In unprotected outdoor areas customers must be able to count on the unfailing reliability of enclosures for electrical installations. These alone make the difference in terms of the protection of equipment, irrespective of the time of year or weather conditions. Whether it is a case of solar radiation, extreme temperatures, precipitation, frost, dust, or mechanical or chemical loads, external influencing factors are as challenging as they are diverse.
Spelsberg has designed its industrial enclosures for any such demanding installation conditions. These include enclosure types which with their resilience, but also their functionality, are particularly intended for harsh environments such as industrial or agricultural operations. Thus, the materials used offer high resistance to UV radiation , have degrees of protection of up to IP 69 with impressive resistance to the weather and mechanical forces. Thanks to DLG and DNV-GL certificates individual products are also the right choice for loading by ammonia or salt water. While the high level of impermeability of the enclosures effectively prevents the ingress of water, solutions such as the BEL Air ventilation system ensure a constant air exchange, to prevent the build-up of condensate water . Spelsberg is able to respond to a wide range of installation situations, with flexible solutions and expert advice extending to individual adaptations or new developments.
Apart from their exceptional resistance, the versatility of GEOS enclosures in harsh industrial environments in particular is impressive. The intelligent and tool-free installation system and the mounting plug in the box, play a major part in this. For customers the result is numerous application options plus greater versatility, for example in production processes. And this is indeed the case at the Emscher Aufbereitung GmbH plant in Duisburg, where GEOS enclosures ensure the portable use of coal conveyor belts.
Founded in 1957, the company was originally involved in the processing and exploitation of carboniferous sludge from the river Emscher. Subsequently, however, it also ventured into the grinding of raw coal into dust coal to supply power stations and cement manufacturers. Since 1987, Emscher Aufbereitung GmbH, with its six drying and grinding plants, has been supplying neighbouring blast furnaces and other consumers with more than 2 million tonnes of coal dust per annum. In doing so, the company is constantly striving for further developments in the area of automation, control and monitoring of the plants, to save energy, reduce its CO² emissions, and to optimise the end product and energy flows.
To provide the power for multiple mobile coal conveyor belts the company needed highly robust and reliable enclosures, able to accommodate the corresponding electrical installations. The solutions were to be used as connection and intermediate terminal boxes, also serving as a cable junction for lighting units. The requirements here were clearly defined: "Due to the multiple external influences, resistant and dust-proof enclosure designs with high UV stability were needed for use at our site. It was also important to us that the interior construction had a flexible design, able to cope with mechanical processing without complications", explains Stefan Myja, Certified Technician in Power Engineering and Process Automation at Emscher Aufbereitung GmbH.
For many years this Duisburg-based company has maintained a good relationship with Spelsberg and at a recent trade fair was given a comprehensive presentation of the GEOS series. Consequently, Emscher Aufbereitung GmbH turned to the experts in electrical installation and enclosure technology for its specific requirements. Following a personal consultation with the Spelsberg team, an offer was made in a very short space of time with detailed parts lists and construction drawings. The flexible GEOS system allowed problem-free equipping of the enclosures. These were provided with, amongst other things, sockets and terminal blocks, and since then have allowed the portable use of the conveyor belts – with a high level of safety and reliability of all components. "From our point of view, Spelsberg offers the best range of range small distribution boards on the market that meet our specifications. We appreciate the highly solutions-oriented cooperation and are totally impressed with the quality of the products", says Stefan Myja.
Every day, ships overcome a height difference of 38 meters in the Lüneburg double hoist in Scharnebeck, Lower Saxony. After more than 35 years of operation, the ship's hoist on the Elbe Lateral Canal was now due for repairs, as both the concrete and the steel and mechanical engineering, including the plant technology, were in need of a thorough overhaul. As part of these measures, those responsible also modernized the electrical installation, for the protection of which the GEOS-S switch cabinet is used, among other things.
The double ship lift is operated by the Mittelland Canal/Elbe Lateral Canal Waterways and Shipping Office (WSA MLK/ESK). WSA MLK/ESK maintains the federal waterways and the associated facilities such as locks, weirs, ship lifts and bridges and expands them as required with the aim of enabling smooth-flowing and therefore economical shipping traffic. The office is also responsible for advising, supporting and monitoring shipping traffic with specialist personnel in the traffic centers.
The in-house electrical department of the WSA MLK/ESK depot, headed by Florian Mesenbrink, was responsible for replacing the electronics as part of the repair work. In order to reliably and permanently protect the sensitive components in the dry dock from moisture and mechanical influences, a robust housing was required, which Florian Mesenbrink and his team found in the GEOS-S control cabinet.
Specially developed to meet the requirements of harsh environments, the GEOS-S enclosure proved to be the ideal solution for the damp environment in the dry dock. Mesenbrink and his team attached great importance to an increased degree of protection and a high IK class. The GEOS-S enclosure, which has IP66/IP67/IP69 and IK09, easily meets these requirements. The rapid product availability and planning security thanks to the long-term stability of the range were also convincing factors.
As a competent provider of well thought-out complete solutions, Spelsberg not only provided support with product selection. The expert in electrical installation and enclosure technology also provided training on GEOS in the ship's hoist. The company also supplied a sample panel for the in-house training center. The GEOS product finder proved to be a practical aid when planning the individual control cabinet.
“We used the online tool to draw in and dimension the drill holes for the screw fittings. This enabled the workshop to precisely position the drill holes on the GEOS enclosures so that quick assembly and wiring was possible on site,” says Mesenbrink and concludes: ”A very good collaboration!”
Sustainable mobility solutions are more in demand than ever. Smart City System Parking Solutions GmbH offers precisely such solutions in the field of digital parking. The Fürth-based company offers tailor-made parking concepts for cities, residential and commercial customers that help to optimize the registration, management and utilization of parking spaces. Among other things, reliable and intelligent sensor technology is used for this purpose, which impresses with minimal maintenance requirements and extremely simple installation. The smart parking expert has already installed more than 65,000 sensors in Europe.
As a full-service provider, Smart City System Parking Solutions GmbH lives up to its claim of providing all services from a single source, including in the area of license plate recognition. The established company not only provides state-of-the-art camera systems, but is also responsible for installation, data protection-compliant operation and maintenance - including full data availability.
The license plate surveillance systems are mainly used in outdoor parking areas. The Fürth-based company relies on the robust GEOS outdoor enclosures from Spelsberg to ensure that the sensitive camera components are permanently protected from damaging influences such as the effects of force, dirt and weather, even in exposed locations.
These met all the requirements that those responsible had for a customized housing solution. Among other things, protection class IP65 was required to reliably prevent the ingress of water and dust. The outdoor enclosures with the high protection class IP 66 / IP 67 / IP 69 more than meet this requirement. The polycarbonate (PC) used also proved to be the ideal material in several respects: the high-quality plastic is not only UV-stable and weather-resistant, but also enables the full signal strength of the antennas installed inside, unlike metal. The GEOS products also demonstrated their advantages in terms of customizability: Thanks to the flexible installation system, all components inside the housing could be positioned according to customer requirements.
The end result is customized outdoor enclosures that were developed in close cooperation between Spelsberg and the team at Smart City System Parking Solutions GmbH. Michael Metschl, Technical Product Manager at the Fürth-based company, highlights the online configurator as particularly practical, as it was used to find tailor-made solutions in the early stages of product development. Metschl is also enthusiastic about the collaboration and concludes: “Spelsberg's motivated sales team contributes its own ideas to find a custom-fit housing solution that meets the customer's needs.”
If electrical installations are installed in unprotected outdoor areas, robust enclosure solutions are required that reliably protect the sensitive components from damaging influences such as strong temperature fluctuations, UV radiation or moisture. The GEOS series from Spelsberg fully meets these requirements. Manufactured from robust polycarbonate and developed for harsh conditions in industrial and outdoor applications, the GEOS enclosures withstand environmental influences of all kinds. With the control cabinets and empty enclosures in the series, Spelsberg offers the right solution for every installation situation. This also applies to the connection box of the world's first retractable garden light Vole Light RISE & SHINE®, known from the VOX format “Die Höhle der Löwen”.
When switched off, it disappears completely underground; when switched on, the app-controlled Vole Light RISE & SHINE® rises up and provides maximum illumination at its installation location. The patented world first is easy to install even in difficult locations and ensures a tidy appearance when switched off. Lawn mowers, for example, can easily drive over the light, which is sunk into the ground. The powerful lighting system is developed and produced in Obereuerheim in Lower Franconia, where the family business Vole Light is also based.
A resistant enclosure solution was required for the connection box, which is used to supply and distribute 24 V DC voltage to the luminaires and contains the components required to control the system, such as the Casambi Bluetooth module. “First and foremost, it was important for us to use a product that is permanently UV and weather-resistant as well as waterproof. It had to be ensured that the connection box was suitable for outdoor use,” says Niko Wendel from Vole Light, explaining the requirements for the housing.
On the recommendation of a partner, Vole Light considered the GEOS series. After appropriate research and tests, the company was convinced by the robustness and flexibility of the GEOS products and decided to use the outdoor enclosures with a high degree of protection for the Vole Light RISE&SHINE®. Working in partnership, a tailor-made end result was created, which is printed on the front and pre-assembled with the required cable glands.
In the development of e-mobility, reliable components are required with which environment-friendly modes of transport such as e-cars can be supplied with power. Spelsberg offers a variety of product solutions for this, including electrical connections, charging stations or enclosures for wallboxes. The manufacturer has produced the last of these for Berner Elektrotechnik GmbH of Stuttgart using GEOS empty enclosures as a basis.
The craft business was established in 1985 and has now established itself as a certified company with over 120 employees and decades of experience, looking after projects for customers ranging from family businesses to large industrial plants. In doing so, the owner-run specialist business deals with installations in areas such as lighting, heating, communication and safety. But it is increasingly turning towards new technologies as well, such as solar power, e-mobility, and so on.
In Spelsberg, Berner Elektrotechnik has found an expert and solutions-oriented partner for the development the company's own wallbox. The Stuttgart-based company was looking for a suitable enclosure, and for this it needed specialist support both in the accommodation of all technical components and for the design.
An Internet search quickly identified the versatile, flexible and extremely robust GEOS empty enclosures from Spelberg as a possible solution. Once contact had been made the Spelsberg team, together with the customer, developed an individually-tailored enclosure in black polycarbonate.
The intelligent installation system for tool-free and rapid assembly in the 25 mm grid and the possibility of variable equipping with profile rails, mean that any components could be housed in the GEOS enclosure without problems.
"We are extremely satisfied both with the cooperation between equals and our resulting wallbox. Spelsberg offered us multiple customisation options, allowing us to design both the inside and outside of the enclosure to our requirements. On both the human and technical levels, Spelsberg convinced us that they were the best possible partner for our project", Florian Spahr of Berner Elektrotechnik GmbH is full of praise for the company.
