Card Cage/Sub rack

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RSRecords

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
320
I'm trying to figure out how card cages are put together. I need a 2 ru card cage for 8 electrodyne line amps. What are my options? I've never ordered or assembled one.

Is there an off the shelf kit?
 
Eurocard?

(Not to be confused Eurorack which I believe has the same dimensions but specifies pinouts that are not necessarily useful)
 
They vary a lot. Many people use off the shelf standard parts. A typical sub-rack consists of a pair of aluminium side plates connected together with a pair of aluminium extrusions at the front and another pair at the back. The front ones have fixings for front panels and the rear ones for connectors or a motherboard. Farnell and RS and many other distributors do kits for these but 3U is normally as small as they go.

On the other hand, many mixer manufacturers make their own cages out of steel, bending it into the necessary shape and using tapped or self tapping holes for fixings.

If you want to make your own then modifying a standard 3U kit is probably the way to go.

Cheers

Ian
 
Thanks, that gives me some things to search for. I've noticed that 3RU is a standard. No luck on the 2 rack unit. Is there a source for just the card guides and their associated mounting rails? I guess I need to figure out the backplane/edge connector too. I actually have a card cage but the cards extend bast the chassis so I can't attach a front panel. Maybe I can figure out  a way to mount this rack inside another one...or build it out of wood, ha.
 
RSRecords said:
Thanks, that gives me some things to search for. I've noticed that 3RU is a standard. No luck on the 2 rack unit. Is there a source for just the card guides and their associated mounting rails? I guess I need to figure out the backplane/edge connector too. I actually have a card cage but the cards extend bast the chassis so I can't attach a front panel. Maybe I can figure out  a way to mount this rack inside another one...or build it out of wood, ha.

I think most of the distributors sell card guides separately but you should be aware that they are usually only compatible with the rails from the same manufacturer.

Cheers

Ian
 
RSRecords said:
Thanks, that gives me some things to search for. I've noticed that 3RU is a standard. No luck on the 2 rack unit. Is there a source for just the card guides and their associated mounting rails? I guess I need to figure out the backplane/edge connector too. I actually have a card cage but the cards extend bast the chassis so I can't attach a front panel. Maybe I can figure out  a way to mount this rack inside another one...or build it out of wood, ha.
I have recently purchased a 3U kit by Scroff from RS.
https://fr.rs-online.com/web/p/chassis/0487757/
Making a 2U out of it requires only a saw and a drill, for modding the side panels, that are flat.
The card guides were not too difficult to source, but when it came to profiles (I needed additional profiles for I/O connections) I had to call the factory, where I got the part references, place an order through RS, which was declined! Finally, I had to order them from Farnell, so the profiles had to go from the factory in Germany, to New Jersey, and back to France!
Be ready to ingest the Schroff catalogue!
https://docs.rs-online.com/01e5/0900766b8145c11e.pdf
 
I have some 3u card cages with 8 sets of rails. I think the rails can be removed, and the top piece is tapped every 1/4 of an inch or so. If interested I can get you more specifics after Im back from Christmas break.  8)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top