I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as possible but if by chance I start to ramble on I'm sorry in advance. This is also my first thread on AAC so i'm hoping i will get the help and advise that i need. Also this project will also be place on instructables.com when it's done (which might be a little bit) so if your can help me out I'll make sure to give you some credit on the instructable. Okay so i'm working on the designs for the ultimate computer desk. The build is going to be quite substantial and complicated (in the overall aspect, though each of the individual components will be quite simple in theory). What i'm trying to accomplish with this build is to build a table to hold 2 tower computers, one with two supporting monitors and the other with 4, along with two laptops each with there own secondary monitor. the goal is to build this table so i can have two rows of displays (total of 8 monitors and 2 laptops so 10 displays) in an arc surrounding the "user". Well, that's the build in a nutshell. What i want to do with the desk electronic wise is I want to be able to control all the components with bulgin anti vandal switches (because they're tough and they look great). well the switches run off of 12 VDC while most of everything else runs off of 120 VAC. So I need a relay. The best relay I have found so far (as far as price, size, and power ratings) are these Solid State Relay SSR-25 DA relays. The only problem is that I have very little to no experience working with SSR only EMR and from what i heard about them makes me a little cautious about using them to control 8 monitors, 2 (very expensive custom built) computer towers, and 2 (not expensive but still don't want to loose them) laptops. Along with controlling all of those things the will also control other components such as routers, printers, amps (powered computer speakers), and other things. Some of the things I have heard are that they don't completely turn off, stray power to these electronics could damage them, along with they tend to build up heat in there closed state, these relays will be built into the desk but i can modify the design to include a cooling passage to these relays. what i'm looking for is some help determining if this is the best route to take and some info on things like, how these relays could effect my components, what type of heat should i be expecting these to produce and other things that i should now about SSR. If I can get some good info i would truly appreciate it.

sorry about that i must have accidentally posted the thread before i was done explaining what i wanted to ask

this is the full thread with what i wanted to ask so if anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated and sorry for the confusion.

would anyone like to help me out?

 

There are some members here who have built their own computer desks. I am sure they will soon chime in.

As for phantom power, why not plug everything into a power bar with an ON/OFF switch?
One switch cuts the real power.

 

Nice mass of text. Well done.

 

To Atferrari. yea sorry about that sometimes i get a bit carried away damn ADHD it's good for somethings though.

To MrChips. Since the build will house 4 computers or more i won't be using all the systems every time I sit down. A master Switch is going to be implemented into the system but will only be used for emergency or if i'm away for extended periods of time and will also act as a physical security portion (haven't figured out how i'm going to go about that yet but i'm sure it'll come to me)

 

Just one word based on personal experience: The desk should last much longer than any of the electronics it holds, maybe 20 years or more versus 5 years or less. It's worth thinking about how the design might work as the equipment gets smaller, uses less power and whatever else you predict might happen over the life of the desk. It's hard to design for versatility. Just look at all the old TV cabinets out there that never anticipated the move from 4:3 to 16:9. But my advice is to try.

 

To wayneh. Thanks for the reply i have taken into consideration that this table will more than likely last much longer than any electronics that are used on it. The design i'm making is very dynamic and the few items built into the desk that will eventually break follow very universally used firm factors such as the two computer psu units that will power low voltage dc items. Everything else is built with upgrading and expansion in mind. The few thing that might change in the future, such as bracket configuration and things like display size will be easy to adjust for as those components of the build are easy to redesign and wont be effected by the the overal design. My plan was to make the table last and being that i think i have made the design dynamic enough to account for further advances in technology.

 

also part of the build will be a small server cabinet built into the desk which will have it's own PDU and Surge protector i could tap into.