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Enclosure I can buy for my VFD WJ200-015SF
- Thread starter Sendit
- Start date
- Replies 54
- Views 7,195
johnoder
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2004
- Location
- Houston, TX USA
Do a search on Ebay for Electrical Enclosure
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
A good box is one that fits the spec. Read your manual page 2-8.
http://www.hitachi-america.us/supportingdocs/forbus/inverters/Support/WJ200_Instruction_NT325X.pdf
You are going to need a box at least 8.19in wide, 12.9in tall, 6.7in deep. Cutting out ventilation holes for air has to be done.
Hammond.
Industrial Enclosures - Hammond Mfg.
Hoffman is another brand I use. If you are feeling rich then look at the prices on the stainless steel ones.
http://www.hitachi-america.us/supportingdocs/forbus/inverters/Support/WJ200_Instruction_NT325X.pdf
You are going to need a box at least 8.19in wide, 12.9in tall, 6.7in deep. Cutting out ventilation holes for air has to be done.
Hammond.
Industrial Enclosures - Hammond Mfg.
Hoffman is another brand I use. If you are feeling rich then look at the prices on the stainless steel ones.
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
You'll want a "NEMA 1" rated indoor enclosure, then. Outdoor or even NEMA 4X (washdown capable), only if you happen to trip over one cheap.
VFD (or DC Drive) makers specify the required volume and stand-off distances from the enclosure walls in their manuals. To be SURE of proper cooling, they are bigger than one might expect.
So...the nuisance is finding one large enough and deep enough at an affordable price. And space for it.
I found it similar cost and far less hassle to buy nearly all of my DC Drives already in factory die-cast NEMA 4X enclosures. Many VFD can be had the same way.
With that level of protection, including sealed switches and such, they can be installed right at the point of use, need no extra space or long wiring runs.
"Too late now..." but do have a look at the relative cost & convenience next time.
Bill
or, some types of VFD are available in IP55 enclosures, which are a pretty standard case that is quite liquid and crud tight. It;s basically similar to the standard IP22 case, but is in itself washdown protected. Overkill, perhaps, but you need no added enclosure.
The upcharge is usually not too bad.
The upcharge is usually not too bad.
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
I like the continuous hinge door types. Unfortunately if the enclosure I want to use has door clamps I grind off the tack welds and remove the clamps. Then I install a door latch. I also don't care (too much) if the enclosure has a few holes. I get the right gauge steel and turn coin plugs on my lathe and tack weld the coins in the holes. When I am finished the enclosure looks like new. Used ones I have bought are like $30, $45.
If I was putting a VFD with a LED display into a box I would probably cut out a view port on the door of the enclosure and cover the port hole with plexglass.
If I was putting a VFD with a LED display into a box I would probably cut out a view port on the door of the enclosure and cover the port hole with plexglass.
6WW Junction Pull Box 3A912 12 x 1 x 7 | eBay
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
I don't like it because it does not have a hinged door. I think it's a ripoff. Don't you have any surplus electrical supply outlets where you are? At this place I have to decide which of the items I don't want.
We do but the ones I've dealt with I would rather walk on glass. I'm the little guy that they don't care about.
This one has a hinge
New SCE Electric Enclosure SCE 14128ELJ NEMA 4 12 13 | eBay
New SCE Electric Enclosure SCE 14128ELJ NEMA 4 12 13 | eBay
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
The same thing has happened to me. When the economy turns bad they will start to love you. What they are used to is big sales from contractors spending other people's money. When you walk in the door you are spending your money. But I still am able to find some places that treat me nice. At one pipe fitting place it's great, free coffee and hot chocolate mix, refrigerator filled with soft drinks, and candy bars. Back to your pictures... looks good. The hole on the door is ready for a handle. Nice.
I bought a Wiegmann 12x12x8 I believe. I think it was the SC series so probably model sc121208nk. Just a plate on the front, about as simple as you can get. I have the controls wired outside the box anyway. Cut a hole for plexiglass so I could see it. Believe it was under $50.
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Sent from my SM-N930P using Tapatalk
rklopp
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2001
- Location
- Redwood City, CA USA
That is not true. As long as the enclosure is big enough, and otherwise meets Hitachi's specs, it can be fully sealed. The heat simply transfers through the area of the walls. The walls simply have to be big enough, hence Hitachi's specified standoff distances between the bottom, sides, and top of the drive and the walls.
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
A fan at the bottom of the box with a few slots for air to enter and a few slots at the top or sides for air to exit.
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
Your statements don't take into account for the thermal resistance of the enclosure and how long the drive will last in a sealed coffin, versus a box that has sufficient air flow. If the box is in direct sunlight or your ambient temperature is tropical or sub-tropical that idea is one I would frown upon. But it sounds like a good idea for a large hand warmer in the winter time.
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
It IS the reason for the large enclosure. Heat is transferred by radiation AND convention to the inside. Same again transfers it from warm box to ambient air outside. No ingress for dirt or splash required.
Check the specs.
Typical VFD or DC Drive only wastes about 5% of the total itself.
Rest of the heat is shed at the working load, not always a motor.
Bill
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
Just for a lark... I counted the holes on two brand-new Eaton/Cutler-Hammer 3-P load centers recently acquired. 161 possibile holes, each, four sides and back if the multi-diameter knock-outs are counted one for each size.
But ... they ain't meant to be a submarine pressure-hull, Ron.
Common snap-in plugs, ELSE the bolted-in ones - whichever suits - and yer back to NEMA spec.
Lathe-turn & tack-weld? You have waaaay too much time on yer hands.
Bill
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
I remember reading something about switching loss, the higher the frequency the more heat generated. Yeah, that's it. It's all coming back to me now, the times I worked in chilled raised floor mainframe computer rooms with fans in every compartment. The VFD will last longer with air flow.
Last edited:
rons
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Location
- California, USA
Just for a lark... I counted the holes on two brand-new Eaton/Cutler-Hammer 3-P load centers recently acquired. 161 possibile holes, each, four sides and back if the multi-diameter knock-outs are counted one for each size.
But ... they ain't meant to be a submarine pressure-hull, Ron.
Common snap-in plugs, ELSE the bolted-in ones - whichever suits - and yer back to NEMA spec.
Lathe-turn & tack-weld? You have waaaay too much time on yer hands.
Bill
No, I just hand out first rate information and do first class work. I prefer not to waste my time though, but at the moment I am making an exception.
Monarchist
Diamond
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2012
- Location
- Sol, Terra
Whomever told you THAT is lying to yah again, then.
Knockouts and their plugs & covers were meant to REDUCE costly labour and wasted time, not add to it.
They are part of the normal 'scenery'.
You want a 'clean' electrical enclosure, either start with one that HAS NO knockouts, use a punch or annular cutter, else for a used one, shear a simple flat plate and cover the whole side with the offending holes.
Maybe you should just make a mold and CAST some boxes, trepan and thread-mill your holes, and for a bastard thread as well?
Lathe-turning replacement sheet-metal knockouts and tack-welding them isn't good enough even if it were not an OCD time-waster. You also Bondo the edge-gaps? Braze it all-around? TiG 360 degrees & grind them?
That may suit your character, but it is not exactly sane in the conventional sense for what it IS, and the economics of even bothering with a vast investment in time and skill for a half-vast result are just plain... weird...
Bill
