Mounting board/material

Inverters Victron
1

Hi all,

Maybe it was discussed somewhere, tried searching but found nothing…

Is there a board/material that people use to mount some of the Victron “lego” pieces on?

Talking about things like MPPT, Fuse Holders, Cerbo etc etc. Not really the large items like Inverters and Batts.

Ideally I would like to mount all the goodies to a wooden (or something similar) panel and just mount that on the wall.

Not sure what the insurance implications are (if any) mounting lots of electrical stuff on normal wood.

Any ideas on some options that are bit “safer” than wood - something non-flammable .

Hope this Q makes sense.

2

Hmm, MPPT’s have a heatsink on the back and can heat up quite a bit so I would avoid mounting any of these products on wood type material (excl. crebo)
I would most probably recommend an aluminium plate as it can help with heat dissipation and can also look nice if its on some visible spot :slight_smile:

3

Nah - my friends with Sunsynks wont visit anymore :slight_smile: Its like a glass garage door for your Ferrari

4

That is exactly what I did. :smiley:
The Alu heat plate is mounted on an piece of MDF which also does not burn easily.

image
image1920×3413 332 KB

5

Huge plywood board for my stuff, only the MPPT was mounted on ally plate, added active cooling later. Plywood was 12mm marineply.

image
image1280×958 268 KB

Groetnis

6

I’ve seen people use that diamond-pattern sheeting on top. Makes it look good as well. Personally I’ve always just screwed it directly to the brick wall… until the last time, when I decided to put it in a network cabinet :slight_smile:

7

Check out Nutec plain sheeting. (9 or 12mm)
I bit of a learning curve to drill etc. but an ideal solution.
Flat sheets_Facades Apr 19 2012.pdf (2.3 MB)

1 Like
8

Thanks - it seems like an asbestos sheet replacement?

It might case similar issues one might have drilling a normal masonry wall?

I really like the ease to place equipment on a wooden board vs drilling a wall for every small change in layout.

9

Yes, but it’s not made from asbestos.
Drilling it is far easier than a brick wall but not easy to screw into (you get one chance!)
But it won’t go up in flames and this is a real possibility with a power panel.

10

Yes - understood. But is it as “brittle” as asbestos panels?

What kind of screw can you use? Something like a drywall anchor or fisher plug? Ideally a chipboard screw is what I’m after.

11

Nutec is a fibre-cement product.
It is used for ceilings, cladding of buildings and now is a replacement for timber.(gates are now made with Nutec planks)

12

Nutec works best if you can screw through the board into wood at the back.
That is how it is normally installed and anything with weight should not be screwed only into the newtec board.

2 Likes
13

I’ve had screws rip through my facia board in the past, which is a similar material, so this makes complete sense. Whenever that happens, I usually end up drilling a much larger hole, and putting a screw and washer into the concrete below the roof beam the screw has just pulled out of…

14

I am a fan of rivnuts.
You don’t even have to use the tool. Simply drill a hole so the body fits and the lip at the end will stop it pulling out…https://www.rivets.co.za/rivnuts.php

1 Like
15

Intresting, so it works similar to a poprivet, just with a screw. I’ll have to try it

16

Yes. Really useful and once you glue it in the hole it’s like a custom thread made for your inverter or whatever…

17

You can also use these plugs for screws into blind holes: https://www.takealot.com/eureka-wing-toggle-plug-10-x-33mm-q-60-t3z635/PLID72053224

Hardware store will be cheaper.

18

Was coincidentally thinking of this myself the last few weeks and then out of nowhere a thread on the subject!

A lot of the youtube offgrid videos etc. have the stuff mounted on OSB which is super convenient but I noticed that it doesn’t seem to be common here, never see it in photos of installs here etc.

Not sure if the difference is because we have stricter fire codes, or because we have brick walls or something else.

Anyway the fact that its not common here had me pondering alternatives, I suppose those aluminium composite panels might work nicely (though 10x the price of OSB)

Then theres those PVC boards, I wonder if they would work well/poorly https://www.pvcboard.co.za/ PVC Foam board | M-Foam | Lightweight And Rigid never really worked with them so not entirely sure.

I suppose ideally you want something that dissipates heat well (not something that insulates) and ideally also not something conductive.

19

I think shatterply is more common, but you do get OSB. As most houses inland is built with bricks it is less common.

The foam can’t hold too much weight, so it is not really a good option.

20

The panel builders mount everything on chassis plates. Often these are mounted in enclosures but they could also be mounted on a wall…
And they would be happy to make a custom sized unit on request.