Sealing Question - Coax Seal

[lboucher]

Hi All

Been kinda ascent for the past year+
Been searching around a bit at the forum for the latest sealing information, and not finding much.
I still have some of the first generation nodes, and want to keep them going cause i do not have the money to replace them.
I did the whole dip in PlastiDip thing, which kinda sorta worked.
Then i put on liquid electrical tape, which works, till it dries out and cracks.

I have some Coax Seal, did 1 node, and it seems like it would work well enough, but its typically meant for more static applications, not on a megatree getting blown around.
Little more painstaking to apply, and it a bit sticky....

Anybody ever try Coax Seal? Long Term how did it work.

Also, i saw RJ post 3M scotch 1601 for coating boards in the new round 360 degree lights. Would this work well on the old nodes? (Expensive, but if it works I can use it for other stuff, so that makes the buy a bit easier.)

Also, I see people talking about waterproofing the RJ45 link. What am i missing here, how is that done? I do have corrosion X. i saw the post about using the 4 wire connectors. That looks like it would work great. Probably not going to do it on my existing equipment though.

Thanks, sorry if this stuff is in other posts, but i cannot find it.

[jnealand]

I have not had to waterproof my RJ45s since they are under my eave for the most part, but If I was going to try something this is what I would do.  I saw a post about using a balloon that would be cut at both ends, but still be tight around the wire and just stretching it over the connection.  There have also been some posts about using a kitchen product called press and seal to wrap the connection.  Just my 2 cents on what I would be trying.  On my last ones, I put a long coax cable from the SSC that was long enough to reach all the way to my marine battery box where I had the hub and power supply and therefore did not have any exposed connections.  The length restrictions you read about have to do with from the SSC to the 1st node.  The coax is not unlimited, but you should be able to use a fairly good length, but remember you are putting 12v through that cable and you will start to see some power loss if you are going really long distances.  I never had to go over 5 - 6 ft.

[Steve Gase]

I think some suggested getting latex gloves, and cutting off the fingers to create stretch tubes that go over the connectors.
 
In the end I decided to take my long cat5 cables that go from the smart hub to the SSC, and I cut off one end and replace it with a 4-core waterproof female connector.  at the SSC I replace the rj45 pigtail with a male 4-core connector.
the cat5 twisted pairs still allows some distance for pixelnet.   for the wiring, I use scheme documented at: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
 

[lboucher]

FYI, in case anyone is curious, the coax seal appears to have worked well.
They survived an hour dunk while running without issue.
Thing I like about the coax seal is that it flexes with the strand, but is sticky enough to hold on to even the silicon.
You kinda gotta work it into the node forcibly, but I think it will really work well and save these old strands.

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[therealbigjim]

good video, good info.