Anyone have something which is truly a cheap alternative to using the (increasing hard to find an pricey) Keptel CG-1500 enclosures?
I know some folks throw controllers into containers, etc., but does anyone have some truly inexpensive and easy to do which works instead of using the 1500 enclosure?
Would like to see what people have come up with, since I'm cheap ...
Since the cheap CG-1500 are out of stock, I chose to use Rubbermaid Roughneck 3-Gallon Tote $5.27.
See my alternative. I'm not saying this is the way to go, but if you want cheap and easy way to protect your project take a look at my alternative. Sorry for blurry photo's, I think we were celebrating our first completed working Lynx Express with a bottle of wine. I really didn't have any choice since the cheap CG-1500; what I wanted, was out of stock.
Material:
Non-Metallic 3/8 inch clamp connectors for NM Cable (5 per bag) for the (groups of 4) 16 channel leads and the 2 120 volt feeders. I don't have the price I just had a bunch on hand.
Crown Bolt Clear #10 Nylon Washer (5 Pieces per bag) $0.61 each bag for protecting the PCB while using the nuts to tighten it down on the standoffs.
Crown Bolt Stainless Steel #10 - 24 Machine Screw Nut (4 Pieces) $.098 each bag (corrosion protection)
Crown Bolt Stainless Steel #10 - 24 x 1 in. Round Head Combo Drive Machine Screw (3 Pieces) 2 bags $.098 each (corrosion protection)
Watts 1/4 in. x 25 ft. Polyethylene Tubing $5.64 (enough to last for all your controllers and cut to make standoff from the bottom of Tote (cut as needed for the 1 Inch bolts to work)
Then what I did was use RTV silicone rubber on the bolt heads at the bottom of the container. I applied a liberal amount on them, waited about 15 minutes then set the tote with the RTV on wax paper for nice water proof footing. When it dried, the wax paper came off clean made really nice rubber feet for the tote. I also used RTV on the 6 clamp connectors for NM Cable to seal everything except the lid. The lid will have a piece of painted plywood on top to make a roof so the water will drip off like it would on your house with no gutters (not shown now, but will provide when I finish).
I think the whole cost per container (after the first one because of the Polyethylene Tubing $5.64) was close to $10 each (total of 3) and I didn't have to pay for shipping. I know the CG-1500 is the better configuration, but when there is no stock available one has to come up with a substitute and I am very happy with the results.
I paid $1.14 for each 6 ft extension cord for the 16 channel leads, I mean, how cheap can you get and they will each easily handle 4 amps per channel. Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!
Hope this helps.