Anyone ever stack an OPII and Expansion board?

[JonW]

I just ordered a couple of 28" structured media cans, but I'm looking to save space in them.  I don't have the cans yet, but it looks like there should be enough room (depth) to stack my expansion board on top of the OPII board.  Anyone ever do this?  If I use 2" standoffs, I should still have plenty of room for getting plugs into and out of the serial and ethernet ports at the top edge.
 
Here's an overlay of what it would look like.
 

 

[Desert_AIP]

You want to stack a full size expansion board, the one that goes in the expansion enclosure, on top of an Omni?
Not just the hardwire expanders?

You'll need a second power supply and battery for the full size expansion board.

 

[JonW]

Yes.  I already have the PS & battery.  Just wondering if anyone has done it and had any issues.  The mounting holes line up for it, so my biggest concern is the depth and whether it still fits in the structured media panel.  Pretty sure it will and I'll be able to answer the question myself once the cans arrive.
 
I won't be able to see the serial port or ethernet LED's, but I can live with that.

 

[mattw22]

The bend radius on the ethernet cable would be pretty tight between the two boards.. And If you ever needed access to the main board you'd have to leave enough slack to move the expansion board out of the way. Not to mention your eliminating any air circulation from the main board.
 
If you have to do it I'd put the expansion board on the bottom and the main board on top.

 

[Desert_AIP]

The expansion board has a glass fuse, the main board has resettable fuses.
If you ever have to replace the fuse, having it on top may be worth the reduced hassle.
 
Although the heat factor Matt W mentioned may be a good reason to keep the main board on top.
 
There's no Ethernet cable between the two boards, they communicate over the RS-485 A-B bus, two-wire.
 
Having the Omni board on top would allow access to the serial and Ethernet ports.
 
I assume you want to use an expansion board vice a hardwire expander because you need the additional outputs (not just more input zones).

 

[JonW]

I'm pretty well versed on all things OPII....  I'm actually switching from a hardwire expander to the expansion board because I do need the additional outputs.  This arrangement wouldn't work with the OPII board on top.  The only reason I'm considering this is that because of the smaller size of the expander board, it makes all the terminals of both boards easily accessible.
 
I'm looking to use 2" stand-offs between the boards, so there will still be plenty of room to get plugs into the serial and ethernet ports.  Additionally, the boards will be on a backplate and not at the top of the cabinet, so there will be working room above the ports (unlike how the ports are when installed in a standard 14" non-backplate cabinet where they are wedged against the top.
 
I don't really anticipate heat being much of an issue, but I do have some 2" mini fans that I could pop one in there to create air flow over the lower board.