Published on: January 26, 2015 by Blair Haas
While the sports world is abuzz over whether Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, or a mysterious stranger ordered the Patriot’s footballs to be somewhat deflated, deflation, or shrinkage, is also an issue with plastic enclosures. Polycarbonate, while very durable and damage resistant, has a tendency to shrink slightly as it cools, as do most plastics. However, there can be inconsistencies in the shrinkage process meaning that both draft angles of the sides and actual box dimensions can vary slightly from box to box. For most applications, this is not an issue as the variation is slight and the impact on equipment or boards being installed in the box are minimal. It can become an issue as holes are drilled in the sides and the draft angles may be slightly varied. When installing the connectors, they may not thread on a complete horizontal and unless the gasketing on the connector allows for this, there can be gaps in the protection.
Bud’s PIP Series is a polycarbonate box that also includes 10% fiberglass. This provides for virtually no shrinkage in the cooling process, creating a more consistent box. It also provides the “toughness” and UV protection of fiberglass yet still retains the visual appeal of polycarbonate. It is a UL508 Nema 4x rated IP67 enclosure which means that it is not only able to withstand water sprays but can be submerged as well. All of this is available at a price that is below many competitive polycarbonate boxes. Contact Bud Industries (saleswest@budind.com) or your local Bud distributor for more details. However the science of the Patriots deflated football evolves, rest assured that Bud Industries has solved the problem for plastic enclosures
