Control Panel Door Harness ?

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milmat1

milmat1

"It Can't Do That !"
Location
Siler City, NC USA
Occupation
Controls Engineer
I often have controls mounted on the door of my control cabinets. As I imagine everyone does at some point. Start/Stop push buttons, metering etc.
My question is on the layout of the door wiring harness. In the past, my panel builder has used the sticky backed zip tie anchors to form the harness. Then a loop in spiral wrap for the hinge point of the door. Since we do not want to drill through the door, or spot weld etc. because of ascetics of the control panel.
The sticky back anchors are not very dependable. And I cannot find any other good options for this. I just wonder if you have found any good means of attaching the door wiring ? Are there products I am unaware of for this ? How can we make a really clean and neat wiring system for the door mounted controls ?
PICS would be good !
 

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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
I don't like the sticky back wire tie bases either. But, there is not a good option.

What you could do is apply studs to the back of the door using a stud welder and attach tie wrap bases to the studs. It is more work though and requires a stud welder.

One thing to do is before attaching the adhesive base type anchors is to clean the spot where it is going with isopropyl alcohol and let it dry.
 
R

retirede

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
We used T&B adhesive anchors (granted, this was 30 years ago) and cleaned the surface with denatured alcohol before applying. I saw some that had been in the field 10+ years that were still solidly attached.
The stuff out there today may not be as good.
 
Jraef

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
Even stud welders leave a visible mark on the outside of the door.

As Bob said, cleaning is critical, I also rough up the paint a little with Scotch Brite before cleaning, seems to help. But the other thing is that the adhesive they use does not age well, I stopped buying them in large quantities so that I didn’t have them sitting on the shelf too long. That then of course results in more careful planning and now with all of the supply chain issues, may no longer be worth the risk of not being able to get them when needed.
 
don_resqcapt19

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
Cleaning the surface, using "tape primer", and using the 2" square sticky backs in place of the more standard 1" square ones goes a long way to making them stay in place.
 
J

jim dungar

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Wisconsin
Occupation
PE (Retired) - Power Systems
I used to fabricate metal straps to hang a piece of wire duct. One end of the strap had a hole that fit around my pushbuttons and the end had a hole for a #8 machine screw. The strap was held in place by the pushbutton mounting means.
 
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R

RCA

Member
Location
SF Bay Area
Occupation
Electrician/Controls technician
I've taken to using small (1/2 x 1/2) wire duct adhered with a strip of double sided tape, especially if I have numerous devices similar to the photo shown. The adhesive on the tape seems stickier and the added surface area really helps.
 
Shaneyj

Shaneyj

Senior Member
Location
Katy, Texas
Occupation
Project Engineer
I deal with this regularly.
Weld stud is a good solution but requires touch up paint on opposite side. Our shop has a stud gun so this is a viable solution.
If you don’t have one, I think next best is click bond. It’s the best adhesive ive used. Holds up in the oil field conditions.
$$ but worth it to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
J

Jolted

Member
Location
Wisconsin
I’ve just switched to these. Easy to work with, hold well and should be there for years to come. Magnets for the win!
bdf16b47206b16735b14ee90bc06afaf.jpg
 
E

Eddie702

Licensed Electrician
Location
Western Massachusetts
Occupation
Electrician
Attach an internal raised panel (hi hat) to the door by welding or stud welding then you can screw ty straps to the internal panel only. Just put the internal panel only where you need it to attach the ty straps. You could also use it for a pocked to put drawings and other paperwork
 
S

SceneryDriver

Senior Member
Location
NJ
Occupation
Electrical and Automation Designer
We've pretty much stopped using VHB tape, as it dries out and fails with time. Standard practice in our shop is to glue a piece of wire duct to the back of the door with Lord 310 A/B epoxy. Scuff up the area to be bonded with some sandpaper, and clean with denatured alcohol before doing the glue-up. Added benefit is that you don't create additional holes in the front panel for screws, and that helps when building outdoor and harsh environment panels.

Where we have to use sticky-backs, we clean the area with denatured alcohol before application, and then follow up with a dab of thin CA glue. It soaks into the foam tape, and bonds really solidly.


SceneryDriver
 
ATSman

ATSman

ATSman
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Occupation
Electrical Engineer/ Electrical Testing & Controls
Many moons ago when I was working with a controls co, they used an Epoxy cement to secure the cable tie mounts on control panels (see link.) Also they used coarse sandpaper to prep the surface and after 20 to 30yrs later they were still quite secure.
copy & paste
 
B

BrandonMD

Member
Location
St.Louis MO
Occupation
Industrial Maintenance Electrician
kwired said:
Except when using non ferrous cabinets :)
Click to expand...
we attach the mag daddys with epoxy putty when on stainless steel surface. havent seen one fail yet. cheap at home depot
 

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