zero position on SG2100

[AcWxRadar]

One comment on our motors and moisture...

I believe that most of the moisture entry is caused more by temperature changes then by hard rains, unless you are in a deluge so long and so hard and heavy that it drives the rain water in there. Obviously, if it is that bad, it is almost like tossing your motor into the bath tub.

If you have ever witnessed a sealed barrel sitting outside for months or years, how does a seemingly sealed, closed barrel fill up with gallons of water? Simple. The change in ambient temperature makes the barrel "breathe". Drawing moist air into the barrel, then if the temperature reaches the dewpoint, the moisture drops out of the air into the barrel. When the temperature rises, the water remains behind and it "breathes" again, pulling in more moist air. Eventually filling the barrel to some "equilibrium" level.

Therefore, my theory is, you shouldn't try to seal your motor too well. Unless you are assured that you can perfectly hermetically seal it. It needs to have an escape path for the moist air so that it can expel it without the moisture condensing inside and becoming trapped there.

RADAR

 

[B.J.]

I would never clean electronics with acetone. LOL I sometimes clean electronics with alcohol, but even that can be slightly dangerous. The reason is that alcohol cleans pretty well, evaporates quickly, and doesn't leave any residue. .....

I'd be nervous to clean electronics with acetone too, but for different reasons. Chemists generally use acetone for cleaning and drying glassware and other things. It's a better solvent than alcohol, evaporates faster than alcohol, and it won't leave any residue either. But being a better solvent, I'd worry about it dissolving the coatings on various components. Re residue though, that depends a lot on the purity of the solvents. Chemists usually use nothing but highly pure solvents, that won't leave any residue, but the solvents available to the general public can have a wide range of purity. I wouldn't get away with this these days, but back when I was a student, we used to have flame thrower fights in the laboratory. We'd set up a Bunsen burner on the shelf between two sides of a bench, and we'd have plastic squirt bottles of acetone, and shoot it through the burner, and it would stream out like a flame thrower towards the guy on the other side. Nobody ever got hurt, and luckily we never caught anything on fire. I did a LOT of DUMB things when I was young. Amazing that I managed to get as old as I am. Anyway, I like acetone. On my camera, I only used it on the mechanical parts.

 

[geekt]

You're definitely more daring that I am.

Not about the flame thrower. That sounds fun.

 

[brex2001]

One comment on our motors and moisture...

I believe that most of the moisture entry is caused more by temperature changes then by hard rains, unless you are in a deluge so long and so hard and heavy that it drives the rain water in there. Obviously, if it is that bad, it is almost like tossing your motor into the bath tub.

If you have ever witnessed a sealed barrel sitting outside for months or years, how does a seemingly sealed, closed barrel fill up with gallons of water? Simple. The change in ambient temperature makes the barrel "breathe". Drawing moist air into the barrel, then if the temperature reaches the dewpoint, the moisture drops out of the air into the barrel. When the temperature rises, the water remains behind and it "breathes" again, pulling in more moist air. Eventually filling the barrel to some "equilibrium" level.

Therefore, my theory is, you shouldn't try to seal your motor too well. Unless you are assured that you can perfectly hermetically seal it. It needs to have an escape path for the moist air so that it can expel it without the moisture condensing inside and becoming trapped there.

RADAR

I agree with not sealing the motor completely so that some breathing is allowed to vent condensation. I made sure the vent holes in my DG380 were clear when I sealed the case with silicone. Likewise the SG2100 that I have will get sealed the same way. This SG2100 has weep holes at the lowest part of the case. As should be in any H-H motor.