Are you a wizard? If you watch pro football, you’re probably familiar with Tony Romo. He’s the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who has seamlessly transitioned into broadcasting. Tony has an uncanny gift for predicting plays before the snap, so much so that people joke that he must be a wizard. Check out this clip https://tinyurl.com/4rr5khbe from the Patriot’s win over the Chiefs in an AFC Championship Game, and prepare to be amazed.
Much of Tony’s gift comes from his experience under center, coupled with an ambiguous term called “Football I.Q.”
When it comes to designing cabinet enclosures, especially when doing thermodynamic calculations – there’s a bit of wizardry. Some of what is considered best practices are things you learn in university. But the lion’s share of knowledge comes from experience. Like in most industries, electronics design is going through an upheaval in the workforce as veterans of the trade retire, while young engineers enter the workforce to pick up and carry the workload.
Today we’re going to talk about cabinet thermostat heaters – the “do’s and don’ts” we’ve collected over our years of experience from talking directly with customers around the world. Allow us to impart some of our wizardry:
You may ask yourself – did someone violate the last “DO NOT” instructions and mount their heater near a flammable surface? The answer, believe it or not, is YES. No one was injured, but on a recent field visit, we found a thermostat heater mounted on a wooden 1×4. Yikes!
While there will still be those that cut corners, touch-safe heaters from STEGO are manufactured with safety in mind. The design of the heater utilizes natural convection, which results in a circulating current of warm air. The surface temperatures on the accessible side surfaces of the housing are minimized because of the heater design. This STEGO heater is suitable for permanent operation. If you follow the operating instructions, you can install a touch-safe heater and know you’ve done all you can to protect anyone working near the cabinet internals.
We’re not wizards, but hopefully, this information helps you keep your design safe from spells and incantations!
Designing complex electronics that perform perfectly outdoors is, well, complex. At STEGO, we believe that protecting those complex projects from extreme climates should be the simplest part of your design. That’s why we use German engineering to create the highest quality thermal management components to protect your designs from anything Mother Nature throws at it. We’ve been pioneering Thermal Management for over 40 years now. With STEGO parts installed, you can rest easy that your complex design is reliably protected for the long haul.