If you’ve got an electrical enclosure that needs heat protection, you’ve got a good number of options at your disposal. Frankly, if any one of them were the “be-all and end-all” solution, the rest of us would be looking for something else to do. Fact is, there are certain situations where one particular method makes more sense than the others, and other situations where one method just won’t work but several others will.

In industrial and commercial settings, these situations will often present conditions where there is indeed an ideal solution. Today, we’ll explore the ones where the choice comes down to a compressed air-operated EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System or refrigerant-based panel cooling.  Let’s consider:

Environment – Now, we’re all going to make sure we protect our gear from the elements, as much as is humanly possible. Your company’s computer server is likely a lot closer to the climate controlled office spaces than the welding or grinding stations. But what happens when sensitive electronics need to be in close proximity to the machinery they’re controlling? And that machinery isn’t in climate controlled office spaces?

Even if an A/C type panel cooler would fit on this box, it would be problematic:

• See all that dust on the ducts? And the belt? And the rails? And the…well, everywhere? Yeah; would be in the filters, condenser coils, the compressor motor bearings and eventually, inside the panel.
• They make condensate. The big thing about air conditioners is that they lower the humidity…and that water has to go somewhere. Even if a small drain line is easy enough to run, what happens when it gets clogged (that dust is going to find its way here too, by the way)?
• They’re sensitive to vibration. Every fastener, every brazed joint, every electrical connection, risks cyclical failure if they’re shaken about.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are impervious to all of these conditions:

• The only air they use comes straight from your compressed air supply. We even provide Automatic Drain Filter Separators to make sure this is clean & dry.
• There are no moving parts. Vibration is not a problem.
• We offer different levels environmental considerations to meet most any challenge:
  *NEMA 12 (dust tight, oil tight) are ideal for general industrial environments.
  *NEMA 4 (splash resistant) keep liquids out too, and are indoor/outdoor rated.
  *NEMA 4X (corrosion resistant) also keep liquids out, and are stainless steel construction. They’re also available in 316SS construction for the most exacting, harshest, and critical environments such as food service, pharmaceutical, or highly corrosive atmospheres.
  *High Temperature Cabinet Cooler Systems are specified for installation in areas where ambient temperatures exceed 120°F (52°C.)

Location – Sometimes, there’s just not room to mount an air conditioner. The compressor, and, especially, the condenser coils have to take up a finite amount of space, by design.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems have a small footprint…a NEMA 12 550 Btu/hr system, for example, installs through a ½ NPS knockout, is under 6” tall, and just over 1” in diameter.

Reliability – We talk to callers all the time about the frustration of:

• Having to replace a burned out Variable Frequency Drive because their panel cooler failed.
• Constantly resetting controls that have tripped due to an overheat condition because they missed, or don’t have time for, their panel cooler’s maintenance.
• Down time and lost production while waiting for replacement parts…or a whole new panel cooler.

Even in less aggressive environments, filters and coils can slowly accumulate dirty buildup, which reduces the unit’s cooling power.  Then, a heat wave hits early in the season, and your machine trips out (if you’re lucky) or burns out (if you’re not) -either way, that part or process you were in the middle of is scrap, and you’re back to step one.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are not affected by this – in fact, a system with thermostat control may just sit there dormant through the winter, and “spring” (pun intended) into action when that first heat wave rolls through.  And it’ll be just as powerful as that last hot day, the previous autumn.

Availability – Let’s say you installed some new equipment recently, and its first exposure to the heat of summer created one of the frustrating situations above.  An air conditioner-type panel cooler will require:

• “Invasive surgery” on your enclosure. Most of these require a sizeable rectangular hole for installation.
• These systems can pull 5 amps or more, which might mean a dedicated circuit breaker & wiring.
• Many are built-to-order, so you might have to wait, depending on their assembly schedule.  And they might be busy, because if the heat just started causing you problems, you’re probably not the only one.
• Once it’s received, installed, and wired up, you may still have to wait for the compressor’s oil (special oil for use with refrigerant) to settle before you start it up the first time.

EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems are stock products.  We ship same day, across the country, with orders received by 3pm EST.  They install in minutes, and most of the preparation can be done today, so you’re ready to install when it comes in tomorrow – which isn’t a big deal…most Cabinet Cooler Systems weigh only 5lbs or less, so expedited shipping isn’t near as painful to your wallet as a big box full of electric motor, copper coil, and refrigerant.

Environment (friendly, that is) – No matter how well they’re built, a refrigerant system is going to leak sooner or later.  And every whiff through an aging seal, or sudden loss through a failed tube, will contribute to the ozone depletion that today’s strict controls and high attention to CFC’s are trying to prevent.

Our Cabinet Cooler Systems are solely compressed air operated…the only thing they exhaust is the air from inside the enclosure.

Durability – Refrigerant leaks. Electric motors wear out.  Coils corrode.  Filters clog.  A GOOD warranty on an air conditioning type panel cooler is two years.  And it won’t cover environmental effects.

All EXAIR Compressed Air Products have a Five Year Built To Last Warranty.  But if you supply your Cabinet Cooler System with clean, dry air, it’s going to run darn near indefinitely, maintenance free.

Don’t trust your critical electronics to anything less than the assurance provided by an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System. If you’d like to find out which one(s) are right for your needs, give me a call.

Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
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