Rack Drawer

Penn Elcom 5U Rack Drawer

The Penn Elcom 5U rack drawer provides generous storage capacity for rigs that need to carry substantial spare equipment or accessories within the rack itself. At five rack units, it can accommodate items like spare wireless bodypacks, IEM earphones, documentation, and a comprehensive tool kit. Best suited for production rigs with dedicated rack space for storage.

Compare

Equipment type: Rack DrawerCatalog classification
Documented weight: 6 kgUsed in transport and case planning
Rack placement: 5UBuilder checks available rail space
Power draw: 0WVerified passive · no AC required
Catalog estimate: ~$199Use retailer rows for current price and stock

01 · What it does—and what that changes in your rig.

Product overview

Start with the payoff, then work through how it functions, where it fits, and the details that change a real build.

The payoff

Rack Drawer decisions, organized around the whole rig.

A rack drawer sounds unglamorous until you're hunting for a spare bodypack transmitter two minutes before doors. The Penn Elcom R1295/5UK is a locking 5U drawer built for production rigs that need to carry the show's safety net inside the rack itself — spare IEM packs, backup ears, gaffer, a Leatherman, frequency coordination printouts, whatever keeps you out of trouble when something fails at the wrong moment. It's not signal path, it's infrastructure, and in a fly rig or a touring IEM rack that doubles as a travel case, that distinction matters less than you'd think.

Equipment type: Rack DrawerCatalog classification
Documented weight: 6 kgUsed in transport and case planning
Rack placement: 5UBuilder checks available rail space

Penn Elcom product panel5U · 0W

Function

How it works in the path

Five rack units is a serious commitment of real estate — roughly a quarter of a standard 19U rack — so the math has to work before you pull the trigger. The drawer runs 400mm deep, which gives you genuine usable volume rather than a shallow tray, and at 6 kg empty you're adding meaningful weight to a rack that already has amplifiers and power distribution in it. The locking mechanism earns its keep in shared production environments where racks sit in monitor world unattended through changeovers. Zero power draw means it goes anywhere in the rack without touching your power budget.

Best fit

Where it earns its place in the rack

This drawer makes the most sense in a dedicated touring or install rack where you've planned space intentionally and the 5U cost is justified by what you're protecting — a full wireless package's worth of spares, for instance. If you're building a lean fly rig where every unit counts, 5U of non-signal storage is probably too rich; a 2U drawer or a well-organized pouch in the lid will serve you better. Where this shines is in a house monitor rig or a large-format IEM rack that travels with its own case and has the depth to use all 400mm of that drawer without the back panel getting in the way.

In the rack

Details worth deciding before load-in.

Measure your rack case's interior depth before ordering — 400mm of drawer needs clear travel behind the rear rails, and shallower cases will block the drawer from opening fully.
Weight-load it thoughtfully: heavy items like battery packs toward the back keep the drawer from nose-diving when fully extended, and reduce stress on the slides over thousands of open-close cycles.
Use a short cable tie or hook-and-loop strap to divide the interior into zones — spares on one side, consumables on the other — so you can locate things by feel in a dark monitor world.
Position it low in the rack to keep the center of gravity down when the rack is on casters; a top-heavy rack with a loaded drawer extended mid-show is a tip hazard.

03 · What this product asks of the rest of the system.

Compatibility

Treat connector names as the start of the check—not the answer. These are the boundaries that determine a complete working path.

Best fit · Rack Drawer

Use it when 5U and 400 mm of depth fit the case.

Plan the companion path

Use documented companion accessories and system pairing; no physical connector map is verified for this catalog item.

Documentation boundary

No physical connector map is documented. Do not infer compatibility from category or product shape alone.

05 · Compare the decision, not just the price.

Alternatives

The rows are organized around fit, power, I/O, and system role so a cheaper unit cannot hide a more expensive workflow.

Compare	Penn Elcom 5U Rack DrawerThis gear	Gator GRW-DRAWER1U Rack Drawer	SKB 1SKB-R1U Rack Drawer	Penn Elcom 1U Rack Drawer
Fit	📐 5U	📐 1U	📐 1U	📐 1U
Power	⚡ 0W	⚡ 0W	⚡ 0W	⚡ 0W
Weight	⚖️ 13.2 lb	⚖️ 5.5 lb	⚖️ 4.4 lb	⚖️ 4.9 lb
I/O	🔌 No documented ports	🔌 No documented ports	🔌 No documented ports	🔌 No documented ports
Estimate	💵 ~$199	💵 ~$89	💵 ~$69	💵 ~$55
Deep dive	Current selection	Full comparison →	Full comparison →	Full comparison →

06 · Resolve the questions that can change the purchase or build plan.

Planning questions

Short, source-backed answers surface rack fit, power, cabling, and connection details before they become surprises.

How will the Penn Elcom 5U Rack Drawer affect rack fit and case depth?

It occupies 5U. Its documented depth is 400 mm.

How much power does the Penn Elcom 5U Rack Drawer draw?

It is verified passive and requires no AC power.

07 · See this unit inside a real rack plan.

Builder preview

Placement is only the start. Builder checks space · depth · weight, power headroom, dependencies, and compatible signal paths around this exact catalog item.Open in Builder

08 · Related gear, in the order you may need it.

Rack Drawer

Gator GRW-DRAWER1U Rack Drawer

1U · 0 ports · ~$89

Rack Drawer

SKB 1SKB-R1U Rack Drawer

1U · 0 ports · ~$69

Rack Drawer

Penn Elcom 1U Rack Drawer

1U · 0 ports · ~$55

Rack Drawer

Gator GRW-DRAWER2U Rack Drawer

2U · 0 ports · ~$119

Rack Drawer

Gator GRW-DRAWER3U Rack Drawer

3U · 0 ports · ~$149

Rack Drawer

Gator GRW-DRAWER4U Rack Drawer

4U · 0 ports · ~$179