- #31
jim hardy
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
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"""I am sure there is a mechanical design that I can drain the drops accumulating over time.
I just wonder if there is a thumb rule or know how I can follow.""
I wonder if it's really condensation or rain.
in my low-tech industry there were simple rules:
1. All conduit enter from bottom, never side or top. Holes in the top ALWAYS leak.
2. All conduit have a drip loop just priior to entry. Drip loop is a bend that looks like a sink trap , with a drain hole in the bottom. That let's water that somehow got in the conduit by rain or condensation drip out the low point instead of filling up the box.
3. Use drip-proof boxes, ie they have a lip around trhe lid that diverts water away from the door seal. Small drain hole in the bottom. Make the hole, and the ones in conduit drip loops too, small enough that mud-dauber wasps won't fill them with mud in their breeding season. Or cover it with screen. The Swagelok company (Parker Hannefin) makes brass tube fittings for that purpose, ask for "Mud Dauber Fitting". Also handy as fuel strainers in your boat tank..
4. Mount the board high in the box just in case.
In extreme cases we'd run a trickle of air throough the box from our inhouse compressed air system. But be sure your air source is clean and dry, not at end of a long pipe run. A volume change every hour or so does the job.
I just wonder if there is a thumb rule or know how I can follow.""
I wonder if it's really condensation or rain.
in my low-tech industry there were simple rules:
1. All conduit enter from bottom, never side or top. Holes in the top ALWAYS leak.
2. All conduit have a drip loop just priior to entry. Drip loop is a bend that looks like a sink trap , with a drain hole in the bottom. That let's water that somehow got in the conduit by rain or condensation drip out the low point instead of filling up the box.
3. Use drip-proof boxes, ie they have a lip around trhe lid that diverts water away from the door seal. Small drain hole in the bottom. Make the hole, and the ones in conduit drip loops too, small enough that mud-dauber wasps won't fill them with mud in their breeding season. Or cover it with screen. The Swagelok company (Parker Hannefin) makes brass tube fittings for that purpose, ask for "Mud Dauber Fitting". Also handy as fuel strainers in your boat tank..
4. Mount the board high in the box just in case.
In extreme cases we'd run a trickle of air throough the box from our inhouse compressed air system. But be sure your air source is clean and dry, not at end of a long pipe run. A volume change every hour or so does the job.