Enclosures provide dedicated contactor housings

A Fibox product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 14, 2004

When electrical components distributor Europa Components looked to offer customers the option of a dedicated housing unit for its contactor products, it turned to Fibox for a tailored solution.

When leading electrical components distributor Europa Components looked to offer customers the option of a dedicated housing unit for its contactor products, it turned to Fibox for a tailored solution.

Contactors are essential electrical components, used in a host of electrical and OEM applications, which provide a means of switching demanding loads on and off to control the likes of motors, heating circuits and lighting circuits.

Because they are typically operating with high voltages, high currents, and even higher surge inrush currents, they need to be mounted away from prying fingers.

In addition, because they are typically used in challenging industrial environments - from machine tools, to furnaces, to rolling mills - a high degree of housing integrity is often required.

Although many contactors are purchased to be installed directly into panels, there are many more which ultimately reside in dedicated enclosures.

Indeed, as machine safety has become more of a concern, and application environments have become more challenging, users who would once have mounted contactors in free space are now asking their suppliers for dedicated housings.

This is a trend that has been recognised by Europa Components, one of the UK's leading distributors of control gear and instrumentation, whose product portfolio includes a very full range of contactors from some of the industry's best-known brands.

Europa's Marketing Manager Marc D'Arifat comments: "As we began to get more and more queries from customers asking us if we could supply contactors with associated housings, it became clear that is was an area where we could provide added value for our customers".

"So when we began gearing up for the launch of a brand new contactor range, we looked around for a supplier of appropriate enclosures".

Key for Europa was finding an enclosure which provided a good size match for its contactors, and which would allow easy mounting of the products.

The enclosure also had to be tough enough to withstand the rigours of the plant floor, and offer a high enough IP rating to protect the contactors from the environment.

In addition, it needed to provide a range of options that would enable the enclosures to be tailored to meet the customer's precise requirements.

To meet these requirements, Europa Components turned to Fibox, which suggested its MNX range of enclosures.

Available in both ABS and polycarbonate - assuring high strength - and sealed to IP67, these enclosures have been specifically designed to house and protect electrical and electronic components, even in the most hostile of environments.

"The MNX range met our needs precisely", says D'Arifat, "providing a highly adaptable enclosure for use with our new TC1-D series contactors, which are available in versions up to 65A, AC3 (80A AC1) for box mounting".

"A backplate and DIN rail are prefitted in the enclosure for easy installation of contactors and accessories, which is a real differentiator, and the depth of the boxes allows for the addition of overload relays and front-mounting accessories, such as pneumatic timers and addon blocks, giving OEMs added flexibility".

"Further, metric knockouts allow easy installation of ancillary components".

The enclosures carry a whole range of international approvals, including UL, CSA, KEMA, FIMKO, DNV and LR, allowing OEMs to export equipment anywhere in the world.

Additionally, the enclosures are suitable for use in temperatures from -40 right up to +120C, important for use in areas such as chillier circuits or for furnace operation.

"We turned to Fibox on the strength of the brand name and of the quality of the products", says D'Arifat.

"The service was also excellent, with Fibox doing a lot of work with us to make sure our products had the appropriate fit and would be easy to install".

"Ultimately these enclosures will mean we can offer our customers valuable added options for their contactors, saving them time, money and effort".