Possible problems with newer type equipment

[ab56452001]

Hi all , might be making a mountain out of a molehill ,but here go's . Over the last year ive been replacing my older Arc,Mig Welders with modern stuff , same with my new Mill and electronic measuring devices such as Voltmeters ,Calipers and Angle Finders and so on , the old stuff was not broken , just the newer stuff easier to use I reckon . My worry is that a lot of my new ( Mostly Shanghai specials )gear have circuit boards, like Inverters instead of Transformers , and where I live ( South Australia ) even in Winter it can get quite humid , sometimes even the steel cupboards inside my shed have moisture on them in the mornings. I have visions of equipment cooling down overnight and all the circuit boards and internal digital controls getting a light covering of moisture ,and when one turns them on first thing in the morn , Zaaaap Bang ! no more inverter Mig ! Am I fretting over bugger all , or can this really be a problem with newer gear ,?, cheers.

 

[Hopefuldave]

I've got a cupboard with a heater in the bottom for some of my measuring tools, just a couple of big ally-cased resistors off the mains to keep it above dew point, could you do something similar?

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[ab56452001]

Nar it rarely goes under 0-c where I live in Adelaide , but I used to have a Laptop in the shed and if I forgot to put a cloth over it at night in Winter the next morning it would have moisture all over it , and probably inside as well , I reckon that's why it packed it in so quickly ! , so I suppose covering all my possibly suspect gear with rags overnight might be the solution ? , cheers.

 

[Kent]

Nope you correct, they actually want them to break and not be very fixable. Why? Because they want to sell you another!,

Ask Tesla (the cars they dont want you to fix and they call them green ) its a big fat scam encouraged by government across the world because the self same governments gets sales taxes 20% on all new product now in the UK..

 

[Hopefuldave]

Nar it rarely goes under 0-c where I live in Adelaide , but I used to have a Laptop in the shed and if I forgot to put a cloth over it at night in Winter the next morning it would have moisture all over it , and probably inside as well , I reckon that's why it packed it in so quickly ! , so I suppose covering all my possibly suspect gear with rags overnight might be the solution ? , cheers.

It doesn't need to go that low, all it needs is the metalwork to be colder than humid air - I had problems with a shed where the sun came up and warmed the air inside quicker than my lathe and got condensation all over, a sheet draped over helped by keeping the metal away from the most air / vice versa. I've put a greenhouse tubular heater in the base of my lathe now to keep the damp off it, works well.

Dave H. (the other one)

 

[ab56452001]

I said something similar to my Mate , I said , I bet the old bloody 2 ton Mig Welder is still going when im long gone , not so sure about my new fancy Inverter one though ! . Mind you the new one is worth about a weeks wages , the old one was used when I got it and cost me 2 or more.

 

[ab56452001]

Yep might be the only way to go , sort of Dust Covers on top , bit of a PITA though.

 

[fixerupper]

Seems like a good reason to hang on to the old kit .....

 

[rtcosic]

One of our boys has an issue with condensation inside his convertible which lives outside.

He bought many kgs of silica gel on eBay and got my wife to make a 'quilt' filled with the silica gel which is made to measure and fits in the space behind the seats. Every so often he heats it in the microwave to to restore the silica gel.

He now has no condensation problem.

Make 'quilts' the size of the cupboard shelves to sit to the equipment on? Make made-to measure quilted dust-covers for each item and keep dust and moisture at bay? Make made to measure quilted wallets for smaller items?

My wife made wallets from leather from an old car seat to store all my Lidl/Aldi Special electronic 'toys'.

 

[knighty]

as above stick a heater in the bottom of the cupboard to keep it slightly warmer

I remember watching a program about diy building a plane (I think it was called a plane is born?) he kept the important stuff that needed to be kept dry in a cupboard with a 60 watt bulb in the bottom

copying it a bit... control panels at work can be bad for this, we're washing/cleaning/steam cleaning down all day so metal can get pretty damp... I fitted 11 watt low energy bulbs into them, figured low power was still warm enough and wouldn;t cost me a fortune in electric... it's been a few years and it works great... (tho I have had to swap a few bulbs)

I'd buy some proper heaters for it, but set the bulbs up as a bit of an experiment and they worked

 

[Munkul]

Going just a small step further... I've been thinking about fitting one of these to my TIG welder:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/prod...UnfrnC37l382S415iEwaAoBpEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

permanently connected across one of the phases and neutral at the main wiring block.

Been having issues with moisture in my TIG welder this winter, probably would help a long way.

 

[knighty]

I'd aim for a lower power one, 60 watts is quite a lot... think how hot a 60watt bulb gets

also I recon that's about £80/year in electric

(0.06kw x24hours x365days x£0.15electric price?)

I was thinking about these for my control panels...
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/enclosure-heaters/0605582/

 

[Munkul]

very true... inside an enclosure i guess 20-30 watts will be just fine I worked it out at ~23 quid for a 100 day winter. But realistically it just wants to be on 365 days a year.

 

[awemawson]

We always used to use a 25 watt incandescent bulb (remember those!) in any cupboard or machine that was vulnerable. You can buy cabinet heaters but a bulb is every bit as good (but don't try it with an LED one )

 

[ibrooks]

I've still got the board my grandad made with an old central heating timer and a bayonet bulb holder. It used to live in one of the cupboards and would turn the bulb on every so often just to keep a little heat in there and keep stuff dry.

 

[Wallace]

Fit a thermostat to control the temperature instead of running constantly.

 

[Munkul]

I've bought a switch and that RS 20w heater. Even if it is plugged in all year it'll only cost £20.

 

[addjunkie]

Buld in the bottom, just leave it on. I have a wooden box my measuring stuff lives in, seems to look after them quite well. But in my metal tool box I have silica gel pouches in each drawer.

 

[jimbo84]

Think Kent has given me the answer to this in his earlier post but it's always had me wondering why they don't cover circuit boards with some kind of waterproofing resin or something, would cost pence per board to seal them surely.

 

[voipio]

Conformally coated PCBs are often used in equipment subject to high humidity in high reliability applications. It can add significant cost, because of the additional application and drying/curing step.