Best Practices for Control Panel Housing Configuration and Wiring

When we configure and wire our control panel housings, we follow all the regulations to the letter. However, because our panels house a constantly increasing array of devices, we're faced with design uncertainties about issues like how much expansion space (mostly for I/O) to leave in the panel; the most efficient designs to minimize wiring; leaving only the minimum device spacing and dealing with device density and potential overheating; and trying to avoid additional cooling requirements.

Simply asked, who has some best practices they've learned and would share?

SEND US YOUR COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS OR SOLUTIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM. We'll include it in the March '14 issue, and post it on ControlDesign.com. Send visuals if you'd like — a sketch is fine. E-mail us at [email protected]. Please include your company, location and title in the response.