Electrical Case

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Introduction

A wide, low-profile case with a top lid and seal. Contains electronics. Ports at side for external wiring.

  • Waterproof, maximum of X meters
  • Lightweight, approximately X kg
  • Corrosion-resistant, minimum frame thickness of 3mm
  • Chemical-resistant
  • EMP-resistant

(*Accessible, Modular, Versatile)

Notes:

  • Get good weld penetration else the welds will crack up easy
  • Clamp tight else the welds will contract and angle the walls

Aluminum 6061T6 Frame

Source: SpeedyMetals

Base and Lid: 1/4" x 8" x 12"

Long Wall x2: 1/4" x 3" x 12"

Short Wall x2: 1/4" x 3" x 7.5"

Alumcasepieces.jpg Alumcasepieces4.jpg Alumcasepieces5.jpg Alumcasepieces6.jpg

Alumcasepieces7.jpg Alumcasepieces8.jpg Alumcasepieces9.jpg Alumcasepieces10.jpg

Alumcasepieces11.jpg Alumcasepieces12.jpg Alumcasepieces13.jpg

Seal

Pure Gum Rubber 1/8" x 8" x 12"

Versions

Version 4:

Screw fastening the lid would reduce the mounting volume of the terminal case considerably. But the trick is enabling screw fastening while retaining the ability to use C-Clamp compression too.

The cable glands are fine but there's a mounting issue where the aluminum is too thick for the short mounting thread of the cable gland. Also a multi-cable issue associated with fact that a cable gland can only seal properly with a single cable. Using some goop like silicone would work as a less modular solution- but only for the time being.

Welding technique: definitely weld the outside seams of the case because butt welds are far more straightforward than internal fillet welds. This also prevent slag from interfering with the electronics.

PCB Mounting technique: use spacers between the bottom of the PCB and the insulator plate so that short-circuiting is far less likely from any conductive thing getting down there.

Considering hinge... but that dramatically increases complexity and sacrifices modularity. Probably not this time.

Version 3:

200px Terminalcase32.jpg

Terminalcase33.jpg 200px

200px 200px

Pcbmountcase.jpg

Tools

TIG Welder with Argon Gas, Benchtop Grinder, and Proper Power Infrastructure

Cordless Drill, Clamps, Drill Bits

Small Grinder

Bandsaw

Materials

Aluminum Plate 1/4" x 7" (Speedymetals)

Aluminum Bar 1/4" x 3" (Speedymetals)

Pure Tan Gum Rubber 1/8" x 12" x 24"


Aluminum Plate 1/4" x 7" x 72" OR Aluminum Plate 1/4" x 12" x 36"

Aluminum Bar 1/2" x 3" x 72"

Pure Tan Gum Rubber 1/8" x 12" x 24"

Cable Gland

Build Documentation

Terminal Case CNC 1

Old Info

Version 2 with screw mounting:

Terminalcase1.jpg

Open Source Terminal Case File:Terminal-case.zip