Caleb Linburg Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 How weather resistant are the pc boxes? Is it ok to just let them sit outside during rain. Wasn't sure what "weather resistant" means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I use the enclosures from LOR (which is the kind that your utility company uses for boxes on the outside of your house all year long), and as long as they are mounted upright and off the ground, they are fine in all weather. Have had plenty of rain, snow, and ice without any difficulty. Have read here from some of our Canadian friends that they even have them buried in snow and they do fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Agree with suffer.I have heard that one person put some foam in the "S" seal and it leaked into the inside of the box. But leaving the "S" seal like it is, any water that makes it past the first part of the seal gets channeled out the bottom. Others have put them on the ground and it appears that they are in warmer clims and a snail got inside and shorted the board. Burning a hole straight through the board. I have only two years and I have had a stake with a plate made. This keeps the box upright and about 12 -16" above the ground with Zero problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ace_master Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I live in Ontario, Canada (lots of snow and rain throughout the LOR seasons)... I had one controller laying in a small tree last year, and was worried about that.. I simply threw a big garbage bag over the controller, and tucked it under all 4 sides of the controller... but don't put a controller IN a garbage bag... you risk trapping any water that does make it to the controller. Any time I ever went out to check anything or change something, the box was dry to the touch every single time, even after a couple days of rain, and after being buried under a foot of snow.As others are saying... out in the open... as long as you have them upright (slightly tilted back is better), then you shouldn't have any problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Max-Paul wrote: Agree with suffer.I have heard that one person put some foam in the "S" seal and it leaked into the inside of the box. But leaving the "S" seal like it is, any water that makes it past the first part of the seal gets channeled out the bottom. Others have put them on the ground and it appears that they are in warmer clims and a snail got inside and shorted the board. Burning a hole straight through the board. I have only two years and I have had a stake with a plate made. This keeps the box upright and about 12 -16" above the ground with Zero problems.Reading this reminds me. I have one controller that I mounted to a stake (2x4) last year. All the rest are mounted to 'fixtures' (mega tree, stable, house and such).I was in the garage and mounted the controller to the stake then carried it and my sledge hammer out to where I wanted to place it. Just as I was about to hammer the stake in the ground I stopped. I said to myself "I wonder what all this hammering/jarring will do to the controller board and wires. I thought better of it and took the controller off the stake. Pounded it in the ground then mounted the controller back on the stake.Does anyone drive their mounting stakes in the ground with the controller already attached to it?And, yes, all my controllers are in the boxes from LOR and all stay out in the weather during lighting season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Paul Roberson wrote: Reading this reminds me. I have one controller that I mounted to a stake (2x4) last year. All the rest are mounted to 'fixtures' (mega tree, stable, house and such).I was in the garage and mounted the controller to the stake then carried it and my sledge hammer out to where I wanted to place it. Just as I was about to hammer the stake in the ground I stopped. I said to myself "I wonder what all this hammering/jarring will do to the controller board and wires. I thought better of it and took the controller off the stake. Pounded it in the ground then mounted the controller back on the stake.Does anyone drive their mounting stakes in the ground with the controller already attached to it?And, yes, all my controllers are in the boxes from LOR and all stay out in the weather during lighting season.No, I definitely drive the stakes first and then mount the controller to it. I believe I recall Dan even cautioning about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lester Stone Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 One thing I do is I (my wife strongly suggested) put my controllers inside a plywood box. It has a hinged lid on top for access to controllers. There is about 4 inches underneat and a open bottom to route the cords into.I can mount one controller on each side of the box. The neat thing about this idea is you can paint the boxes in a bright color and put a large bow on top of it and make it look like a present and puts a better appearence in the yard.also the box helps protect and hide the controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfing4Dough Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Lester Stone wrote: One thing I do is I (my wife strongly suggested) put my controllers inside a plywood box. It has a hinged lid on top for access to controllers. There is about 4 inches underneat and a open bottom to route the cords into.I can mount one controller on each side of the box. The neat thing about this idea is you can paint the boxes in a bright color and put a large bow on top of it and make it look like a present and puts a better appearence in the yard.also the box helps protect and hide the controllers.There are 2 ways to look at that though--makes it nice and attractive to a vandal to smash or steal too, which in my opinion is probably more likely. Some try to make their cases look as unattractive as possible (paint black, and make them look dirty) so deter this. I just mount mine on fence posts, and once those are in the ground and the ground freezes, good luck getting them out before the thaw. I do tend to try to place them in places obstructed from audience view (behind a bush, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Batzdorf Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Mine are all behind trees - no shortage of them up here! I always cover them with a large black trash bag. Protects from weather and tidies them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 A couple of years ago I found out that they are only weather resistant if you keep the lid closed. The one I bought in 2007 used a screw to keep it closed. (I believe the boxes they sell now have a built-in clasp that snaps closed.) After I changed something inside the box, I had misplaced my screwdriver and forgot about it, so the lid was not completely closed. Then it rained and the controller board got wet and stopped working. On my knees in the rain, I swapped out the board and was back running.Later, I sprayed the wet board with WD-40 (that stands for Water Displacement, you know), let it dry, and in a few days, it worked again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisieMalibu Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Paul, the controllers you have are they same ones that would come in a starter package? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Roberson Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 DaisieMalibu wrote: Paul, the controllers you have are they same ones that would come in a starter package?Not sure if you are asking me or Max-Paul, but most of my controllers are from the PC line of controllers.The controllers in the starter packages are "Showtime Pro" controllers. I do have one Showtime Pro controller that I use at our kids school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Paul Roberson wrote: DaisieMalibu wrote: Paul, the controllers you have are they same ones that would come in a starter package?Not sure if you are asking me or Max-Paul, but most of my controllers are from the PC line of controllers.The controllers in the starter packages are "Showtime Pro" controllers. I do have one Showtime Pro controller that I use at our kids school.Dont look at me. I have all PC kits that I soldiered the boards. Bought my enclosures from YBBS.And yes I pound in my stakes then mount the controllers. If you have ever seen one of those slide hammers used to pound in those T post you see in the country. I really have to wake them hard to get them in this heavy clay ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbottomley Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Caleb Linburg wrote:How weather resistant are the pc boxes? Is it ok to just let them sit outside during rain. Wasn't sure what "weather resistant" means.Pretty good IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 that looks like alot of snow for north carolina,how deep was that william? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 Paul Roberson wrote:Does anyone drive their mounting stakes in the ground with the controller already attached to it?The electronics would likely not go well with the pounding, but frankly I would be more worried about missing the stake and hitting the controller with the sledge hammer - and I'm certain that would not be healthy for it (or your pocketbook) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 So far, I've only ever had issues with water intrusion on one CTB16PC case. The two story fire house has a barn roof running one way, with a 4 foot deep, 20 foot wide, gabled protrusion 90 degrees to that. The gable roof has no eves at all. I mount a few controllers to that 4 foot wall, such that when it rains, you have a lot of area of that barn roof catching water, and it being collected by that gable. With no eve, a bunch of water takes a two story fall right onto the tops of the enclosures. With all that stacked against them, I have had water intrude into one controller. Since that one event, in that one location only, I go through and run a length of duct tape across the top, after the controllers are closed up. I've got quite a number of other controllers mounted under eves, with 2 story drops, and have never had an issue with any of them. And the roughly 30 controllers that go in the park, mounted upright on posts, have had no issues with water intrusion over the 4 years it has taken to build up to 30 controllers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted September 25, 2011 Share Posted September 25, 2011 k6ccc wrote: The electronics would likely not go well with the pounding,I once drove a controller into the ground this way (albeit with a very tiny post and a small hammer). Then it stopped working. I looked inside, and didn't see anything wrong (except for the red light not lit) and started to panic. Then I felt around inside and found that the controller chip was part way out of its socket. Pressed it back in, and no problem!The electronics that can be affected by pounding are the IC sockets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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