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Post by EmRR on Sept 19, 2019 12:39:58 GMT -6
Just another good reason for rock maple wood rack rails. Space stuff the way you WANT them spaced. No preconceived spot for the holes..... Yeah, what's with the preconceived hole spacing? They almost always present a racking puzzle. Why not holes all the way up and down? I think we have the technology to do that. It's a 100+ year old phone company standard for fixed panel sizes and relative spacing. More ubiquitous than the XLR. It's kinda funny as equipment gets smaller and smaller that wasted space is perceived as MORE of an issue.
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Post by spindrift on Sept 19, 2019 13:07:12 GMT -6
Maybe my stuff looks tacky but when I’m down to ventilating with 1/2 U rackspaces, I want nothing in the way of airflow.
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Post by kcatthedog on Sept 19, 2019 14:59:23 GMT -6
Ya given the std spacing of steel rails, I don’t get the 1 u space, just means you lose a normal 3 u space or am I misunderstanding?
I just put spaces above the gear with most tubes ?
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Post by Quint on Sept 20, 2019 7:40:45 GMT -6
Maybe my stuff looks tacky but when I’m down to ventilating with 1/2 U rackspaces, I want nothing in the way of airflow. That's how I look at it. The 1/2 U spaces don't bother me at all. Plus, I keep a space between ALL of my gear (for heat AND ground loop purposes) so, if all of my gear is spaced that way, it looks "normal" anyway.
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Post by Bat Lanyard on Sept 20, 2019 12:33:02 GMT -6
Has anybody bought rack rails from this place ? Was thinking about getting some as well as some 1/2 spacers.Thanks for the tip drbill I have bought a ton of these from Penn over the last two or three years. Never had an issue and they're built very well. drbill is right on!
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Post by WKG on Dec 12, 2019 9:06:16 GMT -6
I ended up drilling a few holes for screws, took about 15 minutes. These work great and look clean.
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Post by stratboy on Dec 18, 2019 18:56:55 GMT -6
Just another good reason for rock maple wood rack rails. Space stuff the way you WANT them spaced. No preconceived spot for the holes..... Yeah, what's with the preconceived hole spacing? They almost always present a racking puzzle. Why not holes all the way up and down? I think we have the technology to do that. I think you can buy rail that is drilled that way. BTW, FWIW, I have bought Penn-Elcom parts for racks, speaker cabs and road cases. Good stuff. I also like Middle Atlantic.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 23, 2019 9:08:59 GMT -6
There is no better source for all your rack hardware needs than Penn Elcom. They have been around for at least 40 years and up until about 3 years ago were strictly wholesale.
Some important points about racking gear.
First having lived next to the service dept. for years, use 4 screws, no matter how you do it 2 screws just isn’t secure and can screw up a face. Plate chassis and PCB! I have seen it all screws are cheap insurance.
The 3 screw spacings in a standard 1u tapped rail isn’t even, the really thin rails found in many server and plastic racks are if you like dealing with those stupid clips and bendy rails.
If you really want to use spacers less than 1u and the audio gods don’t smile on you and your layout your best bet is to either use DRBill’s old recommendation of hardwood rails tapped or drill your own holes in your pre fab metal rails. The drilling is best done on a drill press so that you drill straight holes and can rig jig so that the holes line up.
Don’t drill with gear in the rack!!! This should come under the heading of DUH ! But I have seen to many really smart people cause a short and some expensive repairs because of metal shavings.
While removing a lid seams like a great way to cool a piece of gear a couple of things to remember. The top and bottom can be critical to the structure of a chassis and removal of one or both is a great way to crack a PCB.
Removing a lid is a great way to create noise and hum. If you go this route realize these just might be important shielding!!!
Now I realize you might get lucky but again these are lessons learned at others and my own experience and are cheap insurance. Honestly I’m probably a bit anal about this, if I had my way every piece of gear would also be designed to incorporate rear rails as well like a big old Crown MA5000z 🤔!
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Post by drbill on Dec 23, 2019 10:40:58 GMT -6
There is no better source for all your rack hardware needs than Penn Elcom. They have been around for at least 40 years and up until about 3 years ago were strictly wholesale. Some important points about racking gear. First having lived next to the service dept. for years, use 4 screws, no matter how you do it 2 screws just isn’t secure and can screw up a face. Plate chassis and PCB! I have seen it all screws are cheap insurance. The 3 screw spacings in a standard 1u tapped rail isn’t even, the really thin rails found in many server and plastic racks are if you like dealing with those stupid clips and bendy rails. If you really want to use spacers less than 1u and the audio gods don’t smile on you and your layout your best bet is to either use DRBill’s old recommendation of hardwood rails tapped or drill your own holes in your pre fab metal rails. The drilling is best done on a drill press so that you drill straight holes and can rig jig so that the holes line up. Don’t drill with gear in the rack!!! This should come under the heading of DUH ! But I have seen to many really smart people cause a short and some expensive repairs because of metal shavings. While removing a lid seams like a great way to cool a piece of gear a couple of things to remember. The top and bottom can be critical to the structure of a chassis and removal of one or both is a great way to crack a PCB. Removing a lid is a great way to create noise and hum. If you go this route realize these just might be important shielding!!! Now I realize you might get lucky but again these are lessons learned at others and my own experience and are cheap insurance. Honestly I’m probably a bit anal about this, if I had my way every piece of gear would also be designed to incorporate rear rails as well like a big old Crown MA5000z 🤔! Great Info Eric!! Good thing you're back!!! BTW, for me, the 1/2 rack rails only work with certain combinations of gear. My 3 space gear seems to like the 1/2 rack rails. I've got a 500 rack (3 spaces) with 1/2 RU above, and 1/2 RU below. All holes line up perfectly. Beyond that, it's been a bit unsuccessful. Agree with you 100% about getting all 4 screws in. And I DO miss my hard rock maple rack rails..... But I move gear around so much these days that I'm not sure it would be practical anymore......
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 23, 2019 13:17:17 GMT -6
There is no better source for all your rack hardware needs than Penn Elcom. They have been around for at least 40 years and up until about 3 years ago were strictly wholesale. Some important points about racking gear. First having lived next to the service dept. for years, use 4 screws, no matter how you do it 2 screws just isn’t secure and can screw up a face. Plate chassis and PCB! I have seen it all screws are cheap insurance. The 3 screw spacings in a standard 1u tapped rail isn’t even, the really thin rails found in many server and plastic racks are if you like dealing with those stupid clips and bendy rails. If you really want to use spacers less than 1u and the audio gods don’t smile on you and your layout your best bet is to either use DRBill’s old recommendation of hardwood rails tapped or drill your own holes in your pre fab metal rails. The drilling is best done on a drill press so that you drill straight holes and can rig jig so that the holes line up. Don’t drill with gear in the rack!!! This should come under the heading of DUH ! But I have seen to many really smart people cause a short and some expensive repairs because of metal shavings. While removing a lid seams like a great way to cool a piece of gear a couple of things to remember. The top and bottom can be critical to the structure of a chassis and removal of one or both is a great way to crack a PCB. Removing a lid is a great way to create noise and hum. If you go this route realize these just might be important shielding!!! Now I realize you might get lucky but again these are lessons learned at others and my own experience and are cheap insurance. Honestly I’m probably a bit anal about this, if I had my way every piece of gear would also be designed to incorporate rear rails as well like a big old Crown MA5000z 🤔! Great Info Eric!! Good thing you're back!!! BTW, for me, the 1/2 rack rails only work with certain combinations of gear. 3 space seems to like the 1/2 rack rails. I've got a 500 rack (3 spaces) with 1/2 RU above, and 1/2 RU below. All holes line up perfectly. Beyond that, it's been a bit unsuccessful. Agree with you 100% about getting all 4 screws in. And I DO miss my hard rock maple rack rails..... But I move gear around so much these days that I'm not sure it would be practical anymore...... Bill the only thing I think you should change in your post is insert “my” 3 Space gear, because 3 spaces has to many options for screw holes !
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Post by drbill on Dec 23, 2019 13:52:27 GMT -6
Great Info Eric!! Good thing you're back!!! BTW, for me, the 1/2 rack rails only work with certain combinations of gear. 3 space seems to like the 1/2 rack rails. I've got a 500 rack (3 spaces) with 1/2 RU above, and 1/2 RU below. All holes line up perfectly. Beyond that, it's been a bit unsuccessful. Agree with you 100% about getting all 4 screws in. And I DO miss my hard rock maple rack rails..... But I move gear around so much these days that I'm not sure it would be practical anymore...... Bill the only thing I think you should change in your post is insert “my” 3 Space gear, because 3 spaces has to many options for screw holes ! That is TRUE. Mine are all the same, but you're right. I've seen them with different spacings before.
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Post by WKG on Dec 23, 2019 15:44:16 GMT -6
Good post Eric!
I was able to arrange my setup to keep drilling to a minimum, 4 holes only. Marked them out with the gear in then removed to drill. I used tape, a rag and a super duty neodymium magnet to make sure I caught all the metal shavings. Those could be really nasty if they got down through any vents!
I was initially going to tap the holes but realized I didn't have the correct size tap so just I drilled a little larger and used nuts.
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