Low voltage enclosures: brand (or any other) recommendations?

[Sokoloff]

I'm at the point where I need to buy a low-voltage enclosure, and (by default) was leaning towards the 42" Leviton enclosure, but since I couldn't find one at a local big-box store, when I went looking online I found there are several different brands.

I am soliciting input on any brand (or feature) recommendations, either pro or con?

Within the ranges I've seen, price is obviously not a factor.

I have an Elk M1G system (not yet installed; still using the Simon2 that the house came with), and it has its own small enclosure (14"?). Any thoughts on moving the Elk gear over to that, vs keeping security and other wiring separate?

I forsee the new enclosure holding a cable distribution amp, telco distribution (no PBX), sprinkler control, and possibly the security system. It will likely NOT hold any network wiring, as I have an in-wall 19-inch relay rack already for that type of gear. Similar for the cable modulators. Those will be in another rack, with just the two runs of coax feeding into the dist-amp.

This is the third house I've wired, one for me that was really on the cheap and retrofit, my parents' place which was new construction, and this new 1920s brick house is the third. The first two I went cheap and put rack mount equipment stashed in attics and basement on 2x4s. In this new place, this wiring location is a little more visible (when showing off the mechanical systems), but I also grew to hate the untidy look that inevitably comes from exposed equipment.

1. Brand recommendations?
2. Feature recommendations?
3. Elk in the same enclosure, in a nearby enclosure, or far away (semi-hidden)?
4. Anything else I should be worried about but don't know enough to be worried about yet?

Thanks,
---Jim

 

[Steve]

Channel Vision and Leviton are the big players. OnQ and DataComm and probably a few others also in the game. CV and Leviton are for the most part interchangeable, although some parts do not interchange 100%. I would figure what size you think you need and almost double it - space in these cans gets chewed up almost as fast as hard drive space, especially if you leave room for wire management, etc. I do like having the Elk in the same (or close and integrated) can. In my new layout I am going to use 2 Channel Vision 50" cans side by side, and a 14" can dedicated to auxiliary power (the old Elk can). I think you could not go wrong with either the CV or Leviton, but I like CV because of the larger 50" size. Feature wise they are really similar. The differences are hole pattern (but they are mostly interchangeable/compatible with each others modules), the Leviton has room as the bottom for 2 outlets vs just 1 in the CV (not a big deal, just can use a power strip anyway) and the knockouts are a bit different. Leviton 42" has 4 or 5 holes at the top where CV 50" has 2 with 1 really big rectangular one in the center. Don't sweat it too much - much more important to put energy into the layout and hookup.

 

[gizzmo]

I have always liked the Leviton enclosure due to the modules that let you terminate all cat5 connections to 110 blocks. You can then just patch cord those connections to telephone or data devices. There is nothing worse then un-punching 20 or 30 110 connections in parallel just to find one mis-wire or short. Also I would insist on a hinged door, removing six screws to reboot a router means the cover will never be attached for long. I agree with the post that you should double the space you think you will need, never use less than a 42" cabinet.

 

[hucker]

I have always liked the Leviton enclosure due to the modules that let you terminate all cat5 connections to 110 blocks. You can then just patch cord those connections to telephone or data devices. There is nothing worse then un-punching 20 or 30 110 connections in parallel just to find one mis-wire or short. Also I would insist on a hinged door, removing six screws to reboot a router means the cover will never be attached for long. I agree with the post that you should double the space you think you will need, never use less than a 42" cabinet.

At least double the space! I would think that most applications would want 2 50 inch cans (assuming alarm, data, phone, video, power). Seems crazy but it I have one 50 inch can, equivalent plywood space of a 50 inch can and I am packed and haven't finished the video yet!

 

[Sokoloff]

Thanks for the advice. I've got 53" from concrete floor to electric sub-panel (which can only be moved up .5" at most), so I'm thinking that the 50" can might be too big, especially since I've only been in the house 2 months and there is some past history of flooding (coupled with a recent perimeter drain, so it's truly an unknown). I'm reluctant to mount the enclosure with the subpanel butted against it on the top AND only 3" from the concrete on the bottom.

The 42" Leviton can fits the space better. Right next to this is a 42U open relay rack with about 8" of space from the rail to the closet wall behind. That will be where the Cat5e (network, tele and other), coax, HDMI and BNC runs terminate. Cat5 used for the Elk will be cross-connected from there into whatever can the Elk is in (either Elk 14" or Leviton 42, still TBD). Immediately in front of that relay rack is space for a 30" deep 42U computer rack (NAS, 2xUPS, CQC server, laser printer, other misc non-AV gear). In the same vicinity is a 23" deep 42U rack for another UPS, all the AV gear (sources, HTPC/scaler, TiVos, etc).

The switch gear that I have is all rack mount and shallow enough to fit on the relay rack as well, at least for the backbone switch. One of the computer racks (full rectangular rack) will hold an Extron matrix switch for BNC switching, and the HDMI and component/composite from the AV rack will get patched over to the relay rack as well.

The enclosure will really only hold devices that don't have any tidy way to be placed in a 19" rack. DIR-655 router/WAP is already in the attic bedroom closet (meaning it consumes two "vertical" Cat5s).

I'm trying to enumerate the other devices that I'd mount in the enclosure, to decide whether to put the Elk enclosure up in addition, and to inform whether I want/need to get the 2" deep extension to the box. (I have the depth in-wall no problem as it's between two closets that I framed 9" or so apart partly for this reason, and partly because it helped hide the lally columns supporting a big structural beam.)

Given that most of my gear is going in the 19" open rack, what else besides security wiring is commonly placed in enclosures? My primary goal is making a maintainable in the long-run setup. My secondary goal is making it look neat and tidy, but those two often go hand in hand.

 

[gizzmo]

I have always liked the Leviton enclosure due to the modules that let you terminate all cat5 connections to 110 blocks. You can then just patch cord those connections to telephone or data devices. There is nothing worse then un-punching 20 or 30 110 connections in parallel just to find one mis-wire or short. Also I would insist on a hinged door, removing six screws to reboot a router means the cover will never be attached for long. I agree with the post that you should double the space you think you will need, never use less than a 42" cabinet.

At least double the space! I would think that most applications would want 2 50 inch cans (assuming alarm, data, phone, video, power). Seems crazy but it I have one 50 inch can, equivalent plywood space of a 50 inch can and I am packed and haven't finished the video yet!

I often have 2 or 3 42" cans for data, phone and CATV. What I was trying to say was don't ever con yourself into thinking that you can get two gallons of sh*t into a one gallon can. See photo example, this was a job I lost because I was too expensive. Every jack in the house had a mis-wire and even though I re-wired the can, it will never be right. Here is the before and after photos.