nice enclosure

It does look nice. Do the holes on the bottom line up with the front panel well enough? (I use to not design in enough wiggle room.) Aluminum is nice for heat sinks.

Boxes are expensive.

George h.

Beautiful! I'll bet it cost a bundle.

John Larkin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

What gets simulated? The phase position between them? The frequency (for mil apps)? Or is this to power a 3 phase device in a single phase rack?

John S wrote in news:r3jm56$8g9$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

I'd bet he got them at less than $80 each.

I sure hope so. One screw on the front panel screws into the bottom plate and sort of pins them together.

Here's the overall view.

The control board behind the panel has LEDs on top and BNCs on the bottom. I hope they all line up. We'll use light pipes for the LEDs.

Yes, but laser cutting and inkjet printing help. It's cheaper to do a full custom box than to buy some junky stock thing and machine it.

John Larkin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

That front plate should be at least 3mm thick, maybe even 4mm. And only two screws on each side holding the chassis box onto the front plate is another fail. Pretty weak for that thin side panel thickness. Id go with four PEMs and countersunk #8 screws from the front of the panel in. 8 all together. Screws are cheap. So are PEMs. They also look good. Socket head countersunk screws look good too.

I mean those are 3 big toroidal transformers you have way back there in the rear of the chassis, right? That is a lot of stress on those front panel attachment tabs.

This could only be installed with another box or support under it. From appearances. I do not think it would self support as it should in a rack with nothing below it. Not without placing extreme stress on the 4 box to front panel mating screws and the front panel itself.

John Larkin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

You may have to spot face the back side of some of those front panel holes to make the mount depth right on the device you are putting in there.

$280 per. Very roughly 2% of the sales price of the product.

I'm guessing this is the aircraft altenator simulator that was discussed starting last year some time.

I would have used CD welded studs on the front panel for attachment. Would look so much cleaner.

Andy Bennet wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@brightview.co.uk:

Yeah, there is that. I would use more than one along the bottom too. Oh and one should be Copper. Since the front panel is the thickest, it needs the central ground stud to be placed there as well. Unless he has them all "isolated". Sure.

Very nice.

Seeing the 3D render with the three big toroidal transformers at the back reminded me of the one and only product I've done in a 19" rack-mount case. It had two big linear PSUs, and I wasn't brave enough to fit them at the back. Putting that amount of leverage on the front panel seemed brutal, but lots of other designers seem to do it that way. And fitting the PSUs at the front, of course, caused a whole 'nother set of problems...

snipped-for-privacy@rblack01.plus.com wrote in news:r3l8g0$e33$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Solidwords? Is that the new Microsift 3D CAD package?

Or is that where you make your 'word salad' from...

Sticks and stones break my bones but words have never been solid.

And $280 each? Did you only order two? Seems a bit steep.

That sounds like a decent price. How many did you have to buy? (If you don't mind me asking.)

George H.

I think that order was for about a dozen. It's basically one of the standard Protocase designs, laser-cut for our hole patterns and front panel art. They even cut the fan grille, basically free. They seem to be horrifically nice people.

We left room for a front-panel color LCD and some buttons and a spinner knob. Our launch customer is fine doing everything through Ethernet. Amazon has some cool RJ45-to-bulkhead extender cables, and an even more exotic USB-B to bulkhead extender.

Yes. We finally got the purchase order yesterday. An engine test cell typically takes a couple of years from planning to operation. Sometimes we design something, think it is a loser, and then much later people start buying it.

I'd rather design something in one short push, but stretching out the process does allow for some leisurely thinking, which is good too. Of course, the leisurely thinking always ends in a panic to deliver.

The due date on the PO is tomorrow.

We're not embarassed to admit that a box is held together with screws. Personally, I don't usually like hidden fasteners.

The holes are clean conductive countersunk, and the back of the panel, and the rest of the box, is conductive too.

There's a kilowatt MeanWell 48-volt power supply bolted to the side of the case; it's not heavy. The AC wires from the power entry on the back to the supply will be under 2" long. The switch on the front panel enables DC and doesn't switch real power.

The whole thing will weigh maybe 35 pounds, so I don't expect anything to bend or break.

OK, never heard of them.

Good to know. George H.