[Boatanchors] Weight Restrictions for Rack Mounting?

[Glenn Little WB4UIV]

Many heavy rack mounted equipments are placed on either slide rails, 
or in right angle rails mounted to the front and back rails of the rack.
Other equipments have a back support provided to attach to the rear rack rails.
Tektronix used a piece of metal with a slot cut in it to mount to the 
rear rack rail and a piece of metal mounted to the side of the 
equipment that went into the slot.
Leitch uses the same type of mount.
One server company says that their front panel is stout enough to not 
need rear supports. The front panel is 3/8" thick and attaches to the 
chassis with many fasteners.

The R390 series is too heavy for rack mounting without some type of 
rear support.
You can either warp the front panel or the front rack rails.


YMMV

73
Glenn
WB4UIV


At 12:38 PM 9/16/2009, W8KZW wrote:
>Need I worry about rack-mounting any device as a function of weight vs.
>front panel strength / dimensions?
>
>I have several pieces of equipment (test and radio) that would seem to put
>an extreme amount of torque on the front panel if rack mounted.
>
>Is it safe to assume that if the manufacturer configured a rack mount frame,
>then it can be safely rack mounted?
>
>I worry about an R-390A due to weight.  I worry about a WJ-8718 due to less
>weight, but it's spread out over a "short" front panel.  I worry about an 80
>pound, Sorenson 1012-50 12KV high-voltage power supply used as test
>equipment (16" deep, 17" wide, with an 8- 3/4" tall front panel with 4
>mounting holes).
>
>Do I worry too much?
>
>Jeff
>W8KZW
>
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