure seems weird watching everyone post about something that is so not right... LOL

 

[logandc99]

You guys do know that those supplies are not meant to be mounted in that tight of an enclosure, right? I suppose if you only play flashy blinky you should be ok since the duty cycle is pretty short, but man It sure seems weird watching everyone post about something that is so not right... LOL

It's always great to get constructive criticism ..... although sometimes it can be tricky spotting the constructive part.
For those of us "playing flashy blinky" and making such "weird" and "so not right posts" about the enclosure setups, it would be great to get a pic of one of your enclosures with power supplies and ventilation so we can see how it should be done. It's would also be great to get an idea of what the temp should be kept below within the enclosures to make sure the power supplies don't get damaged. The air temp tops out at about 18 degrees Celsius when the lights go on here around 9pm. As stated in an earlier post in this thread ( a reply to a constructive query), I have ventilation at the base of the enclosures ( see pic below) but I am assuming from your comment that this is clearly not enough.
Look forward to seeing pics of your setup and getting some details about where I am going so wrong.
Any other helpful feedback from others on this matter is also greatly appreciated.

 

[AAH]

The temp inside any of the enclosures should really be kept below 50C at the max to ensure individual components aren't exceptionally hot. Forced ventilation is the best way to keep things cool as natural ventilation really doesn't provide a huge amount of cooling. Even relying on convection cooling with 2 vents with 1 higher than the other doesn't do a huge amount as it relies on a fairly large heat differential to get the air flowing.
I personally use cheap and nasty boxes and don't rely on the boxes to provide waterproofing. On my latest batch of boxes I have built I have mounted the power supplies so that the fan exhaust is mounted hard against the side of the box with a flywire covered hole providing an outlet. With this arrangement the power supplies and enclosures are rarely much above ambient temperature with 1 of my boxes having 2 350W supplies, a mega60 and a total switched load of about 56A @ 12V. If I'd made the enclosures more photogenic I'd post a picture.

 

[logandc99]

The temp inside any of the enclosures should really be kept below 50C at the max to ensure individual components aren't exceptionally hot. Forced ventilation is the best way to keep things cool as natural ventilation really doesn't provide a huge amount of cooling. Even relying on convection cooling with 2 vents with 1 higher than the other doesn't do a huge amount as it relies on a fairly large heat differential to get the air flowing.
I personally use cheap and nasty boxes and don't rely on the boxes to provide waterproofing. On my latest batch of boxes I have built I have mounted the power supplies so that the fan exhaust is mounted hard against the side of the box with a flywire covered hole providing an outlet. With this arrangement the power supplies and enclosures are rarely much above ambient temperature with 1 of my boxes having 2 350W supplies, a mega60 and a total switched load of about 56A @ 12V. If I'd made the enclosures more photogenic I'd post a picture.

Thanks Alan. Thats the kind of feedback that I find very helpful. My enclosures are not waterproof also (as you can probably tell from the picture above) which is why the enclosure sits underneath a much larger box that provides the shelter from the rain (we get too much). So I am assuming that you feel the holes depicted in my picture are insufficient for cooling? There are 7 holes in the base of the box (as pictured) which I figured was enough but would it be advisable to add a couple of mesh covered holes at the opposite end of the box to get more airflow? Or should I be considering doing something like what you have described above where mesh covered holes are place directly above the power supply air vents?
I had considered trying to add in a small fan inside the box but wasn't sure how useful this would be considering that the power supplies already have fans which I figured was providing a degree of forced ventilation.
Last christmas after running my show for about 3 hours, I never noticed the plastic enclosures getting much more than a little warm but perhaps I should put a thermometer of some sort inside the enclosure when they are in full swing to check how hot they actually get. My enclosures have two 350w power supplies per P12s board (the P12s have their own boxes) and I am only running one string or strip of WS2811 per output on the p12s boards so I think the total load is relatively low.

 

[AAH]

Having the holes at the bottom means rain can't get in but it means that convection cooling can't work as the heated air moves to the top of the box. The load that the power supplies are supplying is the main factor that will govern how much heat you need to get rid of. Here in this part of Aus I'm turning on lights when it is sometimes still 40C and a couple of the enclosures get some direct sunlight almost up until the lights get powered up about 8:30. If you can port 1 or more fans direct to outside air things will always be cooler.
If you ran the 2 350W supplies at full noise, which isn't ideal obviously, there is going to be something like 90W of heat being pumped into that little box.

 

[logandc99]

Ok, think I might do some temp testing inside my boxes when running. Certainly it's a hell of a lot cooler here than where you are at Xmas light up time but it'll be good to make sure my gear isn't being overly heat stressed next season. If I get some readings I'll post some results.

 

[Jago]

I am building little sensor nodes to place in my boxes to monitor temp and other things and wirelessly transmit it back to base to be collected and displayed on my computer.

I am about to build 2 boxes and plan to separate the PSU's from controllers and add fans to the PSU enclosures to assist with cooling.