Going to enclose a meanwell lrs 150 series supply and add a fused power entry module with switch along with a few banana posts. Is there an ideal enclosure for this? Currently only junction boxes seem ideal for this.
What I have done for enclosures is go to hamfests and look for some useless piece of commercially made equipment in a really nice case. There is generally a good collection of stuff people are willing to dump for just a few dollars. After I gut the thing, I generally end up with a IEC power connector/filter, switch, and fuse on the back panel ready to be used with what I build inside. Make a new front panel and I'm ready to go with a nice professional looking enclosure
Depending on if it needs to be dust or moisture proof I have done a few of these for Meanwell and similar supplies for IEC sockets and cable control. If you can find the or draw the correct one up then get it printed by a service or a friend if you don't own a printer.
Other than that I am a fan of retasking old gear too generally they don't cost much if you can wait for the right bit of obsolete gear to come up on evilbay or your local junk shop.
I'm trying to use a 3d printer for this. I expect the result to be awesome, but there are two limitations:
1) the enclosure is gonna be plastic, no metal. So, if shielding is needed, it has to be done somehow else than relying on the enclosure itself. I heard there are EMI sprays, but never tried myself.
2) they don't like high temperature. Where "high" can as low as 50C for PLA, a bit higher for PETG and ABS. So, check specification or do an experimen to be sure it's not going to melt or soften too much.
PETG is easier to manage than ABS and its tendency to crack or curl off the bed and it goes close to ABS for Temperature. PLA is fine as you say to around 50 with good stability and depending on the job/design then post heat treating gets some much better results by changing the Crystal structure.
There is plenty of fully enclosed Meanwell type of enclosures on Thingiverse but without proper airflow and preferably short stand-offs from the surface of the PS 3DP or any commercial enclosure is a concern.
I'm trying to use a 3d printer for this...
The likelyhood of errors occurring with 3d printers are large especially if power is shutoff you must resume the deposition again. It should be fine if your part is entirely infilled.
I heard there are EMI sprays, but never tried myself...
Meanwell products bare decent EMC compliance.
2) they don't like high temperature. Where "high" can as low as 50C for PLA, a bit higher for PETG and ABS. So, check specification or do an experimen to be sure it's not going to melt or soften too much.
The decent thing about junction boxes are they are typically infused with fiberglass being more robust along with causing them to work in heated environments with little issue were as 3D printed parts might have issues with elevated temperatures unless you use non standard materials aside from PLA or ABS.
Whatever enclosure you pick including a JB airflow and cooling matter. Generally the Meanwell supplies are better designed than the average evilbay/Chinese swill and run cooler but you either need to heatsink them to atmosphere somehow or better allow some air to flow over them.
A lot of JB's are still made from a PVC base which has a glass transition of about 80C PETG by comparison is about 70C and sometimes gets talked about as being 80C as well.
Are there smaller power connectors which are just as widely used as banana posts?
The banana posts would be rather prone to damage per due their length.
You can get recessed banana sockets like the sort used on older multimeters but binding posts tend to be more convenient. If it's a desktop PSU then damage should not be a problem but if it's something that's going to be kicked around on the floor there are all sorts of connectors available.
The likelyhood of errors occurring with 3d printers are large especially if power is shutoff you must resume the deposition again. It should be fine if your part is entirely infilled.
I'm not sure I understand the situation. I've never had a power outage in my area, nor I had critical printing errors except adhesion problems in the corner. The latter can be fixed with proper printing settings. I'd say 100% infill is a no-go -- too much wasted material, too long printing time, and I'm not aware of any no benefits. If done properly, the quality of FDM prints is good, more than enough for a prototype. The most annoying thing is printing time.
Here is an example what modern FDM can do:
https://www.thingiverse.com/make:633890 . I didn't print this myself, but a friend of mine did, quality was superb, even though it took 46 hours to finish it (it was upscaled). No artefacts, defects, etc. I can post a picture of the print if you want.
You can always study fabrication and build your own box metal box. You need a fair bit of tools to make a decent one though.
IMO other then learning the welding, grinding and painting (which will give you satisfactory results pretty quick) the hard part is hole alignment. So easy to make a nice part and fail to correctly line up holes.
The LRS 150 already has a semi-decent enclosure (depending where you want to use it).
You could cut out a comb-shaped cover out of polycarbonate for all the exposed terminals and attach it with a couple of nylon screws into unused terminals, or cable ties fastened around the cables.
i have in the past 3D printed faces or cover plates with banana jacks, switch etc. I have seen many covers that were printed for those types of power supplies on Thingiverse.com I think.
https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=meanwell&dwh=365cc3a635221bf I have a printer and located in Texas if anyone needs help maybe I can help.
Nikki
What did you mean by comb-shaped cover?
Something shaped as the one below:
keep in mind a metal chassis is better for electronics... plastic is cheap crap
As a teaser, enclosure for one of my power supplies. I'm doing load testing. As trannies can get hot I decided to go with PETG. It has better temperature rating than PLA, but has quite some flex. Most the bend on the picture is because bolt pulls the testplate inside. I think I just reinforce the mount area.
Why not anneal PLA: it shrinks
. I didn't do it myself, but I watched videos, dimensional accuracy suffers a lot. It also shrinks differently in different axes. I have an idea how to avoid. I want just to leave it on hotbed at 80-90C for several hours in an enclosed space. But I'm yet to try this.
As a teaser, enclosure for one of my power supplies. I'm doing load testing. As trannies can get hot I decided to go with PETG. It has better temperature rating than PLA, but has quite some flex. Most the bend on the picture is because bolt pulls the testplate inside. I think I just reinforce the mount area.
Why not anneal PLA: it shrinks . I didn't do it myself, but I watched videos, dimensional accuracy suffers a lot. It also shrinks differently in different axes. I have an idea how to avoid. I want just to leave it on hotbed at 80-90C for several hours in an enclosed space. But I'm yet to try this.
CNCKitchen's Youtube channel has most of the good data on Annealing I have seen. There is now some lower shrinkage PLA's getting out there but they still shrink at different rates across or at 90 degrees to the layers
Now I have all of my Printers in Enclosures I am going to get back to doing some ABS and more likely HIPS for enclosures for higher temps and stiffness over PETG. It's about 15 degrees today and with a single printer in my converted fridge it's 32 degrees away from the print bed (where the probe in shot is) and more like 35 directly over it. I will need to add some soft extraction for Summer use and also to help draw out any ABS nasties. Also apart from the Steppers all other electronics is being moved outside.
That heavy transformer on a plastic plate. Come on, think of 1960 HP when you build stuff
1960:
Real chassis (can survive being rolled down steel from a 30MPH stop on top a hill that's like 4 stories high (and rolls down like 100 feet):
Aluminum frame (yes, frame, made of I-beam elements. The thing has a aluminum roll cage) with panels you screw on each side. Reinforcement bars made of aluminum rounds that have milled screw holes and milled aluminum I-beams for more reinforcement. Transformer with 6 rivets on a isolated back plate. Panel is thick enough that each screw hole has a chamfur drilled hole to hide the screw, and has a star washer in every hole. Use in mind : portable lab function generator powered by AC, used indoors.
Obviously the wrong business decision, since HP pretty much survived for 60 years as a company and is still a industry leader (despite some renaming). 2020: Robot spits out weak decayed dinosaur remains that are melted together. Use: hang under all terrain vehicle. Ultimate design goal : how do we sell this thing using saran wrap, aluminum foil and spent bubble gum as a chassis (for military avionics use)? can we let this transistor run at 150C
:treezcompany:
Wanna actually test your chassis: Try this: Put it on top of a car and do a sharp stop on a big hill with a long strait road infront of it. Have someone down below with a walki talki to make sure it does not hit a car. Have them wear a good safety helmet and goggles. (instead of fucking around with over powered tooth brush 'vibration test'. Yea its gonna need that testing if someone plugs it into a dildo.
1960:
Real chassis (can survive being rolled down steel from a 30MPH stop on top a hill that's like 4 stories high (and rolls down like 100 feet)
ah, so, that was your piece of equipment