[TowerTalk] Equipment Corrosion

[Tower (K8RI)]

Another possibility is to build a small "hutch" to enclose the equipment.
Older equipment used to have small heaters that were nothing more than say a 
15 or 25 watt resistor under the chassis some where near the VFO.  The idea 
was to keep the equipment stable, but it also helped keep the corrosion at 
bay as long as they had power.

In the case of the hutch it could just be a plywood enclosure for all the 
equipment on top of a desk.  The front could be a plastic door, or nothing 
more than plastic sheeting used in building, or plastic drop cloths.  A 
small heater inside the hutch with a circulating fan should keep it all at 
the same temperature.  Flipping the plastic back to use the equipment would 
cause no problems  (as long as the equipment could be properly cooled while 
in use) and as the equipment would be warmer than the air there would be no 
condensation.  When finished operating, just power down the rigs and flip 
the plastic cover down over the front.

Just throwing the plastic over the equipment would not be sufficient as 
there would still be condensation without the heat.

Good Luck,

Roger Halstead (K8RI, EN73 & ARRL Life Member)
N833R, World's Oldest Debonair (S# CD-2)
www.rogerhalstead.com
> My vote:  It's condensation t
hat is causing your troubles.  This happens
> whenever your gear is cooler than the "dewpoint" of the air.
> Two solutions:  Lower the humidity to lower the dewpoint, or heat your 
> stuff.  If you have a leaky shack, a dehumidifier may not be a good 
> solution, but if you can keep your important stuff warm, that should work.
>
> Or you can slather Vaseline on everything. :-)
>
> 73, Martin AA6E
>
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