Product category:
Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans
News Release from: Sarel | Subject: GRP enclosures
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 19 May 2003
Steel has limited appeal outdoors
Enclosure users requiring economical products which will give long, trouble-free service outdoors and in other demanding environments should consider specifying GRP, rather than steel.
Enclosure users requiring economical products which will give long, trouble-free service outdoors and in other demanding environments should consider specifying GRP, rather than steel, enclosures, according to Brian O'Donoghue, of Sarel, and Chairman of GAMBICA's enclosure group "We often see enclosure users who believe that, by specifying an enclosure with a high IP rating, they will obtain a product which not only protects against the ingress of water, but which is also corrosion-resistant", said O'Donoghue
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 7 Aug 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Don't give corrosion a toehold
Specifying a high-quality paint finish for sheet-steel enclosures which are to be used outdoors may not be enough to prevent costly damage from rust and other forms of corrosion.
"This most certainly isn't the case - IP ratings say nothing about resistance to corrosion.
Corrosion resistance can, however, be assured easily and inexpensively by choosing GRP enclosures".
Already widely used in Europe for applications which include traffic light control, railway signalling, telecommunications and cable television, GRP enclosures are inherently corrosion-resistant, and are readily available in versions with ingress protection ratings as high as IP67.
Initial costs are comparable to those of steel products, but lifetime costs for GRP enclosures installed in tough environments are much lower, as they never require repainting, and they have much longer service lives.
"There's a perception that GRP enclosures are not as strong as steel", said O'Donoghue, "but, with modern products, this simply isn't true.
Good-quality GRP enclosures have IK (impact protection) ratings which are at least as good as those of their steel counterparts.
Also, steel enclosures bend when subjected to impact.
Since steel is a good conductor, if the bent wall of a steel enclosure touches busbars or other live parts, this can lead to dangerous short circuits".
Where necessary for the application, GRP enclosures can be supplied in version with special tamper-resistant locking mechanisms, and with textured outer surfaces which prevent posters and advertising bills from sticking to them.
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