[Palmyweather]

I am thinking about a redesign of my transmitter enclosure. How important do you think it is to have ventilation for the outside enclosure?

My current design has a fan installed in the bottom of the box which turns on when the temperature radiation shield turns on. My thought process behind this was to prevent potential condensation forming within the enclosure and for a way water can escape if the IP66 box was to fail (doesn't hold water). Also it was a way to prevent heat buildup during the summer which could damage the battery or other parts of the circuit when the box is exposed to full all day sun.

Has anyone noticed any issues with condensation within their enclosure box over winter? Has excess heat been an issue to anyone's project?

Love to hear your feedback and ideas on this.

[AllanG]

Hi Palmyweather.

I've seen somewhere in another topic a photo of your equipment. If it hasn't been altered since, it's basically Fine Offset sensors with a large box near the top of the mounting pole. I presume that box houses the weatherduino pcb, battery, etc.?

I'm using pretty much the same equipment right now but have taken a different approach. My installation is up a ~15 foot pole right next to the garden shed. The weatherduino pcb has a 7809 voltage regulator fitted, I don't (yet) have a radiation shield fan though, and is housed by itself at the top of the pole in a very small (IP56) box measuring about 120x80x50cm. Sensor cables and a power wire enter at the bottom through very tight-fitting grommets. I have deliberately avoided having *any* ventilation or other openings at all in the box partly because of the chance of moisture getting in but mostly because of the certainly of little spiders and all sorts of other unwelcome wildlife making it their centrally heated home!! The 7 Ah battery is currently located on a shelf in the shed and the whole thing has been operating undisturbed since 20 December ('15)

I'm also going to be making changes in the coming weeks which will involve adding solar and ground temperature sensors and also a large capacity solar panel charged battery. Right now I intend to accommodate the (~125 Ah) battery in a ventilated enclosure mounted at the bottom of the mounting pole instead of in the shed. My intention is to carry on having the pcb mounted by itself at the top of the pole but that *may* change if, when I take it down for alteration, I find any problems or damage. (One alteration I will make is to replace the 7809 regulator with a dc to dc converter to reduce heat production when I do fit a shield fan.)

I'm not sure exactly when I'll be able to do all this, hopefully soon and when I do I'll let you know if there's any indication of problems. I expect not though as it's been generally a mild but wet winter here and up to now the highest (outside) temperature the system has endured was a couple of days last month with a max of 26 degrees and the station has performed perfectly since startup on 20 December.

Allan.