[TowerTalk] weatherproof control voltage connectors

[Pete Smith]

John is totally correct.  I have one of these that has housed my 80m array 
switchbox for a number of years (5 or 6) and it has gotten quite yellow 
even in our DC-area sunlight.  I plan to use some dark green plastic spray 
paint to avoid that issue here.

73, Pete N4ZR

At 09:27 AM 12/17/2004, W0UN -- John Brosnahan wrote:

>At 07:38 AM 12/17/2004, you wrote:
>>I need to put some relays way out in a field to control some receiving 
>>antennas.  I have a pretty nice grey plastic, gasketed junction box that 
>>I can use, and will use one-hole chassis-mount coax connectors for the RF 
>>lines, but I'm a little stuck on the control lines.  These are 12 volts 
>>at very low current.  Ideally I'd like to have some sort of connectors 
>>that would mount in the side of the plastic box without compromising the 
>>weatherproof character of the box.  I know that I could use a body-mount 
>>trailer connector but they are awfully large.  Any better thoughts?
>
>Pete--
>
>This is not an answer to your connector question and I would be interested 
>in what
>you find as well.
>
>But I have used the gray plastic NEMA boxes myself and have found that 
>they tend to
>get discolored and even somewhat distorted over the years from UV 
>light.  Which
>is pretty bad in CO, but could be an issue anywhere.  When/if I use them 
>again I think
>I will put a coat of paint on the outside of the box just to provide some 
>UV protection
>to the plastic. Possibly house paint but not sure how it works on the 
>plastic.  But there
>is a new Krylon spray paint specifically for plastic.   So I might use 
>that only, or
>as a primer for some house paint.
>
>Guess I don't have THE answer on the UV protection.  But I wanted to make you
>aware that my experience was that the gray plastic deteriorated somewhat over
>the years.  On my boxes it discolored but it also warped a bit and the seal no
>longer fit right.
>
>BTW  You can NEVER seal anything outside.  You MUST add a drain hole to allow
>any condensation to drain out.
>
>Good luck -- and let me know if you learn any secrets.
>
>73--John  W0UN
>
>