Schneider Electric Steel Enclosures
Schneider Electric steel enclosures offer sturdy protection and reliable performance in a variety of conditions. They come in various types for different installation needs, including both cabinet and rack-mounted designs.
Schneider Electric enclosures offer a lot of flexibility and can handle many types of applications. They come in various NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) and IP (Ingress Protection) ratings that indicate the degree of safety they provide for the enclosed equipment. Some of these ratings—such as NEMA 1, 3R, 4, 4X, 12, and 13—make the enclosures suitable for use indoors and outdoors. They protect against common environmental hazards, allowing the use of sensitive equipment that needs extra safety and security.
You can tell that the most important thing to the designers of these enclosures was making them easy to set up and maintain. They've worked diligently to make that happen, with a suite of features hand-picked for just that purpose. Among the many custom options available for these enclosures are ones that let you configure the setup (with different sizes and in different mounting configurations) to best fit your specific applications and your networking environment.
Products
Enclosure Selection Basics
Electrical enclosures are cabinets that are designed to house electrical components. Their main function is to protect the components, as well as to protect the operators from electrical hazards. Enclosures are typically made of solid plastics, fiberglass and metal materials, such as carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum.
One of the most important things to consider when selecting an electrical enclosure is the NEMA rating. NEMA stands for National Electrical Manufacturer Association. They have developed a rating system which determines the types of environments an electrical enclosure can be used in.
NEMA 1 and a NEMA 12 enclosures
Both of these enclosures are intended for indoor use only. They are both dust resistant. The NEMA 12 enclosure is rated for damp environments. The NEMA 1 is rated only for dry environments.
NEMA 4 and NEMA 4X enclosures
Both of these enclosures can be used indoors as well as outdoors. They are both dust resistant. They are also water resistant and corrosion resistant. NEMA 4X has an extra layer of corrosion resistance.
NEMA 7 enclosures
This is a more specific type of enclosure that is rated for use in hazardous environments. It is rated to contain an explosion within the enclosure and not cause any sort of external hazard.
Size
When selecting the size of an enclosure, it is important to consider the following: how much space will the electrical components occupy, how much space is needed around each component, is there enough room to run all of the wires and how much space is needed outside of the enclosure?
Temperature
When selecting an enclosure, it is important to consider both the ambient temperature and the temperature that is generated inside of the enclosure. When an enclosure is located outside in direct sunlight, that heat can be transferred inside the enclosure. Also, each component inside of the enclosure generates a certain amount of heat.