Conductive steel or Wood panel for Telemetry Panels

[FaradayFF]

Greetings,
Is there a reason why telemetry/SCADA and IT panels prefer to use wooden back panel as opposed to steel/aluminum?
Am I correct in my assumption is that this is done to protect the internal equipment from lightning?

Thanks,
EE

 

[tom baker]

It may be for ease of manufacturing. Lightning can jump miles thru the air and a little bit of wood is not much insulation.

 

[cpickett]

Maybe to make it easier to implement their different (sometimes questionable) grounding schemes? Vs. electrical equipment that is bonded and grounded 100%.

 

[Jraef]

Wood was used in telecom panels for years, mostly going back to days when the "phone company" linemen would have to add / mount equipment and didn't carry power tools, because battery powered tools didn't exist yet and in most cases there was no outlet. So a guy with a screwdriver and some wood scews could mount anything that needed to be mounted. In addition, the wood provided some added thermal insulation from exterior walls, and it was treated to be fire resistant. Now it is mostly just traditional to keep using wood where you can. Proper ELECTRICAL gear back panels have to be able to hold on to components during the mechanical forces of a fault, wood is difficult to attain that kind of rating.