Rain!

[rslx]

Not sure if this is a Newbie question...

I work in the entertainment industry, and we run lots of gigs, and sometimes things are outdoors and they get wet, ie: feeder, distro panels, L5-30 connections and so on. Our distro's are just a Square D panel on legs so it's not laying on the ground.

The LOR boxes are kinda the same, but there are electronics inside. My two boxes are outside, and if it rains, they will get rained on. I did what I could to make a roof for them, but as long as they are not submerged in water, I should be ok, right?

[Richard Hamilton]

rslx wrote:

Not sure if this is a Newbie question...

I work in the entertainment industry, and we run lots of gigs, and sometimes things are outdoors and they get wet, ie: feeder, distro panels, L5-30 connections and so on. Our distro's are just a Square D panel on legs so it's not laying on the ground.

The LOR boxes are kinda the same, but there are electronics inside. My two boxes are outside, and if it rains, they will get rained on. I did what I could to make a roof for them, but as long as they are not submerged in water, I should be ok, right?

I don't think you are going to have any trouble. Every year we have at least 8 boxes out in the open. We don't take any extra precautions to cover them. The design of the LOR boxes seem good enough to not allow water to leak inside. And if any does get inside, the boards are mounted in such a way that little moisture gets to them. At least I have never seen it in our case.

We get LOTS of raing in Northern California in December. In fact it is raining during the show right now. Our show has never shut down or even tripped any GFCIs in all the years we have done this. Condensation seems to be the thing we observe, so we keep the boxes powered up all the time.

[-klb-]

You don't say if you have the showtime, or PC series boxes, but I have some of both, outside, right side up, bolted to fence posts that have gone through a lot of rain in the last few weeks. Including that precipitation that is not so much rain, as fog that condenses on you from all sides.. As long as you keep them closed, above the potential water level, keep them close to level and correct end up, and don't have them where large amounts of water will get funneled on top of them, I have not seen any issues.

[Max-Paul]

Add to all that has been said so far. I think that by leaving them plugged in and powered up. That the heat given off by the transformer and the two regulators will help drive off any moisture in the box.

I did read a post by a fellow who took some kind of foam and trimmed it down so that he could push it into the double lip around the door to one of those plastic boxes. He said it was a mistake, it actually appears to have aided in the process of allowing water to enter his box.

Follow the above posts advise and you should be good to go.

[Richard Hamilton]

Max-Paul wrote:

... I think that by leaving them plugged in and powered up. That the heat given off by the transformer and the two regulators will help drive off any moisture in the box.

I did read a post by a fellow who took some kind of foam and trimmed it down so that he could push it into the double lip around the door to one of those plastic boxes. He said it was a mistake...

Good point about reason to keep powered. That's one reason I keep mine powered up. The other reason is I'm lazy to unplug them.

Yea, I think that stuffing foam around the lips is probably one of the worst things to do. The foam will absorb the moisture and make it more wet inside. It's best to leave the gaps open to allow some air flow.