jamills706 Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 So - horror of horrors - I had my Matrix out on my garage a couple of weeks ago for some random pre-season testing ---- and a huge storm blew in from nowhere and somehow picked up the panels and threw them again my fence and then they crash landed on the ground in a torrential downpour. You might be interested to know, my matrix panels are made from 3/4" square aluminum tubing with 12 vertical CCRs per panel - two panels together to make up my 24 X 50 matrix. They are not light! Fortunately I did not have power connected to the panels at the time of the storm. My problem, and hence my question here, is before I could get them "rescued" and stood back up ( albeit slightly bent and out of shape) the waterproof containers for the controller boxes got water into them through the holes where the wiring enters in the bottom (as they were laying on the ground in a torrential downpour with puddling all over the ground). So ....... I have managed to straighten out the aluminum tubing using a 2 X 4 and some C-clamps and some gentle tapping with a hammer. I have opened up the controller waterproof enclosures and let them air-dry for a couple of weeks now. But BEFORE I apply power to them again to see if they still work, has anyone had any experience with the CCR controllers getting wet and then working after they dry out? I don't want to apply power if there would be some simple thing I should have done to ensure they will still work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkcubsrule Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 No direct experience, but some thoughts: A quick solution might be to place them in a completely enclosed space (no air in/out) for a day or two with a dehumidifier so that it pulls ALL and any excess moisture out. That's really the problem - tiny bits of water - and it doesn't need to be much to cause a short. Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamills706 Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 Great idea! Thanks! I wonder if putting them in a plastic tub with one of those containers of "damp rid" (or a name something like that) that one sees in the housewares section would work????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 White rice. put them in a zip lock bag with white rice. (uncooked of course). Same thing you had to do when your iphone went swimming by accident. Leave them for 24-48hrs. That is as good as you are going to get However, since you have had them air drying for a couple of weeks, I would guess they are dry by now if they were inside... but do the rice thing. It will act as a desiccant and suck up any moisture in the zip lock bag, including from your stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOR Staff Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 Is water ALWAYS deadly to electronics? No. Did you know that you can usually wash a PC board (with the components)? Did you know that usually happens after soldering during mfg (to get rid of flux.etc)? Mixing Electronics and Water is not a good idea, but that is not what kills a board/etc. Electronics + Water + ELECTRICITY kills. Wet is not death. You mentioned that you had CCRs. Remove the 4 screws from the side of the CCR controller where the RJ45 jacks are. Carefully slide the board out of the metal enclosure and ensure it is dry (and no other foreign substances got in). What kind of power supply were you using? The ones that come with the CCR? If so, those are sealed, but may not be water tight. I don't think they can be disassembled. Carefully plug each one into power without the controller attached and see if the power light comes on. Leave them plugged in for a few minutes and check the temperature of each. Any that are unusually warm are suspect. Be sure to do this someplace non flammable - JUST IN CASE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamills706 Posted September 12, 2016 Author Share Posted September 12, 2016 Thanks to all for the many great suggestion! DevMike - thanks for the tidbit about the power supplies and taking the boards out!!!! I'll do that, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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