Case leaked and Express got soaked.............

[RJ]

It is a little slimey but you do not want much on it. It can get on everything it does not hurt anything I have put it on.

The stuff I use says Aviation on it.


RJ

[z327]

I asked my local electronics store for something like CorrosionX and he showed me a product from MG Chemicals called Silicone Conformal Coating.  Supposed to provide a flexible protective coating for printed circuit boards against moisture and corrosion.  Has anyone used this product or familiar with it?  It was about $25.00 for a can the size of a can of spray paint.
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The conformal coat spray is a silicone in spray form. It is like covering everything in RTV. Its used for all circuit cards that go into space, in planes, jets and the navy. totally seals out moisture though the spray is usually for touch ups. Back in the 80's when I was going to college worked at TI and we dipped all the PCBs after assembly and test in a hot vat of silicone and then hung them to dry.

[Christmas.joe]

The nice thing about CorrosionX is you can clean the board with Contact Cleaner and easily do repairs.  If you coat with a more permanent coating such as the silicon stuff, you may run into some complications for any repairs you may need to do in the future.

To answer the question about how to use the CorrosionX, as RJ also stated; just lightly spray both sides of the completed board.  Nothing needs to be protected from the spray, just do it.  It does not dry hard and can easily be cleaned off with contact cleaner if you need to.

Spray it and forget it!  It has the characteristics of penetrating oil and will seep into the tiniest places to displace water and prevent moister and water intrusion.   Also, it does not last forever and may require annual refreshing.

 

[holland lights]

How often is annual, every year bases? Or are you talking years down the road?

[Christmas.joe]

How often is annual, every year bases? Or are you talking years down the road?

Once every year you launch the show if needed.  You may not have to, but a light refresh yearly (annually) won't hurt as long as you don't have a massive build up on the board.  It all depends on where you store your boxes.  If you're like me, I plan on putting them in the attic during the summer months where there is very little moister.  Its nice and hot and dry up there.  If you store them in your shed, then you may want to freshen them up with a light spray.  This is my first year so I'm only making an educated guess.

  

[RJ]

I have never need to recoat mine.

RJ

[Night Owl]

I got my can at a local fishing store.  Gun stores are another potential source.  I neither fish nor shoot, so I didn't know this ahead of time.  I contacted the manufacturer, Corrosion Technologies (Google "Corrosion X") and asked them for the local distributor.  He was able to tell me what stores in my area carried it.  I use the standard one in the red can.  I sprayed the board and all the plugs.  I didn't have a problem all season last year.  I didn't recoat this year and my GFCI keeps tripping when it rains.  I don't see any evidence of water in the case and it could be the plugs are too close to the ground (grass is touching them).  Since I had to pull the box in for repairs (bad triac) I took the opportunity to respray everything and reinstall the box a little higher.  We'll see how it goes tonight.

[chrisatpsu]

what if you get the stuff into the RJ45 jack?  wouldn't that cause a problem with contact?

[Christmas.joe]

what if you get the stuff into the RJ45 jack?  wouldn't that cause a problem with contact?

I asked that same question some time back.  I had no problems at all and I sprayed the RJ45 jacks.  I had my trusty contact cleaner ready just in case.  This stuff is really amazing.

 

[holland lights]

Well i may of just had the same problem tonight. The express didnt get full of water luckily, but i think the other night when it rained hard some water and/or mist got in and caused 2 channels to stay on at 60 volts ac when the channel was suppost to be off.

[trekster]

I know what you mean Holland.  2 GFI's kept tripping last night.  I reset them and a few seconds later POP!.  Then the dmx stream would stop and the other displays would freeze.  I have people lining up in the street.  I had to tell them no show tonight.  I know some people run in the rain but my show does not like the rain.

Ron

[holland lights]

Yea the gfci was tripped yesterday from the rain before, so i reset it and it kept tripping. my problem is one of the mini trees on the ground. But when i pluged it in and the controller stayed on there was 2 other channels (not the channel the minis are on) was half on, but as the show went on the channels started working fine again. My show ran fine once i unhooked the mini trees.

And you can just call me Derek if you want lol.

I know what you mean Holland.  2 GFI's kept tripping last night.  I reset them and a few seconds later POP!.  Then the dmx stream would stop and the other displays would freeze.  I have people lining up in the street.  I had to tell them no show tonight.  I know some people run in the rain but my show does not like the rain.

Ron

[SteveMaris]

We had a lot of rain today in the Chicago area. After reading all these posts, I am leaving it off for a day just to be safe.

[holland lights]

The Le's hanging with a trash bag hanging loose over them (not tied at the bottom) never had a issue with moisture. Just the Le that was uncovered.

[Night Owl]

Last year around Halloween I purchased a large Rubbermaid Roughneck bin that I flipped over and used to cover the LE.  At the end of the season, I used it to store the lights.  Because it was Halloween, the ones that Walmart had were black so it doesn't stand out at night.  Normally they are lighter colors.  This year I tried to go without it, and the GFCI kept popping when it rained.  I elevated the box and resprayed everything with Corrosion X and haven't had the problem since.  But I think I will go back to covering the LE with the bin.  It also keeps the plugs dry.