OT: Outdoor insulated Instrument cabinets?

[TheWaterboy]

A little OT but there will be a PLC in some of these...

I'm looking for insulated instrumentation cabinets for summer and winter, freeze to 115 degree direct sunlight.

I found Intertec so far, and I can google others, but I would appreciate any other suggestions if anyone has had good experiences.

 

[jaden]

If it is insulated, isn't the interior just going to get hotter than ambient temperature in the summer? (Assuming you have heat generating devices inside)

 

[damica1]

What is going in the cabinet? I never worry about Freezing because of the equipment inside usually keeps my box's warm, but I do worry about the summer. I use the saginaw "Vented" with FAN controlled by a thermostat.

This has proven to work well for my applications, I have 100's out in the field and well over 5 years of service without any problems.

 

[TheWaterboy]

Jaden - Fair point - Climate controlled would be more accurate then.

I will need more than just ventilated, Will be processing drinking water samples in realtime with multiple instruments that don't do well in high temps. Condensation is an issue in warm weather and many of these are in direct sunlight and will get well over 100 degrees. Freezing is less of a problem. Right now they are in underground vaults which become very humid and are not easy to get into.

 

[g.mccormick]

You probably will need to install an air conditioner on the cabinet then. The ac will cool the cabinet and remove moisture.

 

[TheWaterboy]

yes, but I need to pick out an insulated cabinet. That's what I'm looking for feedback on.

 

[g.mccormick]

I didn't know they mde insulated cabinets. You may be better off buying outdoor cabinet and then insulating it yourself.

 

[rupej]

Really don't think insulated is what you want. Will help in the winter but hurt in the summer. Just get a normal 3R / NEMA 4 cabinet put in an AC unit. Some models can also heat. Otherwise just put in a small touch safe heater at the bottom of the panel.

 

[Tom Jenkins]

Fiberglass will conduct less heat than metal enclosures. The downside is that after a few years of exposure to the weather the gel coat erodes and some fibers start to break through. Not a functional problem, but it looks tacky.

 

[TheWaterboy]

I am certainly familiar with that problem. Low bidders on public jobs always use those things. I have installed a metal sheet on standoffs on some cabs and that does a lot to decrease the solar effects both thermally and erosion of the gel coat.

I'm finding several cabinet options now. Thermoelectric cooling looked promising, but looks to have a 5 year lifespan. I'm betting thats gonna be the best I can do on any cooling option. Well except vortex but thats not an option.

 

[danw]

I have installed a metal sheet on standoffs on some cabs and that does a lot to decrease the solar effects both thermally

You mean a sunshield?

Interdicting direct sunlight exporsure helps greatly in keeping down the internal panel temperature.

 

[TheWaterboy]

yea, thats the name .

 

[dogleg43]

You probably need to first figure out how much heating and cooling is needed for your panel. Try using Hoffman’s thermal calculator:
https://coolingtool.nvent.com/index.html

As others have said, installing a sun shield helps out a lot. As far as insulation, I’ve bought 3/4” styrofoam and just glued it in.

 

[lfe]

The insulation only slows down the effect of the outdoors temperature on the indoors temperature, and that delay time will be at most a few hours.

In other words if the weather is freezing for several hours or for several days it will also freeze the interior.

Something similar could be said with many hours of direct sun during the summer.