[jeff1]

Hi Guy's
I have just been studying pictures of the varistream and its enclosure (box) Now I don't own a varistream yet, but I do know about electronics, and the varistream PCB (printed circuit board) is enclosed in a waterproof IP66 box, now this box is rated as waterproof, this is fine for what we need,
I also noticed that the cable entry's & exits are by waterproof glands.

Now that's were your problems can start

If when you installed your varistream you failed to tighten these glands up correctly, you are leaving it open to the atmosphere and a high chance of moisture penetration, now once this moisture is inside the box it will then be trapped inside, this will then begin to attack the PCB, now even low moisture penetration though the glands may take a couple of years to attack your board and high penetration may take months or maybe a year.
This can happen inside your van/Trailer mount also.

Once it attacks your PCB it will begin to grow green mould over the components and on the back of the board (this is normally the first place it attacks) once this happens it begins to corrode the PCB tracks on the back and the components them selves, this will lead to failure of the board or components of the varistream.



What Can I do to Help or Prevent Damage to my Varistream

Now there are a couple of things you can do to help prolong the life of your varistream.
First of all you can make sure the glands are tight, open the box and watch the cable on the inside while you give a gentle tug on the cable from the outside, if there is any movement in the cable then the gland  needs to be tightened up.

Next whilst you have the box open Just check for any signs of damp or the dreaded green mould, if there is any mould then this needs to be carefully removed with a stiff brush and any damp needs to be dried off.

Now the PCB should have been treated by the manufacturers but this is not always the case, if this is the case you can paint the back of the bored with clear varnish to help protect it, do not varnish the components as this can cause them to over heat. Then leave it to dry before reinstalling it.

finally before you close the lid put inside the box a couple of those silica gel packs this will prevent moister getting to the main board.
 

Remember Trapping moisture in is as damaging as failing to keep it out.

Copyright:-Jeff Brown.

[JM123]

hence why any Varistream we sell is (internally) sprayed with silicon, we also silicone seal the box seal.

[jeff1]

Thats great news, but why silicon seal the box seal when the moisture can enter through the glands if the end user fails to correctly tighten them,
the silicon over time will degrade and the end user is back to were I started.

Its nice to see manufactures like your self taking these steps to prevent moisture ingress, but you really don't need to silicon the box seals as these boxes are made to prevent water penitration and do a very good Job.
 
Do you or will you add to your instruction manual the necessity and importance to correctly tighten up the glands.

[JM123]

we fit all our varistreams as standard anyway - meaning they are fitted correctly.

We silicon the box seal just as an added precautionary measure - or if the customer prefers we tape the seal with Duck tape.

As for the glands they are ok for the job but a few extra precautionary measures doesn't do any harm.

At the end of the day, the varistream is not a cheap piece of equipment and so we feel it is worth looking after.

[jeff1]

If you seal the box then I presume you have a dial or a hole? so that the end user can ajust his settings is this again not leaving a place for moister to penatrate the box.

I'm not in anyway knocking your product because I have never seen or used it, perhaps you or one of the guys on here who use it could display some pictures for me to set  my mind at ease? 

would Duct tape not make your end product look like its just held together by the tape, and this would most certainly not last five minutes? I'm more curious than nit picking if you would prefer to email rather than talk in an open forum you can find my address in my profile.

[JM123]

It doesn't really affect the appearance of the unit - we only use a thin half inch strip around the seal - as for adjusting the variable resistor inside the varistream, no - once it is set up then it doesn't need adjusted again - however if the customer changes their hose etc then all we do is cut away the silicon (10secs) and unscrew the face of the unit.


Its very simple, very effective and we don't charge for the service, I'll have a look on the laptop and see if I've any pics.

Hope this helps

[jeff1]

Many thanks for your replies JM123 as I originally said I am just asking questions for my own piece of mind and in no way wish to make it look like I'm picking bones with you, so I will bow out gracefully and thank you once again for your replies, but I do look forward to the pictures of your system if you have any.

Kind Regards

Jeff

[JM123]

Hi Jeff, only back (10mins ago) from Gatwick so will have to take a few pics or try and find some tommorrow.

[jeff1]

Hope you had a nice flight?
Thanks in advance for the pictures.

[JM123]

sorry jeff I had forgotten about this thread - will take some piccys now for you and post them.

Back in 10mins.

[jeff1]

  Hi John so did I 
Don't worry to much about the pictures now, I have now changed over to the darks side and have purchased a varistream, and I must say they are a fantastic bit of kit, and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

John are you having problems getting hold of the varistream?

thanks for all your help and advice its very much appreciated.

[JM123]

yeah they're a little slow coming through but I was looking at stocking the eco-flow controller from essentially pure.

Here's the pics, just took a couple of rough ones with the phone.  First pic is a varistream.



Second pic is PCB which we spray with silicon spray to prevent moisture ingress.

[JM123]

These are the moisture glands jeff was talking about if anyone wants to know.

Below, we finally wrap the seal with waterproof tape, I done this quickly for a pic so if you were to do it yourself obviously take a bit of time and do it neatly.

[jeff1]

Thanks John,
For anyone reading this, I see John takes all the Precautions necessary to help the penetration of moisture, if you don't buy them from John then I recommend you take a few little precautions your self, to prolong the life of your varistream.
The one I bought needed the glands tightening up slightly.
and you won't do any harm adding a silicon bag as I suggested. but this needs replacing every now and then.

Thanks for the pictures John.