[TowerTalk] Condensation Inside Tower Cable Box

[Wayne Kline]

I have Hoffman boxes at the base of my towers  all cables entering  go through apporiate  Gland both 7/8 hardline  and control cables. In EPA we have heavy dew this time of  year also. I drilled two 3/32 holes in the bottom of all the boxes. On the Main Box at the house a 36X36X12 Hoffman box  there is two 4” pvc thimbles to the basement.  I have never experienced condensation  on  or near the   inside termination  panel .   The two 4 in  pvc tubes have Bronze steel wool inserted in the void.  Being a belt and suspender type , to  keep and  intruders out ????

Wayne ,W3EA
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From: john at kk9a.com<mailto:john at kk9a.com>
Sent: Monday, October 16, 2023 6:47 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com<mailto:towertalk at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Condensation Inside Tower Cable Box

I have a number of Hoffman enclosures outdoors, the cables come through the
bottoms and I made no effort to seal them.  The hardline is not in a
conduit.  Morning dew is common here in humid NC, I avoid early morning
tower work because the rungs are very wet.  I am not sure if the insides of
my enclosures ever get wet but I have never noticed this occurring.  I would
be sure that you have adequate ventilation and that ground moisture it not
entering it through the conduit.  If there is moisture in your box, what
damage do you believe it's doing?  Electric meter are outside in metal
enclosures and they appear to function fine.

John KK9A

Shawn Donley n3ae wrote:
Hello fellow TowerTalkers,

I have an aluminum outdoor electrical enclosure at the base of my tower.  My
underground runs of hardline enter the box through a PVC conduit elbow
entering at the bottom of the enclosure.  The tower coax and rotor cables
exit the bottom as well.    In humid weather, especially this time of year
when the temperature goes down at night, I get a significant amount of
condensation inside the enclosure, not only on the enclosure but on the
outside of the cables within it.  Enough water to make one think there's no
environmental protection provided by the enclosure in the first place.  I
suspect the moist air from the conduit is the source since the underground
run uses slotted corrugated drain pipe covered with a soil sock rather than
solid wall PVC.   Why ... concerns of long term condensation inside solid
conduit...another subject thoroughly discussed elsewhere and hopefully not
again on this thread.

Has anyone experienced something similar and has a proven fix?   I
considered a small 12v box fan to circulate some outside air through the
enclosure but I think the cold box walls would just condense that moist air
as well.  Perhaps a low wattage 12v light bulb inside the enclosure to
provide some heat to keep the walls warmer?  Some water pipe heat tape on
the outside of the box (but I would like to avoid any 125vac solution)?
Sealing the entry conduit is problematic with the several cables of
different diameters.  I would not want to "foam" the conduit with expanding
foam or something like that which would make pulling a new cable much more
difficult.

tnx
N3AE

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