Anytime you need to run wires, electrical enclosures are important. But, when your wires are specifically dedicated to communication, then things can get more complicated, and you have more to think about.
Below, you’re going to find a handful of tips that can help you work around considerations like box sizing, material choices, interference issues, signal boosting, and rapid installation. Across all of the tips, you should be able to find ways to save a little money and get better performance out of your communications systems.
The Basics
Even if you’re running communication lines or equipment in your electrical enclosures, the basic rules stay the same. You need enough space in the box for everything it is housing. This matters for heat dissipation, safety, and efficacy for the box.
If you need a quick refresher on how much can fit in any electrical enclosure, this short guide makes it easy.
On top of that, you still need to consider the enclosure material based on your environment. If you’re concerned with rust or conductivity, then non-metal enclosures are a must. In some cases, metal enclosures work well with communication equipment, but as you’ll see in later tips, there are a lot of reasons to think carefully about sticking with non-metal options.
Considering Interference
Depending on your communication equipment and setup, crosstalk and general interference sensitivities will vary. If you’re trying to cut down on these things, then a lot of your efforts will focus on the arrangement inside of the box.
To battle crosstalk, thicker shielding around the wires goes a long way. Ultimately, this means you need larger boxes to house the thicker cabling. You can also install your own additional insulation inside of a junction box to minimize crosstalk and interference.
When you have to maximize shielding, you can lay Faraday cages inside of the box as a liner (or put one around the outside if your options are limited).
Minimizing Signal Losses
If, on the other hand, you need to get a wireless signal out of the box, then everything will be an inversion of the previous tip. Minimize shielding and insulation inside of the box. Avoid anything that can effectively work as a Faraday cage, and absolutely avoid boxes made out of conductive materials.
On top of that, you can customize electrical enclosures to accommodate antennas in order to boost the signal for a device inside of the box without compromising the protection provided by the enclosure.
Utilizing Easy Connections
Lastly, when your enclosures are simply conjoining communication lines, then take advantage of standardized connections. Naturally, you’ll run Ethernet cables to Ethernet junctions that make it easy to plug and play devices on the other end, and you can do the same with coaxial, fiber optics, and anything else in use.
The secret tip that some professionals don’t know is that you can get custom enclosures that are able to join multiple types of cables with standard attachment pieces. This makes it much easier to design circuits and plan your infrastructure while making installation faster and easier.
