Enclosure Spacer / Riser / Gasket

Copying a previous post here, bc again this gets asked so often.


Your options are:

You can buy foam tape in both high density and low density versions. High density == firm, low squish, doesn’t soak up surface imperfections well. Low density == soft, very squishy, conforms to weird outlines.

Closed cell == waterproof, dustproof, etc.
Open cell == swiss cheese. You probably don’t want this for an enclosure.

Solid rubber is very firm, but works great as a riser. You’ll need contact cement to adhere it to your deck and a hollow punch bit to create holes (you can’t drill rubber with a normal drill bit) for your enclosure fasteners.

Closed cell high density neoprene foam tape is easy to apply yourself, easy to cut, and the most popular choice. You don’t need someone to create a custom gasket for you. It’s also much cheaper. Measure the height you need and the width of your enclosure flange before ordering, or order twice (ask me how I know).

Make sure your gasket goes on the inner side of your enclosure screws, otherwise you will get dirt/water through your screw holes into your electronics

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REFERENCES - Sources


Please add/update/edit the wiki as you like!

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Never thought of that, makes sense, but I think it’s very difficult to do with some enclosures’ shapes (without using a 1cm height Gasket anyway)

So which one is your preferred method and why? (open question for everyone)

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I bought this stuff for my first DIY build and it was so hard I had no clue how to even use it. Does anyone here actually? How do you stick it in place?

Closed cell foam seems to get squished once after applying, and doesn’t go back to its original form when you open it up.

I now use butyl tape, although it’s a real pain to open the enclosure, and sometimes enough dust gets stuck in it that I just rip it off and reapply. I have it in different heights, so that I can add a thin layer on the outside of enclosure bolts, and a thicker layer on the inside, to protect against water ingress. I wonder if there’s something even better available though.

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You can if you freeze it first.

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I use this neoprene as a lid (not a gasket), but butyl tape to seal it.

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My neighbor just got a board with an upgraded battery and needed a 1/2" seal to make the old enclosure work.

His enclosure had the D shaped profile foam on it already so we tried out this stuff to match it.

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True, but if you’re going for watertight, this is a vital step. If not, you accept the risk and act accordingly (don’t skate through puddles).

I have both solid rubber and closed cell foam tape on my current build. I needed pure height, so the solid works as a riser. I needed a flexible gasket, so the foam works for that. Not ideal, but so it goes with the deck i chose.

The difficulty level of this goes up significantly after it’s attached to the deck.

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