What Accessories are Available for Electrical Enclosure Fans?
Electrical enclosure fans are designed for applications where the ambient temperature and humidity levels permit the use of cooling fans.
Although standard fans are supplied with all the required hardware for normal installations, a number of accessories are available that provide improved control, extend service intervals, and increase protection. These accessories include shroud kits, thermostats, washable filters, and vent kits.
Standard Equipment
Standard filtered fan packages are available with either plastic or metal grilles. The choice would depend upon the operating environment, protection levels required and appearance. Fan motors should have ball bearings for durability and quiet operation. Standard filters made from a polypropylene or similar filter material are generally not reusable but are easily changed. Mounting gaskets and a cutout template are provided for ease of installation. Most units are available for supply voltages of 120 and 230 volts AC and 24 volts DC. Capacities vary from 80 CFM through to 750 CFM (free airflow). Electrical enclosure fans are generally installed on ventilated NEMA 1 and 3R enclosures.
Filtered Fan Accessories
The following accessories are available for filtered fan installations:
Vent shroud kits:
In those situations where it’s imperative that rain and blown snow should not be allowed to enter the electrical enclosure, either through the inlet or exhaust vents, a shroud kit will ensure adequate protection by shielding the inlet and outlet from the elements. These kits should include gaskets on the top and side edges to prevent water leaking into the enclosure. Typically, they are manufactured from 16 gauge powder coated steel and each kit would contain two shrouds and is sized to suit individual fan models.
Thermostats:
In cool, damp weather, it’s good practice to switch off the fans so the internal temperature does not get too low and to reduce internal humidity. Ideally, the thermostat can be set to switch the electrical enclosure fans off below the set temperature. Thermostats are compact and easy to fit inside the electrical enclosure and are designed to provide an extended service life. Thermostats are available with normally open and normally closed contacts and can also be used to indicate high enclosure temperature.
Washable replacement filters
In very dusty environments, standard polypropylene and paper filters may become blocked within a short period. In such situations it may be advisable to install easy-to-clean, electrostatic polypropylene washable filters.
Vent kits:
It may be desirable to add additional vents to improve air flow through an electrical enclosure. These vents provide additional exhaust ports so there’s always an adequate air flow over heat-generating equipment. Vent kits are identical to the standard vents and are supplied with filters, gaskets and templates for installation. They also increase the effective flow from the fans because they reduce the back pressure on the fans.
Improve Your Enclosure Cooling With Thermal Edge Accessories
All accessories supplied by Thermal Edge are designed to the same standards as the original filtered fan packages. These accessories are fully approved for use with the appropriate filtered fan packages and will not reduce cooling efficiency; in fact, in many instances they will increase it.
If you need technical advice on fitting electrical enclosure fans to your electrical enclosures, contact our Support Team who will help you optimize the operation of your filtered fans.
