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#1
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
I bought a 1U rack shelf and need to mount a 3.5" eSATA enclosure and
an Emagic 26 audio interface to it. I've been through some hardware stores and arts & crafts supply places looking for ideas. So far I've seen aluminum strips I can make u-brackets from, velcro strips, and long wire ties with small mounting blocks that you pass them through. I've also looked around the Markertek web site and some other sites that deal with racks but haven't seen anything there. None of the options I've seen look ideal, although the u-brackets would probably be the most workable (what I saw was 1/8" thick 1-inch wide aluminum strips, probably overkill for this job). The rack shelf is pre-drilled for a variety of 1/2-rack & 1/3-rack units, which is probably useless to me unless I get lucky and have the screw holes be where I need. I have my drill ready. I'm guessing that the pros who do this have an accepted method. Any tips are appreciated, thanks! |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 2:04 pm, "Soundhaspriority" wrote:
I don't know of any accepted method, but there is a lot of kludging. The Midiman DMP-3 has a single reinforced threaded hole in the bottom. The unit can be mounted via the single hole. You might inspect your Emagic for such a hole. If the drive enclosure is good metal, consider tapping it. No, no holes at all. It's a plastic rectangular box. The drive enclosure is also plastic. Another route would involve the use of a strong, compliant plastic. Gray PVC sheet stock is available from plastic shops, and has good mechanical properties. It could serve as the top surface of a clamp. Use long screws to clamp the appliance between the shelf and the PVC sheet. That sounds like a good idea. I seem to remember seeing thin strips of steel with holes in them, that can be cut to be the top of a clamp. Might be easier to get & cut to size than the plastic. One thing that has always bothered me about rack systems is the difficulty of getting good rear support. If you're lucky, you're installing a device that matches the depth of the rack, which has a matching angle stock on the rear. More typically, you'll have to kludge something together with angle stock. These things sit on the rack shelf so there's no issue with support. If your gadgets are short, and you choose a short shelf, you may be able to get away with front support only, but it will always be a little shaky. I think two clamps on each unit should do it, maybe with a layer of foam or rubber to grab a little better. Thanks for that idea about the clamp & long screws! |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
reezekeys wrote:
The rack shelf is pre-drilled for a variety of 1/2-rack & 1/3-rack units, which is probably useless to me unless I get lucky and have the screw holes be where I need. I have my drill ready. I'm guessing that the pros who do this have an accepted method. Pros do what makes the most sense for the items involved. Sometimes it's not necessary to secure the units, they just sit on the shelf. This is, of course, not acceptable if the rack is going to be portable. Pre-drilled and tapped holes in the bottom used to be somewhat common in certain types of devices when it was thought that there was a good chance that they'd be mounted in a rack, but with the trend today to compact bedroom studios, racks are going out of fashing, and think of all the money they can save by not putting extra holes in the bottom. So you usually have to improvise and it's usually different for every device. A lot of this stuff doesn't just have connectors on the rear and controls on the front, there are often connectors on the sides, too, so you have to accommodate those. When I had my remote truck, I made angle brackets that attached to the sides of the equipment case, running front-to-back, and screwed those down to a shelf. That worked for things like video and audio cassette recorders. Velcro works, too, particularly for light gear and a rack that isn't moved much. -- If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers ) |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 2:13 pm, Mike Rivers wrote:
Pros do what makes the most sense for the items involved. Sometimes it's not necessary to secure the units, they just sit on the shelf. This is, of course, not acceptable if the rack is going to be portable. Which it is. It's the SKB "Studio Flyer" which holds my laptop on the top. So far I'm only driving to gigs, but I might have to fly someday and would like to think my stuff is secure enough for that (I would probably take the laptop out before it went in baggage!). So you usually have to improvise and it's usually different for every device. A lot of this stuff doesn't just have connectors on the rear and controls on the front, there are often connectors on the sides, too, so you have to accommodate those. There's no controls I'll need to get to except maybe the on-off switch for the drive enclosure, which I'll orient so that I can reach from the back. I plan to bring all the connectors from the Emagic audio interface out to connectors on a 1U panel I bought. It'll occupy one of the two spaces, while a "mesh" panel will go in front of the shelf. so the drive can get some air. Velcro works, too, particularly for light gear and a rack that isn't moved much. I was also thinking of velcro, but wasn't sure if it was strong enough, or how I would attach it. The sticky-back velcro tape probably wouldn't work, it would need to wrap around, but ideally it would have to be fastened to the shelf somehow. Thanks for your input! |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
reezekeys wrote:
The rack shelf is pre-drilled for a variety of 1/2-rack & 1/3-rack units, which is probably useless to me unless I get lucky and have the screw holes be where I need. I have my drill ready. I'm guessing that the pros who do this have an accepted method. Any tips are appreciated, thanks! Take the feet or the screws off of the bottom of the thing you are mounting. Line up the holes on it with the holes in the pre-drilled shelf. If you cannot make them line up, drill more holes in the shelf. Put the screws through the shelf and into the thing you are mounting. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
reezekeys wrote:
On Nov 23, 2:13 pm, Mike Rivers wrote: Pros do what makes the most sense for the items involved. Sometimes it's not necessary to secure the units, they just sit on the shelf. This is, of course, not acceptable if the rack is going to be portable. Which it is. It's the SKB "Studio Flyer" which holds my laptop on the top. So far I'm only driving to gigs, but I might have to fly someday and would like to think my stuff is secure enough for that (I would probably take the laptop out before it went in baggage!). So you usually have to improvise and it's usually different for every device. A lot of this stuff doesn't just have connectors on the rear and controls on the front, there are often connectors on the sides, too, so you have to accommodate those. There's no controls I'll need to get to except maybe the on-off switch for the drive enclosure, which I'll orient so that I can reach from the back. I plan to bring all the connectors from the Emagic audio interface out to connectors on a 1U panel I bought. It'll occupy one of the two spaces, while a "mesh" panel will go in front of the shelf. so the drive can get some air. Velcro works, too, particularly for light gear and a rack that isn't moved much. I was also thinking of velcro, but wasn't sure if it was strong enough, or how I would attach it. The sticky-back velcro tape probably wouldn't work, it would need to wrap around, but ideally it would have to be fastened to the shelf somehow. Thanks for your input! Get good Velcro, the industrial kind that comes in rolls. It'll stick, especially if you do good surface prep (per instructions on the Velcro package) and use a lot of it. You may find it works 'too good', making it difficult to remove the gear. Hopefully the gear will be under something else that will help hold it down; but I've had good luck with (good) Velcro. That said, you might still want to incorporate some of the other suggestions, including your own for backup. If the gear is staying put for good (within reason), double-sided tape (again the industrial-strength stuff) can work also. Some drive enclosures have a back panel with connectors and pcb, which is pretty much the entire unit. The rest is just 'enclosure'. In a case (no pun intended) like that, you can mount the naked drive with it's mounting holes through the shelf and 'hang' the pcb off the back of it. Tack the cables down with the 'mounted' zip ties you mentioned. jak |
#7
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
"reezekeys" wrote ...
No, no holes at all. It's a plastic rectangular box. The drive enclosure is also plastic. The more complete construction supply places ("Home Depot" et.al) have a variety of metal plates used for framing to join pieces of wood structurally. They are available in several different sizes and have lots of pre-drilled holes. http://www.strongtie.com/graphics/pr.../174i-2008.gif I have used plates like these to clamp the equipment (cushioned by that thin foam used for shipping) to the rack shelf. For mobile use, be sure to use elastomeric nuts to prevent coming loose in transit. http://www.the-house.com/dynamic/8mm-Locknut-thumb.jpg Conventional lock-washers won't work in this kind of application. Double nuts (a jam-nut) is an alternative to elastomeric nuts. That sounds like a good idea. I seem to remember seeing thin strips of steel with holes in them, that can be cut to be the top of a clamp. Might be easier to get & cut to size than the plastic. IMHO, larger plates are prefereable to thin strips. The framing plates are available in many sizes so cutting may not be required at all. |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 3:43 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Take the feet or the screws off of the bottom of the thing you are mounting. Line up the holes on it with the holes in the pre-drilled shelf. If you cannot make them line up, drill more holes in the shelf. Put the screws through the shelf and into the thing you are mounting. --scott Thanks Scott. Unfortunately there are no feet or screws on either of the two things I'm mounting. That would have been the cleanest and simplest way to do it! |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
"reezekeys" wrote in message ... On Nov 23, 3:43 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Take the feet or the screws off of the bottom of the thing you are mounting. Line up the holes on it with the holes in the pre-drilled shelf. If you cannot make them line up, drill more holes in the shelf. Put the screws through the shelf and into the thing you are mounting. --scott Thanks Scott. Unfortunately there are no feet or screws on either of the two things I'm mounting. That would have been the cleanest and simplest way to do it! I sometimes use heavy duty grade velcro, ok for wiireless recievers, not ok for power amplifiers George |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 3:08*pm, reezekeys wrote:
I was also thinking of velcro, but wasn't sure if it was strong enough, or how I would attach it. *The sticky-back velcro tape probably wouldn't work, it would need to wrap around, but ideally it would have to be fastened to the shelf somehow. I use velcro for the kind of thing you're doing. There's only a cursory amount that attaches the units to the case. Then, two long strips come from either side and wrap around the unit twice and under the shelf surface. Strips are superglued on one end to the sides of the case. I sort of said what the hell on that one : ). But it works with the strips wrapped during travel and unwrapped during use. |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 4:25 pm, jakdedert wrote:
Get good Velcro, the industrial kind that comes in rolls. It'll stick, especially if you do good surface prep (per instructions on the Velcro package) and use a lot of it. You may find it works 'too good', making it difficult to remove the gear. Hopefully the gear will be under something else that will help hold it down; but I've had good luck with (good) Velcro. That said, you might still want to incorporate some of the other suggestions, including your own for backup. Thanks for the suggestion. I would think that you'd want velcro on two perfectly flat surfaces to assure the best contact. The Emagic interface has kind of a rounded design: http://tinyurl.com/5a48ck The drive enclosure uses some small rubber feet to raise it about 1/16" inch off the surface, so I assume the velcro would probably work there, or I could just pull the feet off. I'm a little hesitant with velcro since I may want to use these pieces outside the rack, or maybe sell them, and it seems that applying the velcro tape is pretty much a permanent alteration. Some drive enclosures have a back panel with connectors and pcb, which is pretty much the entire unit. The rest is just 'enclosure'. In a case (no pun intended) like that, you can mount the naked drive with it's mounting holes through the shelf and 'hang' the pcb off the back of it. Not this enclosure, it's "actively cooled" and has a fan & cooling chambers to keep a drive extra cool. http://tinyurl.com/6xupux I appreciate your suggestions, thanks! |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 4:27 pm, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
The more complete construction supply places ("Home Depot" et.al) have a variety of metal plates used for framing to join pieces of wood structurally. They are available in several different sizes and have lots of pre-drilled holes.http://www.strongtie.com/graphics/pr.../174i-2008.gif I have used plates like these to clamp the equipment (cushioned by that thin foam used for shipping) to the rack shelf. For mobile use, be sure to use elastomeric nuts to prevent coming loose in transit.http://www.the-house.com/dynamic/8mm-Locknut-thumb.jpg Conventional lock-washers won't work in this kind of application. Double nuts (a jam-nut) is an alternative to elastomeric nuts. That sounds like a good idea. I seem to remember seeing thin strips of steel with holes in them, that can be cut to be the top of a clamp. Might be easier to get & cut to size than the plastic. IMHO, larger plates are prefereable to thin strips. The framing plates are available in many sizes so cutting may not be required at all. These are great suggestions, thanks! Too bad, I was in Home Depot earlier today looking around for possible suggestions but didn't think of going into that department. I would have never thought of getting the elastomeric nuts either. |
#13
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
reezekeys wrote:
On Nov 23, 3:43 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Take the feet or the screws off of the bottom of the thing you are mounting. Line up the holes on it with the holes in the pre-drilled shelf. If you cannot make them line up, drill more holes in the shelf. Put the screws through the shelf and into the thing you are mounting. Thanks Scott. Unfortunately there are no feet or screws on either of the two things I'm mounting. That would have been the cleanest and simplest way to do it! A drill and some insert nuts can change that! If it's light enough you can just stick it on with velcro or even RTV. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#14
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
On Nov 23, 6:15 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
reezekeys wrote: On Nov 23, 3:43 pm, (Scott Dorsey) wrote: Take the feet or the screws off of the bottom of the thing you are mounting. Line up the holes on it with the holes in the pre-drilled shelf. If you cannot make them line up, drill more holes in the shelf. Put the screws through the shelf and into the thing you are mounting. Thanks Scott. Unfortunately there are no feet or screws on either of the two things I'm mounting. That would have been the cleanest and simplest way to do it! A drill and some insert nuts can change that! If it's light enough you can just stick it on with velcro or even RTV. Yes velcro seems like the way to go. Heckuva lot easier than drilling holes. Thanks again for the suggs. |
#15
Posted to rec.audio.pro
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How do you mount non-rack gear in a rack?
reezekeys wrote:
I bought a 1U rack shelf and need to mount a 3.5" eSATA enclosure and an Emagic 26 audio interface to it. I've been through some hardware stores and arts & crafts supply places looking for ideas. So far I've seen aluminum strips I can make u-brackets from, velcro strips, and long wire ties with small mounting blocks that you pass them through. I've also looked around the Markertek web site and some other sites that deal with racks but haven't seen anything there. None of the options I've seen look ideal, although the u-brackets would probably be the most workable (what I saw was 1/8" thick 1-inch wide aluminum strips, probably overkill for this job). The rack shelf is pre-drilled for a variety of 1/2-rack & 1/3-rack units, which is probably useless to me unless I get lucky and have the screw holes be where I need. I have my drill ready. I'm guessing that the pros who do this have an accepted method. Any tips are appreciated, thanks! Rackshelf and velcro... Guy |
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