Leave controllers outside all year?

[dgander]

I am sure there are probably 20K opinions out here on this but what is the general rule about the controllers being bolted to the house all year? Mine are all on the North side of the house and we are in Florida. No direct sun but it does get hot and humid for many months. The boxes are the factory sealed controllers that are weather tight. Might thought was they might be fine for a few years outside all year but the Florida heat takes its toll on plastic. My first thought is remove them and store them inside with A/C the other 10.5 months. What have you all seen as "best practices"?

[k6ccc]

I run a year round landscape lighting show, so obviously I have controllers that are in service year round.  I am in southern California so we do get hot, but not the humidity that you get in Florida.  For my year round landscape lighting, I have three CMB16D DC controllers in a brick column in the front yard along with an InputPup, an ELL, and a Falcon E1.31 controller.  I do water seal the brick every year or else it will seep in the rain.  I also have a CTB16g3 in my attic that gets HOT - highest measured temp at the controller was 151 degrees F a couple years ago.  Lastly, there is a CTB08g3 in a 8x8x4 PVC electrical box in the garage.  All of these are powered up 24 x 7 x 365.  Obviously the AC controllers are not going to have to worry about water since they are inside.  I also have another E1.31 controller in a 6x6x4 PVC electrical box (painted white) that is on a south facing wall.  The only shade it gets is from the rose bushes in front of it.

Yes, one of my projects is to get some ventilation for the controller in the attic.  The controller is not the only thing up there.

I have never had a heat related failure of any of it.

 

[TheDucks]

My Navy radar repeater equipment had small strip heater to keep them drier when OFF (only the heater was enabled).

Even a tiny bit of (idle) power should help

Make sure condensation has a drain path (don't caulk the bottom tight)

[jtomason]

2 hours ago, dgander said:

I am sure there are probably 20K opinions out here on this but what is the general rule about the controllers being bolted to the house all year? Mine are all on the North side of the house and we are in Florida. No direct sun but it does get hot and humid for many months. The boxes are the factory sealed controllers that are weather tight. Might thought was they might be fine for a few years outside all year but the Florida heat takes its toll on plastic. My first thought is remove them and store them inside with A/C the other 10.5 months. What have you all seen as "best practices"?

Actually, it really is the sun (UV rays) and not the heat that degrades plastics.    Since you say there's no direct sunlight then you should be fine.  If there was, covering them with a vinyl cover or the like should help.

 

[dgander]

Thanks everyone, sounds like the electronics can handle it, just watch the direct sun for the cabinets. They will be unplugged so then I don't have to worry about lightning (A very big problem here, already lost the whole network in the house once this year).

[Dcroc]

I have some that stay out all year, along with some pixel controllers.  The only controller that ever died on me was one that I never left out.  As far as the ones I left out, the only issue I ever had was one year when wasps decided to nest in one.   Was inactive by the time I went to use it in October.  Just knocked the nest out, and it worked fine.