[Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

"Tropicalizing" can help with fungi and other stuff that grows in
excessively humid and warm climes. It's not specific to a sea air
environment. Indeed, salt tends to kill many fungi! In warm climates water
evaporates from the sea. Such water vapor does not carry salt. It's pure
water. But when it condenses on things it provides the moist environment
where, combined with warm temperatures, fungi thrive!

And that might be a significant difference. I notice that those like Tom,
who reported seeing some corrosion issues, are on the eastern coast of the
USA. I'm on the west coast where it's much, much cooler. The Pacific ocean
along the US mainland coast about 51F year around - cool enough to produce
hypothermia in a short period of time if someone is in the water without a
survival suit. (There's a reason the neoprene 'wet-suit' used by surfers and
divers was invented independently by three different avid surfers - all who
lived on the California coast!)

We don't get the humid, moist air here folks along warmer waters experience.
Mold and fungi can be issues here, but only where people carelessly allow
high temperatures and condensation to occur repeatedly such as laundry rooms
with poorly-ventilated clothes dryers. I've never found condensation in any
radio equipment.

Ron D'Eau Claire 


-----Original Message-----

In the old days we used to call it tropicallising, now it's called conformal
coating and refers to a material either sprayed, painted or dipped onto the
electrical parts.  Conformal coating for military is very expensive and time
consuming involving inspection with a uv lamp to pick up the uv die in the
material, to descover imperfections and can be up to 3 layes thick.  

If you don't keep you equipment in an air tight box, then leave it switched
on to slow down the deposition of salt products.  I think this works by
keeping the interior warmer and thus higher air pressure to prevent the
ingress from the surroundings.  Of course when you switch off it cools and
the pressure falls and drags in the cooler contaminating air from the
surroundings and that's when the damage starts.  So, switch off and
immediately put into an air tight box.  It all sounds a bit excessive, but
the other way is to coat everything with bare metal with a suitable coating,
like the one mentioned from another reply.  The lacquer and and varnish
sprays that you hold 6" away are only partly effective because tall
components create shaddows and the spray doesn't get in properly.  They work
on the solder side fairly well, but the cut off component wires do not get a
coating - it runs off.  Genuine conformal coating comes expensive, is thick
and does not run.  Last time I boug  ht some it was about £40 for 400mL
(circa 1990) made by Dow Corning but there are more types to choose from
now.  If you spray, use several layers and get right in between the
components; let it dry between sprays.  Take care that on some rf components
you may get a small shift in value upsetting your carefully trimmed filters
etc.

David
G3UNA  
> 
> From: Tom Zeltwanger <KG3V at ChesBayVA.com>
> Date: 2007/04/17 Tue PM 03:34:29 BST
> To: "Fred (FL)" <ncsailors at yahoo.com>
> CC: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 near the sea: leave on or not?
> 
> I operate from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. The water 
> there is
> only moderately salty but corrosion is very rapid compared to my
experience 
> with inland QTHs. I was wondering if this would be a problem for my
equipment. 
> So far, no problem. I imagine anyone near the sea shores has this problem.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Tom KG3V