Many people have wrong perceptions in selecting outdoor distribution board, points below are commonly practiced.
1. Outdoor panel box (triangular overhead)
2. Metal sheet with powder coated finishing
3. Bottom cable entry intact with the concrete base
4. Get a rubber seal and glue it
If you see above points, these are commonly practiced around our everyday life.
Below are our comments :
1. Outdoor panel box (triangular overhead). Acceptable, triangular overhead is functioning on protecting mechanical more rather than pour of water. Oversize triangular head may actually works to dissipate rain water pour from the top only.
2. Metal sheet with powder coated finishing. Acceptable, proper finishing and paint coating must taken with extra care, steel sheet quality must also been chosen wisely. But Lifetime of the finished product depends greatly on whether manufacturer has chosen the right paint and quality of their coating. Lifetime may varies from 2-6 years depending on quality and environment corrosive aggresion. Corrosion travels through air, so it will affect all nearby metal and definitely speed up corrosion reaction, too.
3. Bottom cable entry intact with the concrete base. Not Acceptable, this practice results in condensation, and the water moist from the soild ground will evaporate and create higher humidity inside the distribution box. This will results in failing components, contacts in components will react in speed up oxidation, also react to rust/corrosion. If the quality of the contact is poor it will really speed up failure.
4. Get a rubber seal and glue it. Not Acceptable, this practice will not give proper solution as product which has valid IEC60529 certification, as their product got tested as per international standard test procedure. Some seal material has to be chosen correctly, and sticking the rubber seal with glue will not last long as once the product hits the outdoor alot of factors will deteriorate the effectiveness of the glue. Therefore, once the seal does not function properly then the IP rating promised immediately gone.
Concrete solution for outdoor distribution board
1. Canopy for mechanical protection (optional)
2. Polycarbonate material box with stabilized UV protection, flame retardant, zeroh halogen / toxic free fume
3. Separate concrete with the box, and use of proper cable glands
4. Chossing Ingress Protection (IP) rating for overall the distribution board must be taken seriously
5. With Polycarbonate material for the outdoor distribution board risk of getting electrocuted in the public will be minimized drastically, as it has class 2 protection.
6. Lifetime of high grade polycarbonate boxes may reach up to 12-15 years, depending on environment factors. Lifetime of components inside will automatically maximised too.