Re: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
In the old days we used to call it tropicallising, now it's called conformal coating and refers to a material either sprayed, painted or dipped onto the electrical parts. Conformal coating for military is very expensive and time consuming involving inspection with a uv lamp to pick up the uv die in the material, to descover imperfections and can be up to 3 layes thick. If you don't keep you equipment in an air tight box, then leave it switched on to slow down the deposition of salt products. I think this works by keeping the interior warmer and thus higher air pressure to prevent the ingress from the surroundings. Of course when you switch off it cools and the pressure falls and drags in the cooler contaminating air from the surroundings and that's when the damage starts. So, switch off and immediately put into an air tight box. It all sounds a bit excessive, but the other way is to coat everything with bare metal with a suitable coating, like the one mentioned from another reply. The lacquer and and varnish sprays that you hold 6 away are only partly effective because tall components create shaddows and the spray doesn't get in properly. They work on the solder side fairly well, but the cut off component wires do not get a coating - it runs off. Genuine conformal coating comes expensive, is thick and does not run. Last time I boug ht some it was about £40 for 400mL (circa 1990) made by Dow Corning but there are more types to choose from now. If you spray, use several layers and get right in between the components; let it dry between sprays. Take care that on some rf components you may get a small shift in value upsetting your carefully trimmed filters etc. David G3UNA From: Tom Zeltwanger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2007/04/17 Tue PM 03:34:29 BST To: Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RUSTY Florida area? I'm surprised to hear about corrosive salty-air regions in Florida. Just never heard of it? Our son lives on big island of Hawaii - near Hilo. The salt water air type of corrosion, on things like bicycles, etc. - is notorious in Hawaii. Things there - not protected, don't last so long. Islands of Hawaii - are in the trade winds region of the Pacific - and I guess get their daily dose of salty air, naturally. I'm not sure this is the case on either coast of Florida. I'm probably wrong tho. The big island, above city of Hilo - gets a daily dose of natural rain, like 2 pm every afternoon. Perhaps the rain there, has some salinity. For some reason I've not heard this about Florida. We live 8 miles from the Gulf Coast of mid-western Florida. I can't say I see anything around our home, or in my garage, etc. - that has any appearance of salt corrosion. Cars look exceptional - easy to keep clean. No visible corrosion on anything we have? No rust on tools, etc. I wonder what the salinity is of the Florida Atlantic ocean, vs the Hawaiian Pacific ocean and the trade winds? Fred, N3CSY __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com - Email sent from www.virginmedia.com/email Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software and scanned for spam ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
My guess would be you would spend more energy heating the oven up drying out the silica gel than leaving the rig on all the time. I would just turn it off and cover it up. What about the rest of the stuff in the house? Does the toaster rust and the TV crap out? What about your poor car? Brett N2DTS -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 11:54 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? Since a major uproar over energy conservation seems to have erupted on another thread here G I'll ask the question I raised there again: Has anyone considered using desiccants rather than leave the power on 24/7 if you're in an area where considerable moisture condenses in your rig? I believe the one used most often around electronic gear is silica dioxide (SiO2). It's a naturally occurring mineral that is commonly sold in an indicating form, small crystals that change from blue to pink as the material absorbs moisture. It can absorb up to 40% of its own weight at normal room temperatures and is quite easy to recharge. You just put it in a warm oven for a while until it turns blue again! It's often sold in inexpensive five-pound cans by stores catering to the dried-flower trade. Even though I've lived within a few hundred feet of the Pacific Ocean I've yet to encounter any corrosion problems. If I did my first choice would be to reduce the humidity in some energy-efficient way rather than simply leave the power on. If one wanted to be really rigorous about it, a small solar oven could handle the recharging process G. Even on ships, it takes months -- often a year or two -- for something like the old-fashioned lifeboat radios that enclosed about a cubit foot of air inside their case to have a desiccant tube about 1 inch in diameter and 4 inches long become saturated. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Zeltwanger Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 2:30 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Don Wilhelm Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? Thanks Don, That is probably ood advice. I keep the equipment in a closed room, but I think I will cover it. I generally keep my radios for a long time (this K2 is replacing a Kenwood TS-930, bought in about 1980!). 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Tom, I recently repaired a K2 that had lived for several years in the salt air of Houston Texas. The external case screws and the connectors on the rear panel were corroded enough that they were changed. However, the inside of the K2 still looked just fine. If I can base any conclusions on that one K2, I would suggest that you cover your K2 when it is not in use - just a sheet of plastic would probably do the job although you may want to look into some kind of custom cover for it. Remember that this comment is based on my brief observation of one K2 that had been in a salt air environment - it would be unwise for me to generalize any further on the subject. 73, Don W3FPR Tom Zeltwanger wrote: I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Conformal coating is actually meant to solve a completely different problem. Imagine an environment that regularly goes from high heat/ high humidity to very cold/dry conditions in just a few minutes. When that happens, condensation is sure to happen. Conformal coating takes care of this situation very nicely. Oh, this situation happens thousands of times every day - it is the environment for aircraft avionics... To the original poster: Don't worry about it. It really isn't a problem where you live. If you worry about this, you also need to worry about the sand particles from the Sahara that are regularly carried into South Florida on the tradewinds (and also effect hurricane development). On Apr 18, 2007, at 4:54 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In the old days we used to call it tropicallising, now it's called conformal coating and refers to a material either sprayed, painted or dipped onto the electrical parts. Conformal coating for military is very expensive and time consuming involving inspection with a uv lamp to pick up the uv die in the material, to descover imperfections and can be up to 3 layes thick. If you don't keep you equipment in an air tight box, then leave it switched on to slow down the deposition of salt products. I think this works by keeping the interior warmer and thus higher air pressure to prevent the ingress from the surroundings. Of course when you switch off it cools and the pressure falls and drags in the cooler contaminating air from the surroundings and that's when the damage starts. So, switch off and immediately put into an air tight box. It all sounds a bit excessive, but the other way is to coat everything with bare metal with a suitable coating, like the one mentioned from another reply. The lacquer and and varnish sprays that you hold 6 away are only partly effective because tall components create shaddows and the spray doesn't get in properly. They work on the solder side fairly well, but the cut off component wires do not get a coating - it runs off. Genuine conformal coating comes expensive, is thick and does not run. Last time I boug ht some it was about £40 for 400mL (circa 1990) made by Dow Corning but there are more types to choose from now. If you spray, use several layers and get right in between the components; let it dry between sprays. Take care that on some rf components you may get a small shift in value upsetting your carefully trimmed filters etc. David G3UNA From: Tom Zeltwanger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2007/04/17 Tue PM 03:34:29 BST To: Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RUSTY Florida area? I'm surprised to hear about corrosive salty-air regions in Florida. Just never heard of it? Our son lives on big island of Hawaii - near Hilo. The salt water air type of corrosion, on things like bicycles, etc. - is notorious in Hawaii. Things there - not protected, don't last so long. Islands of Hawaii - are in the trade winds region of the Pacific - and I guess get their daily dose of salty air, naturally. I'm not sure this is the case on either coast of Florida. I'm probably wrong tho. The big island, above city of Hilo - gets a daily dose of natural rain, like 2 pm every afternoon. Perhaps the rain there, has some salinity. For some reason I've not heard this about Florida. We live 8 miles from the Gulf Coast of mid-western Florida. I can't say I see anything around our home, or in my garage, etc. - that has any appearance of salt corrosion. Cars look exceptional - easy to keep clean. No visible corrosion on anything we have? No rust on tools, etc. I wonder what the salinity is of the Florida Atlantic ocean, vs the Hawaiian Pacific ocean and the trade winds? Fred, N3CSY __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Hi Jack You may well be right about the origination of conformal coating but it was quickly taken up by other services who saw its benefits. I agree that for MOST amateur situations it's probably over the top, but one of the respondents to this thread has done it because he feels it necessary in his situation. David G3UNA - Original Message - From: Jack Brindle [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Elecraft Discussion List elecraft@mailman.qth.net Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 3:49 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? Conformal coating is actually meant to solve a completely different problem. Imagine an environment that regularly goes from high heat/ high humidity to very cold/dry conditions in just a few minutes. When that happens, condensation is sure to happen. Conformal coating takes care of this situation very nicely. Oh, this situation happens thousands of times every day - it is the environment for aircraft avionics... To the original poster: Don't worry about it. It really isn't a problem where you live. If you worry about this, you also need to worry about the sand particles from the Sahara that are regularly carried into South Florida on the tradewinds (and also effect hurricane development). On Apr 18, 2007, at 4:54 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In the old days we used to call it tropicallising, now it's called conformal coating and refers to a material either sprayed, painted or dipped onto the electrical parts. Conformal coating for military is very expensive and time consuming involving inspection with a uv lamp to pick up the uv die in the material, to descover imperfections and can be up to 3 layes thick. If you don't keep you equipment in an air tight box, then leave it switched on to slow down the deposition of salt products. I think this works by keeping the interior warmer and thus higher air pressure to prevent the ingress from the surroundings. Of course when you switch off it cools and the pressure falls and drags in the cooler contaminating air from the surroundings and that's when the damage starts. So, switch off and immediately put into an air tight box. It all sounds a bit excessive, but the other way is to coat everything with bare metal with a suitable coating, like the one mentioned from another reply. The lacquer and and varnish sprays that you hold 6 away are only partly effective because tall components create shaddows and the spray doesn't get in properly. They work on the solder side fairly well, but the cut off component wires do not get a coating - it runs off. Genuine conformal coating comes expensive, is thick and does not run. Last time I boug ht some it was about £40 for 400mL (circa 1990) made by Dow Corning but there are more types to choose from now. If you spray, use several layers and get right in between the components; let it dry between sprays. Take care that on some rf components you may get a small shift in value upsetting your carefully trimmed filters etc. David G3UNA From: Tom Zeltwanger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2007/04/17 Tue PM 03:34:29 BST To: Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RUSTY Florida area? I'm surprised to hear about corrosive salty-air regions in Florida. Just never heard of it? Our son lives on big island of Hawaii - near Hilo. The salt water air type of corrosion, on things like bicycles, etc. - is notorious in Hawaii. Things there - not protected, don't last so long. Islands of Hawaii - are in the trade winds region of the Pacific - and I guess get their daily dose of salty air, naturally. I'm not sure this is the case on either coast of Florida. I'm probably wrong tho. The big island, above city of Hilo - gets a daily dose of natural rain, like 2 pm every afternoon. Perhaps the rain there, has some salinity. For some reason I've not heard this about Florida. We live 8 miles from the Gulf Coast of mid-western Florida. I can't say I see anything around our home, or in my garage, etc. - that has any appearance of salt corrosion. Cars look exceptional - easy to keep clean. No visible corrosion on anything we have? No rust on tools, etc. I wonder what the salinity is of the Florida Atlantic ocean, vs the Hawaiian Pacific ocean and the trade winds? Fred, N3CSY __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Actually, Jack very little electronics is outside the building, but inside the inside air conditioner unit. Outside is the compressor, and a relay. In some parts of Tx, the outside residential units fail regularly, becauser the field of electric current for the relay attracts fire ants who try to nest in the relay box, thus shorting it out. Stuart K5KVH ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Tropicalizing can help with fungi and other stuff that grows in excessively humid and warm climes. It's not specific to a sea air environment. Indeed, salt tends to kill many fungi! In warm climates water evaporates from the sea. Such water vapor does not carry salt. It's pure water. But when it condenses on things it provides the moist environment where, combined with warm temperatures, fungi thrive! And that might be a significant difference. I notice that those like Tom, who reported seeing some corrosion issues, are on the eastern coast of the USA. I'm on the west coast where it's much, much cooler. The Pacific ocean along the US mainland coast about 51F year around - cool enough to produce hypothermia in a short period of time if someone is in the water without a survival suit. (There's a reason the neoprene 'wet-suit' used by surfers and divers was invented independently by three different avid surfers - all who lived on the California coast!) We don't get the humid, moist air here folks along warmer waters experience. Mold and fungi can be issues here, but only where people carelessly allow high temperatures and condensation to occur repeatedly such as laundry rooms with poorly-ventilated clothes dryers. I've never found condensation in any radio equipment. Ron D'Eau Claire -Original Message- In the old days we used to call it tropicallising, now it's called conformal coating and refers to a material either sprayed, painted or dipped onto the electrical parts. Conformal coating for military is very expensive and time consuming involving inspection with a uv lamp to pick up the uv die in the material, to descover imperfections and can be up to 3 layes thick. If you don't keep you equipment in an air tight box, then leave it switched on to slow down the deposition of salt products. I think this works by keeping the interior warmer and thus higher air pressure to prevent the ingress from the surroundings. Of course when you switch off it cools and the pressure falls and drags in the cooler contaminating air from the surroundings and that's when the damage starts. So, switch off and immediately put into an air tight box. It all sounds a bit excessive, but the other way is to coat everything with bare metal with a suitable coating, like the one mentioned from another reply. The lacquer and and varnish sprays that you hold 6 away are only partly effective because tall components create shaddows and the spray doesn't get in properly. They work on the solder side fairly well, but the cut off component wires do not get a coating - it runs off. Genuine conformal coating comes expensive, is thick and does not run. Last time I boug ht some it was about £40 for 400mL (circa 1990) made by Dow Corning but there are more types to choose from now. If you spray, use several layers and get right in between the components; let it dry between sprays. Take care that on some rf components you may get a small shift in value upsetting your carefully trimmed filters etc. David G3UNA From: Tom Zeltwanger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: 2007/04/17 Tue PM 03:34:29 BST To: Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED] CC: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Fred (FL) [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RUSTY Florida area? I'm surprised to hear about corrosive salty-air regions in Florida. Just never heard of it? Our son lives on big island of Hawaii - near Hilo. The salt water air type of corrosion, on things like bicycles, etc. - is notorious in Hawaii. Things there - not protected, don't last so long. Islands of Hawaii - are in the trade winds region of the Pacific - and I guess get their daily dose of salty air, naturally. I'm not sure this is the case on either coast of Florida. I'm probably wrong tho. The big island, above city of Hilo - gets a daily dose of natural rain, like 2 pm every afternoon. Perhaps the rain there, has some salinity. For some reason I've not heard this about Florida. We live 8 miles from the Gulf Coast of mid-western Florida. I can't say I see anything around our home, or in my garage, etc. - that has any appearance of salt corrosion. Cars look exceptional - easy to keep clean. No visible corrosion on anything we have? No rust on tools, etc. I wonder what the salinity is of the Florida Atlantic ocean, vs the Hawaiian Pacific ocean and the trade winds? Fred, N3CSY __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
I live on the southern shore of Fidalgo Island where the fresh salt air turns metal of most sorts into new colors. In order to minimize corrosion I have come up with the following technique. After all the soldering and close trimming is done on a project, I go back over every lead end and give it a touch of solder to cover those copper ends that are anxious to turn green. It takes less than a second on each component lead. Doing so also makes for a very smooth board. Next comes a very thorough cleaning with Q tips, tooth brush and denatured alcohol the remove all the flux. After cleaning, I give the board a thin coating of Boeshield, an anti-corrosion spray developed by Boeing Aircraft. If you use the thin red extension straw and very gently depress the spray button, you can get a very thin coating on the board without getting it on the components. Quickly tipping the board back and forth will cover everything before the solvent flashes off. You can also just spray some into a small cup and use Q tips to apply if you are wary of variable caps. After it dries, you can either leave it with a slightly waxy coating or wipe it down with no loss of protection. I have 20 year old projects that look as bright and shiny as the day the were built. This stuff works well to keep tools from rusting. I also use it on boat electrical systems with great success. And no, I don't own Boeing. 72/73, N7NSD Norm ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Tom, I recently repaired a K2 that had lived for several years in the salt air of Houston Texas. The external case screws and the connectors on the rear panel were corroded enough that they were changed. However, the inside of the K2 still looked just fine. If I can base any conclusions on that one K2, I would suggest that you cover your K2 when it is not in use - just a sheet of plastic would probably do the job although you may want to look into some kind of custom cover for it. Remember that this comment is based on my brief observation of one K2 that had been in a salt air environment - it would be unwise for me to generalize any further on the subject. 73, Don W3FPR Tom Zeltwanger wrote: I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Thanks Don, That is probably ood advice. I keep the equipment in a closed room, but I think I will cover it. I generally keep my radios for a long time (this K2 is replacing a Kenwood TS-930, bought in about 1980!). 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Tom, I recently repaired a K2 that had lived for several years in the salt air of Houston Texas. The external case screws and the connectors on the rear panel were corroded enough that they were changed. However, the inside of the K2 still looked just fine. If I can base any conclusions on that one K2, I would suggest that you cover your K2 when it is not in use - just a sheet of plastic would probably do the job although you may want to look into some kind of custom cover for it. Remember that this comment is based on my brief observation of one K2 that had been in a salt air environment - it would be unwise for me to generalize any further on the subject. 73, Don W3FPR Tom Zeltwanger wrote: I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Since a major uproar over energy conservation seems to have erupted on another thread here G I'll ask the question I raised there again: Has anyone considered using desiccants rather than leave the power on 24/7 if you're in an area where considerable moisture condenses in your rig? I believe the one used most often around electronic gear is silica dioxide (SiO2). It's a naturally occurring mineral that is commonly sold in an indicating form, small crystals that change from blue to pink as the material absorbs moisture. It can absorb up to 40% of its own weight at normal room temperatures and is quite easy to recharge. You just put it in a warm oven for a while until it turns blue again! It's often sold in inexpensive five-pound cans by stores catering to the dried-flower trade. Even though I've lived within a few hundred feet of the Pacific Ocean I've yet to encounter any corrosion problems. If I did my first choice would be to reduce the humidity in some energy-efficient way rather than simply leave the power on. If one wanted to be really rigorous about it, a small solar oven could handle the recharging process G. Even on ships, it takes months -- often a year or two -- for something like the old-fashioned lifeboat radios that enclosed about a cubit foot of air inside their case to have a desiccant tube about 1 inch in diameter and 4 inches long become saturated. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Zeltwanger Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 2:30 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Don Wilhelm Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not? Thanks Don, That is probably ood advice. I keep the equipment in a closed room, but I think I will cover it. I generally keep my radios for a long time (this K2 is replacing a Kenwood TS-930, bought in about 1980!). 73, Tom KG3V Quoting Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Tom, I recently repaired a K2 that had lived for several years in the salt air of Houston Texas. The external case screws and the connectors on the rear panel were corroded enough that they were changed. However, the inside of the K2 still looked just fine. If I can base any conclusions on that one K2, I would suggest that you cover your K2 when it is not in use - just a sheet of plastic would probably do the job although you may want to look into some kind of custom cover for it. Remember that this comment is based on my brief observation of one K2 that had been in a salt air environment - it would be unwise for me to generalize any further on the subject. 73, Don W3FPR Tom Zeltwanger wrote: I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water there is only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my experience with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my equipment. So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem. 73, Tom KG3V ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
During the winter I live about 200 meters from the Florida Atlantic beach. Usually I have windows open, and although the salty sea breeze is pleasant, it greatly speeds corrosion of metal. Perhaps a maritime electronics expert could advise me as to whether I should leave my K2 (and other gear) on all the time, or power off when not it use. I can speculate that the slightly increased temperature from leaving it on might prevent some condensation of moisture. On the other hand, I recall from chemistry classes that increased temperature accelerates chemical reactions (like corrosion). Are there any other reasonable precautions I can take? Thanks Dick, K0KK ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
RUSTY Florida area? I'm surprised to hear about corrosive salty-air regions in Florida. Just never heard of it? Our son lives on big island of Hawaii - near Hilo. The salt water air type of corrosion, on things like bicycles, etc. - is notorious in Hawaii. Things there - not protected, don't last so long. Islands of Hawaii - are in the trade winds region of the Pacific - and I guess get their daily dose of salty air, naturally. I'm not sure this is the case on either coast of Florida. I'm probably wrong tho. The big island, above city of Hilo - gets a daily dose of natural rain, like 2 pm every afternoon. Perhaps the rain there, has some salinity. For some reason I've not heard this about Florida. We live 8 miles from the Gulf Coast of mid-western Florida. I can't say I see anything around our home, or in my garage, etc. - that has any appearance of salt corrosion. Cars look exceptional - easy to keep clean. No visible corrosion on anything we have? No rust on tools, etc. I wonder what the salinity is of the Florida Atlantic ocean, vs the Hawaiian Pacific ocean and the trade winds? Fred, N3CSY __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Fw: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
Lived in Florida for 16 years ... in Melbourne and St.Petersburg. Some salt air-related rust, corrosion, mildew but nothing like here on the Oregon coast where we spend winter months away from Montana. Except for the mildew ... we have a dehumidifier. It's a must here. (:-)) I'd leave the radio ON continously ... better for it in the long run than turning it on/off ... for several reasons. 73! Ken Kopp - K0PP [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
