recommended outdoor enclosures

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1

I'm in need of my first free-standing, pad-mounted outdoor enclosure,
19" rack rails, 12-18 rack units, with about 400W of heat load inside,
for use in the Massachusetts climate. What do people recommend as far
as contruction, cooling/heating options, NEMA ratings, security
options, etc. for this use?

I was hoping to keep the inside temperature between 50 and 85 degrees
Fahrenheit, although my worst-case components are rated for 41 to 104
F (4 - 40 C). If a full mechanical A/C system can be avoided, even
better. A thermo-electric cooler would be nice.

Thanks.

2

I came across this once. Seems interesting but we have never used it ourselves. 400 Watts is not much so I believe this unit may even be overkill.

http://www.ellipticalmedia.com/raserhd.html

3

Stab in the dark but are you looking for something like this[1] or larger?

1. http://www.hoffmanonline.com/product_catalog/product_detail.aspx?cat_1=34&cat_2=2346&cat_3=302499&catid=302499&itemid=302509&view=overview

4

http://www.ddbunlimited.com/

Be prepared to drop some coin.

Josh

5

Alpha's Radium Minibays should be a good start of what to look at and
seems to fit your requirements:

http://www.alpha.ca/web2/products/enclosures/outdoor-enclosures-medium/item/radium-minibay-series

6

http://www.ddbunlimited.com/

-mike

7

This is by far a "cheaper" option, but should work just fine. I'm about to do the same myself.

Grab a used cab here - http://www.usedtowers.com/CABINETS/CABINETS.htm

Some of those come with the factory huge AC systems built for thousands of watts of equipment inside, but if you're like me and will have 300-400 watts max, grab a non-cooled cabinet for cheap.

Then pick up one of these guys and slap it on, buy the capacity you need. You can get them with a heating option as well, they're thermoelectric and very affordable- http://www.eicsolutions.com/thermoelectric-air-conditioners.php

8

Clearwire uses these and they are very nice.

www.*ddb*unlimited.com

9

I have had success with the opposite approach using equipment rated from
-40 C to +85 C (+185 F), no fans, sealed NEMA4 or NEMA12 Hoffman
enclosures, cooling by equipment heat sinks. Ethernet switches and optics
rated -40 C to +85 C
This configuration has worked with the same equipment for at least 6 years
in an environment where summer ambient temperatures reach 120-130 F, and
winter ambient 0 F. Hoffman makes a 72" high NEMA12 enclosure with a
swing-out 19" telco rack.

10

"very affordable"? I looked at those and they cost more than twice
the cost of the cabinet itself. But I might end up going with them
anyway, 1500 BTU would cover the 400 watts I generate inside the
cabinet, but I'm more concerned about the outdoor environment/solar
heating effects. How many BTU should I add to account for that?

11

Woah, the last quote I got from them was less than half the price of a cab. I guess I'm cooling less equipment? What model are you looking at?

12

Unfortunately, I have some specific non-commodity circuit boards I'm
dealing with, so I have to accommodate their environmental
requirements.