Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures: Protecting RACO Cellularm Systems For More Than A Decade
By Joe Rock, RACO Manufacturing and Engineering Co., Inc
For more than 50 years, RACO Manufacturing and Engineering Co., Inc. has provided municipalities, industry, and governmental agencies with a wide variety of high-quality, reliable remote communications systems, annunciators, and RTU's for alarm autodialing, remote monitoring, reporting, datalogging, and control. Applications range from only a single RTU to a full multi-station, multi-point PLC, DCS, or SCADA network. Choosing the proper housing to protect those controls has proven to be challenging at times, especially for our RACO Cellularm System.
One Challenge: Finding An Enclosure That Properly Fits And Protects All Components
Our Cellularm System represents the next generation of fixed cellular equipment designed to provide voice and data communications over the cellular telephone network. Designed for temporary or permanent field use, the system needs to rugged and housed in a heavy duty, weather-resistant enclosure. The housing must also incorporate a cellular phone transceiver,antenna, and one of RACO's family of alarm autodialers packaged in a single, intergrated unit.
Because we combine both the cellular component and our alarm autodialers, the complete unit is wider than many standard-sized, off-the-shelf enclosures and the entire system simply will not fit properly. Consequently, many enclosure manufacturers tried to convince us that a custom enclosure was necessary. This sounded like a feasible option until we saw the price for customized enclosures. We knew our customers would not purchase our equipment at the price level required if we chose to go that route.
The Solution: Off -The-Self J Series Enclosure from Stahlin
Our research ultimately led us to Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures and their J Series enclosure line. With 14 standard size options from 3x3 to 24x16, we were able to take advantage of wider dimensions to accommodate our entire system. J Series enclosures are readily available off-the-shelf and that enabled us to maintain competitive prices. Of equal importance, J Series enclosures have proven, over 11 years of demanding applications, to be very reliable and durable in protecting our Cellularm system.
About The Stahlin J Series Line Of Non-Metallic Enclosures:
The Stahlin J Series product line was developed as an industrial enclosure for harsh, aggressive environments. Originally designed as an electrical junction box for the oil refining and petrochem industries, the J Series has evolved over the years into a versatile industrial enclosure with varied applications for use from high-end electronics to extreme corrosive applications both indoors and out. Rugged design combined with tough, durable materials, for extreme reliability in tough environments are key attributes of this series. Other features include:
- More than 300 configurations available in 13 sizes
- Sizes ranging from 6" x 4" to 20" x 16"
- Availability of flat, raised, bonded windows, and clear cover options
- Availability of 7 cover securement methods
- Integrally molded mounting flange
- Rated for submersion
- Rated up to NEMA 4X, 6P
SOURCE: RACO Manufacturing and Engineering Co., Inc.