(Resending, slightly edited; never saw it making it to the list last week...?)

Why are DIN rail mount enclosures so expensive!?

I can buy a resettable fuse in that encapsulation for 14 SEK ex VAT (approx 2 USD ) in multiples of one, but for an empty enclosure i must pay more than the double each  - about 30 SEK - if i buy at least 30 pcs? 

I see lots of different DIN rail mount devices, so i thougth there should be competing enclosure manufacturers too.  And thera are a lot, but they sell at ridiculous high cost.

I thought maybe I cold buy enclosures used bya manyfacturer of a cheap timer, but their rep would not care to ask the manufacturer for less than thousands of units.  the same for the fuses.

The size I need is about the size of a fuse, with four terminals for mains voltage and four for signal sida.  (I am designing a intelligent relay, probably with a PIC in it)  So like 10 to 17 mm long (along the rail), 65 mm high, 80mm wide.  I can go with somewhat smaller too.  Preferrably ventilated, i will have an expected total power loss of upp to 4W in a future model.

In an earlier design I used a screw terminal, and integrated the electronics inside, making it just 6mm wide.  But that is too small for the current design.
Even using double such shells is too small, plus clumsy to build, and screw terminals is not cheap anyway...

Other ideas: 
Small box + rail foot.  Bad: Can not find a loose rail foot at good price.

Any ideas?
Volume is probably about a couple hundred per year.

/Morgan 
--
Morgan Olsson, Kivik, Sweden

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