Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?

[Maxxarcade]

I am wondering if I'm using the right method to mount my rack rails. I'm using 20-24" deep "universal" rails and all my cases are 4U height.

When I installed the rails the way I thought they should go, like my 1U Compaq system was, there was not enough width for the case to slide in the rack without binding.

Here is a pic of what I ended up doing. This is a side view of the rack, with the front of the rack at the left.



Notice that towards the back, the rails are a bit bowed because they are mounted without the L brackets (not enough room to use L brackets at both ends). I would like to figure out how to do this right.

My next question: I have a big 26" deep 4U case, but I have only a 24" deep rack. Can I use the same 20-24" rails on the longer case? I know it won't extend all the way out, I just need it to support the weight when installed in the rack.

Anyone here have pics of their rack rails installed?

[stretch0069]

Re: Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?

if i understand you correctly, i've run into this problem. when we would intall rack-mount boxes, we would not tighten the screws holding the slides to the cabinet. we would push the box in fully and then tighten the screws down. some boxes were worse than others.

we also had those L-brackets at the rear. not sure if it matters though.


hope that helps....

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?

It's like the opening in the rack isn't quite wide enough if I don't use the L brackets.

Also, if I mount the rails to the rack from the front like I would any other device, the screw heads for the rails keep the chassis from going up flush to the rack. That's another reason why I used the L brackets at the front.

[willawake]

Re: Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?

those rails are adjustable. looks like you could make them about an inch shorter?





i dont see how its working without the L pieces. if you wanted to not use them then you would have to adjust the vertical rails width. this would make your rack non-standard width which i could not recommend

i had similar problem and in the end used another set of vertical rails at the rear it was cheaper to do that than source other rails and shelves

[Maxxarcade]

Re: Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?

Hmm, Looks like the square hole racks would be easier to work with because you can make the screw heads flush with the rails. Mine is a round hole rack that uses clip nuts.

By L bracket, I mean the small (2" square or so) adapters that attach to the larger L brackets that hold the rails. They have some threaded holes and some non threaded ones. I used them on the front of my rack, so that the rails could be mounted from the sides instead of the front. That allows the server to sit flush against the rack. This can be seen if you look closely at the first pic I posted. For the back of the rack, I didn't use the small brackets.

Here's a pic of the right hand front of the rack. I used the side holes to attach the small L bracket, which attaches to the larger L bracket on the slide rail... Eh, too hard to explain, I'll post more pics tomorrow. Ignore the system that is in the pic... It's not the one that I'm having issues with.

[willawake]

Re: Sliding rack rails- How do I mount them?



none of my rails have any adapter piece

square holes may be nice but the cage nuts can slice fingers