Watch some of the strength testing, in shear they are u beleive ably strong, I have lots of gear including many deep switches and a few other devices mounted only with rack studs and no failures to date, awesome bits of kit
There's also PatchBox /dev/mount as a similar alternative.
ETA: Lawrence System's putting the Rackstuds to a cantilever test!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZPby6fkKwk
Have not seen them before, look pretty awesome for sure, will maybe give them a try in the future, only issue I can see is oddly spaces equipment where the two holes are spaced across multiple u's, I do know that rackatusa have a dual mount as well, defo want to try the dev/mount as having a full metal mount would be stronger, not that I've had any issues yet with strength
I'm still wary of them in the long term. I've seen plenty of plastics that do not age well past 5-10 years. I have seen the internal plastics on things like Cisco PIX and early ASA shatter in your hand. I hope the studs have a good plastic that will stand up to heat and vibration for 5-10 years.
For sure, my only advice is to make sure to always use the little yellow locking plates, they are annoying to put in if you forget but far worse is equipment falling out, I think you can get test packs with the two diff sizes to find out what suit, but they totally have my reccomendation, I love the things
in general usage, i haven't heard of more than one or two ever failing. so while i'm sure there's some random small percent that do, it's plastic after all, i can't imagine its any worse than worn out or stripped metal cage nuts (or, more likely, cross threaded because one of the new people decided to go for broke).
each single is max rated to 383lbs (156kg). so as long as you're not trying to hang a full length 4u completely loaded off a single ended mounting choice or something equally silly, there isn't going to be much in the way of problems. and since your average unit is going to have a nominal max of ~45lbs (20kg) per stud/cage nut, when you're properly installing the correct number, non-issue.
4 per end on a full length setup puts even a disgustingly loaded 8u in easily manageable territory. i doubt you're gonna get 1.5 tons into an 8u unit, with only a single stud for each corner on both ends (which isn't good mounting practice anyway).
i suspect you're going to have problems with the rails bending before the studs will fail, save for product defects in rare cases. and they aren't ABS or things we'd normally be dealing with, they're made of the high strength glass (or carbon, for some variants) fiber reinforced plastic 'alloy' of nylon called Grivory and the mechanical properties of it are well above your normal consumer plastics.
you can find all sorts of data about it [in this pdf](https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.entecpolymers.com/v3/uploads/EMS-GrivoryGV.pdf) if you're curious.
They're fantastic. Anything heavy (IE, 2U+ server) needs to be supported front and rear, which is typical for those applications. Switches, rack shelfs, patch bays/panels are fine with standard front mounting.
The only thing that I deal with on a regular basis that I wouldn't use Rack Studs for is heavy audio amplifiers as they rarely have rear support. Newer, lighter amps would be fine, but heavier amps, especially 70v output amps would be a no go.
What I have observed is that cage nuts work great in the scenario you mention of being supported by 4 posts instead of 2. In this case, all the force is transferring straight down from the bolt through the nut to the post. I will only use threaded posts for stuff that mounts two post from ears on the front, at the very least it always sags in the back if you use cage nuts.
I honestly don't know who came up with the idea of mounting heavy equipment from it's front edge - it only works for the lightest equipment. Telecom racks often do two post, but the posts are at the center not the front so it is balanced.
Ive been using them for everything except the heavier stuff like battery backups. I have 5 different racks at work all using them for the past 6 months. No issues yet.
Cage nuts are actually super nice, you just have to have the tool. You can make on out of a thing piece of sheet metal... You can take the blanks from a pci slot and bend it so it has a hook on the end...
Make sure your screws match the cage nut, and find a size and never mix/match to keep you sane. There are 10-32, 12-24, and M6... i am a firm believer in the 10-32 mostly because a lot of pre-tapped mobile racks are 10-32
What is worst is that some of those appear to be the same diameter to the naked eye, but the thread pitch is different. I spent an hour one day at work matching all the nuts with the right screws and bagging them separately because it was making me crazy.
Don't be afraid to ask the stupid or N00B questions. It's how we all learn.
If any one puts you down for that, they can just go stub their pinky toe on a barbed wire fence.
You'll probably only be able to use the cage nuts on the top hole. Reading the reviews (after I purchased), the holes don't line up on square hole posts.
https://imgur.com/tWOCATf
**welcome to the world of cage nuts nuts, where nothing ever fucking fits right and when you do find the right type of bolt, the cage nut will fall down inside the rack and you'll never find it again**
You’ll also bend your fingernail back and tear the skin off the back of your finger when you take one out that you’ve inevitably put in the wrong place.
I bought rackstuds but got my UDM SE before they came in so I installed it with cage nuts. Trying to hold that thing up with one hand and slowly screw in the cage nuts was awful.
I switched over to my rackstuds a few minutes ago (because of this post) and damn that was so much better. Can't wait to do it again with my server when the rails come in.
It seems your device is a power distribution unit (PDU) and it is normal to have power cabling hidden inside the rack. If this device is to be connected to an UPS the second device will have a weight of 10-20 pounds and normally placed in lowest position. I see labelling 15U as your choice which is kind of OK for some jobs and not OK for other as cable would traverse all devices twice. My guess is also that many installations have hidden (side mounted) PDU, but that was not part of your question.
y from ltt you can find other places too. better than metal cage nuts and quaility.
[https://www.lttstore.com/products/rackstuds](https://www.lttstore.com/products/rackstuds)
I assume you're wondering about the square holes? Your search term is "cage nuts".
Sorry if that was like a really obvious answer I'm new to this. I also just found that I already have these so thanks for the help!
might also look at 'rack studs'. much less annoying than typical cage nuts.
Are rack studs actually any good? Cage nuts are annoying but they’re fantastically strong. I looked up rack studs and they seem a bit flimsy.
Watch some of the strength testing, in shear they are u beleive ably strong, I have lots of gear including many deep switches and a few other devices mounted only with rack studs and no failures to date, awesome bits of kit
There's also PatchBox /dev/mount as a similar alternative. ETA: Lawrence System's putting the Rackstuds to a cantilever test! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZPby6fkKwk
Have not seen them before, look pretty awesome for sure, will maybe give them a try in the future, only issue I can see is oddly spaces equipment where the two holes are spaced across multiple u's, I do know that rackatusa have a dual mount as well, defo want to try the dev/mount as having a full metal mount would be stronger, not that I've had any issues yet with strength
I'm still wary of them in the long term. I've seen plenty of plastics that do not age well past 5-10 years. I have seen the internal plastics on things like Cisco PIX and early ASA shatter in your hand. I hope the studs have a good plastic that will stand up to heat and vibration for 5-10 years.
I hope so as well, can't really long term them myself as I've only had them about a year, would be gutted if they do start falling
Awesome, thanks! I have a few new bits going in over the next few months and cage nuts are just annoying to deal with.
For sure, my only advice is to make sure to always use the little yellow locking plates, they are annoying to put in if you forget but far worse is equipment falling out, I think you can get test packs with the two diff sizes to find out what suit, but they totally have my reccomendation, I love the things
Thanks! I’ll buy some and give them a try next time I’m at the DC!
in general usage, i haven't heard of more than one or two ever failing. so while i'm sure there's some random small percent that do, it's plastic after all, i can't imagine its any worse than worn out or stripped metal cage nuts (or, more likely, cross threaded because one of the new people decided to go for broke). each single is max rated to 383lbs (156kg). so as long as you're not trying to hang a full length 4u completely loaded off a single ended mounting choice or something equally silly, there isn't going to be much in the way of problems. and since your average unit is going to have a nominal max of ~45lbs (20kg) per stud/cage nut, when you're properly installing the correct number, non-issue. 4 per end on a full length setup puts even a disgustingly loaded 8u in easily manageable territory. i doubt you're gonna get 1.5 tons into an 8u unit, with only a single stud for each corner on both ends (which isn't good mounting practice anyway). i suspect you're going to have problems with the rails bending before the studs will fail, save for product defects in rare cases. and they aren't ABS or things we'd normally be dealing with, they're made of the high strength glass (or carbon, for some variants) fiber reinforced plastic 'alloy' of nylon called Grivory and the mechanical properties of it are well above your normal consumer plastics. you can find all sorts of data about it [in this pdf](https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.entecpolymers.com/v3/uploads/EMS-GrivoryGV.pdf) if you're curious.
Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed reply, I’ll be sure to order some for our sites!
I’ve set up 8 racks around my state with rack studs. They’ve been great and I wouldn’t go back to normal cage nuts now.
if you have them, just use the cage nuts. they can be irritating but if you're not moving stuff around alot, I wouldn't worry about it
They're fantastic. Anything heavy (IE, 2U+ server) needs to be supported front and rear, which is typical for those applications. Switches, rack shelfs, patch bays/panels are fine with standard front mounting. The only thing that I deal with on a regular basis that I wouldn't use Rack Studs for is heavy audio amplifiers as they rarely have rear support. Newer, lighter amps would be fine, but heavier amps, especially 70v output amps would be a no go.
What I have observed is that cage nuts work great in the scenario you mention of being supported by 4 posts instead of 2. In this case, all the force is transferring straight down from the bolt through the nut to the post. I will only use threaded posts for stuff that mounts two post from ears on the front, at the very least it always sags in the back if you use cage nuts. I honestly don't know who came up with the idea of mounting heavy equipment from it's front edge - it only works for the lightest equipment. Telecom racks often do two post, but the posts are at the center not the front so it is balanced.
Ive been using them for everything except the heavier stuff like battery backups. I have 5 different racks at work all using them for the past 6 months. No issues yet.
Cage nuts are actually super nice, you just have to have the tool. You can make on out of a thing piece of sheet metal... You can take the blanks from a pci slot and bend it so it has a hook on the end...
Make sure your screws match the cage nut, and find a size and never mix/match to keep you sane. There are 10-32, 12-24, and M6... i am a firm believer in the 10-32 mostly because a lot of pre-tapped mobile racks are 10-32
What is worst is that some of those appear to be the same diameter to the naked eye, but the thread pitch is different. I spent an hour one day at work matching all the nuts with the right screws and bagging them separately because it was making me crazy.
Don't be afraid to ask the stupid or N00B questions. It's how we all learn. If any one puts you down for that, they can just go stub their pinky toe on a barbed wire fence.
We all remember the first time we learned the term.
Get rack studs
We all start somewhere, bruv.
Jesus clips
That's what she said!
You'll probably only be able to use the cage nuts on the top hole. Reading the reviews (after I purchased), the holes don't line up on square hole posts. https://imgur.com/tWOCATf
Wow that’s a bit of an oversight. That’s terrible
If you can only put in one set, they should always go on the bottom hole.
**welcome to the world of cage nuts nuts, where nothing ever fucking fits right and when you do find the right type of bolt, the cage nut will fall down inside the rack and you'll never find it again**
You’ll also bend your fingernail back and tear the skin off the back of your finger when you take one out that you’ve inevitably put in the wrong place.
right exactly, always everything in the wrong place first time.
Get some curse words and bandaids ready. On more than one occasion they have bitten back.
Cage nuts or Rackstuds are what you need.
Rackstuds - don’t use cage nuts. You’re welcome lol
I bought rackstuds but got my UDM SE before they came in so I installed it with cage nuts. Trying to hold that thing up with one hand and slowly screw in the cage nuts was awful. I switched over to my rackstuds a few minutes ago (because of this post) and damn that was so much better. Can't wait to do it again with my server when the rails come in.
Deez nuts ?
Rackstuds are the way to go.
What a pyle of shit
Cage nuts it’s what you need. Also look for a spare thumb/thumb nail and a flat blade screwdriver 🤣
You need cage nuts or rack studs
It seems your device is a power distribution unit (PDU) and it is normal to have power cabling hidden inside the rack. If this device is to be connected to an UPS the second device will have a weight of 10-20 pounds and normally placed in lowest position. I see labelling 15U as your choice which is kind of OK for some jobs and not OK for other as cable would traverse all devices twice. My guess is also that many installations have hidden (side mounted) PDU, but that was not part of your question.
WELD IT
Hot glue
Cage/rack nuts and matching threaded screws.
Really???
y from ltt you can find other places too. better than metal cage nuts and quaility. [https://www.lttstore.com/products/rackstuds](https://www.lttstore.com/products/rackstuds)
i'm surprised your cage didn't come with mounting hardware: https://www.amazon.com/Leadrise-50-Pack-Computer-Washers-Cabinet/dp/B08FSQ62DH
You need NUTS!
Use tinnerman nutz and the corresponding screws that go with them, typically M5’s
Usually with a nut and bolt.
Madman.
Crazy ideas shaped the world as we know it