I’m making an enclosure for all the low voltage electronics: rpi, rambo, a fan, 75W 12v Mean Well power supply and a step down unit. I’m adding GX16 connectors to the front, and using an G14 socket to connect it all to a power plug.
I also want to add a relay to supply 230v to run the router (700w) via gcode. If I do the wires properly, with shielding and small enclosures for the WAGOs, would it be okay to let the 230V run inside the same enclosure? Yes, yes, I know that you have to be very careful with high voltage. I’m going to have my father in-law(electric enginerer) to bullet proof it before I hook it up - but I want to hear with you guys about the concept first. He doesn’t know much about modern SBCs, so he couldn’t really answer me on wether it would be unwise to keep it in the same box. My question is: would the 230v disturb the electronics inside this box? It’ll all be properly insulated, but I’m thinking about the “electrical noise”?
Another option I’m considering is to have a separate enclosure with the relays for running the 230v to the router (and even perhaps a vacuum, but it depends on the capacity of the relays), and to set up a wired signal connection to control it, from the 12v/5v box.
Depends on how close… I used to design industrial UL panels and the basic rules where that the high voltage should run in its own raceway, and it should be at least 3 inches away from the low volt stuff… keep in mind with that however that you may want to use shielded wires for your steppers and communications if they will be running close to the high voltage.
That was the industrial practice, but your not building an industrial ul panel… I would use shielded wires though if your running the wires next to each other(inside or outside a box)
And if you want to run them inside the same box I would use something to physically separate the two voltages. I.e. raceway or a divider or wire tie them to the one side… something like that… and that should be good enough.
IDK how much 230V changes things but probably not more than double. I have some esp and 120V relays and the gap is about 5mm. If you can, you should buy a premade relay board meant to work with arduinos. They are cheap and have the proper transistor and flyback diode to keep the arduino safe. I usually search “arduino relay” in amazon and find a bunch. You can add “arduino” to a lot of searches and find stuff that generally works well with home electronics like ours.
Maybe I’ll give it a try after all. It would be really nifty to have all the electronics in one place. (and what happens the day I add laser? And air-control? The list is endless…)
I’ve done a few MAINS power Arduino projects. As a hobbyist, I tend to overbuild when working with MAINS. I look for optocoupled relays with amperage well above my needs. Something like this. There are 12v versions of this module if you want to drive it from a 12v fan output.
As for your other devices, you can either use a single fan output with a plug on the cable and plug it into the “box” for the current device, or you can use multiple fan outputs with a cable to each “box.”