Electrical Cabinet Mounting Plate Material

[CaptainBarnacles]

I have bought a used electrical enclosure but it didn't come with a mounting plate. Searching around it looks like they are usually made of steel but is there any reason I shouldn't fabricate an aluminium plate?

Does it need to be conductive in order to provide a common ground or is it just the case that steel is used (rather than say acrylic or phenolic etc) in case of a fire within the cabinet?

Thanks,
The Cap'n

[Clive S]

Aluminium backing plate will be fine.

[CaptainBarnacles]

Aluminium backing plate will be fine.


Great, many thanks Clive :beer:

[Voicecoil]

+1

I used 3mm ali in the one I inherited (thankyou Nealiboyee!) - advantages I can see include:

greater electrical conductivity( = better earthing) than weight for weight steel
greater thermal conductivity - used it as a heatsink for the rectifier, DC regulator/back EMF clamp, stepper drivers

[CaptainBarnacles]

+1

I used 3mm ali in the one I inherited (thankyou Nealiboyee!) - advantages I can see include:

greater electrical conductivity( = better earthing) than weight for weight steel
greater thermal conductivity - used it as a heatsink for the rectifier, DC regulator/back EMF clamp, stepper drivers

Like the idea of using it as a heatsink, I hadn't considered that. :thumsup: