Generic Guidelines

Environmental Protection

Eltek DC Power Supply Systems

Outdoor Enclosures

2038879
2038879 Issue 1.1e, 2012 July
Published 2012-07-09
clha/mafe

2 Generic Guidelines Environmental Protection 2038879, Issue 1.1e, 2012-07

Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 4

2. Cabinet and Environmental Considerations ....................................... 4

Open Loop (Fan/Filter) Cooling .................................................................................... 4
Standard Filter Class F5 (Mat or Pleated Type) ............................................................. 4
Membrane Filter (Gore Pleated Type) ............................................................................ 4
Closed Loop (HEX or Air-Conditioner) Cooling ............................................................ 5
Heat Exchanger (HEX) ................................................................................................... 5
Air-Conditioner (ACU) ..................................................................................................... 5
Enclosure Material Selection Table .............................................................................. 5
3. Follow Installation and Commissioning Guides ................................. 6

4. Adding Equipment to the Enclosure On Site ...................................... 6

5. Follow Maintenance Guide .................................................................... 7

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 1. Introduction
This document describes the environmental guidelines required for an Eltek enclosure. The intention of this
guide is to ensure that Eltek cabinets installed outdoors or in other exposed area are installed, operated and
maintained as required, in order to meet the applicable warranty terms for the product.

2. Cabinet and Environmental Considerations

All Eltek outdoor enclosures are design and verified to meet some mandatory environmental criteria
including:

Dust and water: EN 60950 IP 55 or IP54

Storage: EN 300 019-1-1 class 1.3
Transport: EN 300 019-1-2 class 2.3
Operation: EN 300 019-1-4 class 4.1E.

However this does not mean that all cabinets can be used in any location without additional consideration of
the local environment on site. During site planning a few additional basic criteria must be considered. Please
note that MTBF/ lifetime of electronics also depends heavily on the temperature in the enclosure, this has to
be considered when selecting cooling option.
.

Open Loop (Fan/Filter) Cooling

Open loop cooling systems (fan/filter) are using the ambient air to cool the equipment inside the cabinet.
This solution will require maintenance as the filter media will get clogged and will have to be changed on
site. See maintenance section for more details. Note that temperature inside the cabinet will be higher than
ambient temperature (positive delta-t) when using this cooling option.

Standard Filter Class F5 (Mat or Pleated Type)

Recommended used on sites with:
Normal air pollution
Location 1500 meters or more from sea side

Not recommended used on sites with:

Moderate or high air pollution
Location closer than 1500 meters from sea side costal areas

Membrane Filter (Gore Pleated Type)

Can be an alternative on sites with:
Normal or moderate air pollution
Location closer than 1500 meters from sea side costal areas

Not recommended used on sites with:

High air pollution

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 Closed Loop (HEX or Air-Conditioner) Cooling
Closed loop cooling systems are not using the ambient air to cool the equipment inside the cabinet; it is only
circulating the internal air. The cooling of the air inside the enclosure can be done by using either ambient air
in a sealed channel (HEX) or active components (ACU). This will hence protect the equipment inside the
cabinet from a corrosive and humid environment.
Note that temperature inside the cabinet will be higher than ambient temperature (positive delta-t) when
using HEX cooling option, ACU can provide a lower cabinet temperature than ambient temperature
(negative delta-t)

Heat Exchanger (HEX)

Recommended used on locations with:
Normal to high air pollution
Location closer than 1500 meters from sea side costal areas
High humidity
Moderate ambient temperature

Not recommended used on sites with:

High ambient temperature

Air-Conditioner (ACU)
Recommended used on locations with:
Normal to high air pollution
Location closer than 1500 meters from sea side costal areas
High humidity
Applications where the cabinet temperature is required to be below ambient temperature (negative delta-T)

Enclosure Material Selection Table

Enclosure material specification: Recommended used:

Painted uncoated (black) steel Indoors or other protected area

Painted alu-zinc or galvanized coated steel Outdoors or in other exposed area
Painted aluminium Outdoors or in other exposed area

Note:
Small traces of rust might be visible on the cutting edges of non painted parts made of alu-zinc or pre-
galvanized steel. This is a normal mechanical cutting/punching process phenomenon and will not limit the
product lifetime.

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 3. Follow Installation and Commissioning Guides
All Eltek cabinets are electrically tested and visual inspected to secure delivery of a high quality product.

To secure a high quality product also after installation and commissioning all cabinets are delivered with a
user manual (printed and/or electronically on a CD).
It is the customer’s responsibility that all people working on installation and commissioning have the
necessary technical knowhow and follow all details in the manual. If the manual is missing please contact
your local Eltek company.

In addition to follow the details in the installation and commissioning guides please read and follow the
generic installation guidelines for lightning and surge protection ref. Eltek document number 2024623

4. Adding Equipment to the Enclosure On Site

Some Eltek enclosures might be delivered with additional internal space which can be used for customer
equipment. It will be the customer’s responsibility that this equipment is designed for the overall cabinet
environmental specifications before integration. Below are a few basic points for general consideration:

 Corrosion protection of the equipment (salt, humidity, air pollution)

 Temperature range of the equipment
 Cooling design of equipment (airflow path, and available space for airflow)
 Mechanical design of equipment (mounting, shock and vibration, zone 4)
 Make sure you know the max cooling capacity of the cabinet. Do not add more heat load into the
cabinet than max capacity.

Please do not limit your total evaluation to the above points, use them only as a rough guide.

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 5. Follow Maintenance Guide
To ensure that the expected design lifetime of the enclosure are met and to be within the warranty terms of
the product the owner of the enclosure must adapt and follow a complete maintenance scheme. This scheme
has to be tailored to match the local site and cabinet solution. Eltek recommends general cabinet maintenance
minimum ones a year. Note: ones a year is not applicable for filter maintenance (see separate section below)

All Eltek cabinets are delivered with a user manual (printed and/or electronically on a CD).
It is the customer’s responsibility that all people involved in making the maintenance scheme or doing site
maintenance has the necessary technical knowhow and follows the recommendation in the manual. Please
note that the points in the manual have to be tailored by the customer to match the local site condition. If the
manual is missing please contact your local Eltek company.

Below are a few basic points for general consideration. Please do not limit your total evaluation to the below
points.

Cabinet:
 Check that no physical damage has been applied to the exterior of the cabinet (dents or scratches)
 Use touch-up paint to repair any scratches on painted surfaces of the cabinet
 Check that the door gasket has no visible damage
 Check that cabinet cable entry points (bottom and/or top) is sealed
 Check that the fixing bolts of the cabinet is tighten
 Give the hinges of the door a droplet of oil or grease
 Check for abnormal traces of dust or water inside the enclosure

Filter Maintenance (when applicable):

Implementation of an air filter preventive maintenance program is one of the most important factors to
protect installed equipment, keep operational cost down and to keep the equipment up running!

 Make sure to adapt the filter change interval to the local conditions
 It is recommended to inspect frequently in the first period after installation in order to understand
and adapt to local conditions
 Use only original filters provided by Eltek or in accordance with technical specification supplied by
Eltek
 Use of non-original filters might partly or completely void the warranty provided by Eltek
 See the manual or contact your local Eltek company for further details.

Other maintenance:
 Remove any leaves or other items that might block the external airflow (in/out)
 Check that the fans are running without any abnormal noise

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