What are the different types of control panel mountings for a hoist ?
There are 2 places where a control panel for a hoist can be mounted
- On the Hoist itself — better known as Hoist mounted panel
- Near the operating floor level – also known as Wall mounted control panel, structure mounted Control Panel
Hoist mounted control panel is more common compared to the other option. It is much cheaper because then only 4 core cable/shrouded bus bar is required for the power supply to the hoist control panel.
Wall mounted control panel is expensive in a way that all the power and control cabled then need to travel from the control to the hoist, hence the ultimate cost of the DSL increases not only by cables but also by the DSL trolley size.
In this case shrouded bus bar cannot be used, as the no of cores increases and in shrouded bus bar only 4 cores/lengths are there.
normally when wall mounted type control panel is used the DSL is mounted on the same beam as that of the hoist.
NTPC normally opts for this type of control panel mounting.
Advantages of wall mounted type Control Panel :
- The advantages of wall mounted type control panel is that of maintenance, any issue on the panel can be easily resolved by standing at the floor level itself, one does not need to climb up to the hoist for maintenance of the panels.
- In case the dusty/heat environment one would require the panel to be not subjected to adverse conditions hence this type of arrangement is chosen.
Disadvantages of Wall mounted type Control Panel :
- Expensive
- No of cables increases
- In case of curved path with wall mounted type control panel , the travel of DSL becomes more cumbersome.
Care :
While calculating the DSL cost, the cables length should be 1.25x travel length + height from monorail beam till operating floor level.
While costing care should be taken that the prices of the cables is taken upto the operating floor level and not the entire lift of the hoist.