Space for electrical

[slijin]

Originally Posted by Ninja_Bait

Remember that motor controllers need to spaced out so their fans will work, and if you can, mount them so that metal shavings won't end up in them.

Neat electronics get ruined when they catch on fire.

EDIT: I just reread vhcook's post and he noted the vertical spacing. I looked it up here and it is actually 2" for Victors. (I couldn't find anything on Jags better than "adequate air flow" but I imagine it's something similar. I believe since the jaguars vent air out of the sides you need to leave space between them as well, but that's not as important for Victors.)

I don't know about a vertical requirement for Jaguars (if I did do stacked electrical levels, I would leave 2" just as I would have to for Victors, but you should have at least 1/2", optimally 3/4"+ of spacing between Jaguars to allow air flow out of the side vents.

I'd also just like to reemphasize vhcook's point about keeping wire slack.

Try and avoid "banjo strings" (wiring that is tightly stretched) - you want a little bit of slack in the ends to make it easier to plug them in and to keep the wires from breaking or pulling out of the connectors.

Make sure to add stress relief points for wires that you expect to move. This not only makes wiring orderly, but also simultaneously ensures that you won't rip or tear wire connections (or even wires themselves) as components move.

If you don't know what stress relief is, all it is tying down the wire at one fixed point (you can use zip ties, cable clamps, spiral wrap, etc) so that it won't shift beyond a certain point. Some people, when running wires through small holes, like to tie a knot in one side so that the knot can't move through the hole, placing a hard limit on how far out the wire can be pulled (useful for ensuring that the connection at the base of the wire never gets stressed).