Raspberry Pi Forums

I was looking around for some weather proof enclosures for Pi and other gadgets and I stumbled upon this:



https://uk.pi-supply.com/products/die-c ... -enclosure

It looks really nice but a bit pricey. So I wondered if anyone here had one and could comment on how good or bad it is?

Any other suggestions would be welcome also.

Fifty quid is not bad for a die-cast IP67 enclosure. You'll likely pay the same for the cable glands and a few metres of outdoor-rated cable to connect with it.

I'd still pack all available space with desiccant, though. The water gets in no matter what.

Oh yeah. We have been through a variety of weather proof enclosures in the last few years. I was never very happy with any of them. This one looks pretty sexy.

I was advised recently by an old hand from old Nokia who was into designing cell tower equipment that the thing to do is use a Goretex ventilation plug. Like so: https://www.elfadistrelec.fi/fi/paineen ... IhEALw_wcB

The way it was explained was that as air pressure changes with temperature and such a sealed box can still suck moisture in through whatever rubber seal you have. The vent plug ensure inside and outside pressure is always equalized and hence no suction. Also having a gortex filter keeps the wet out but allows any moisture that does get inside to dry out.

He also suggested to have a little roof over the box to stop rain pounding on it.

We are about to find out how well this idea works...

I always imagined that desiccant would eventually get water logged and be of no use.

That semi-porous plug is a good idea. There still isn't anything that'll last forever and work perfectly, though. The roof is a good idea, mostly to prevent UV and direct ice damage on top. Make sure that the door faces out of the wind, too (though I was building wind energy projects, so places were also very breezy).

Desiccant will eventually saturate, yes. But you're going to have to do at least an annual inspection, so you can change it then. One advantage of the larger desiccant bags is that they take up air space. The less dead air volume in your box, the less daily pressure variations will affect the container.

I have the box, yet to put it to use (haven't started that project yet).
It looks pretty good, metal so no use for WiFi (which was one thing I did want to try).

I have seen IP67 cases with a plug incorporating a membrane with enough flexibility to allow for pressure differences. Can't say whether the membrane was air permeable or not, nor did I haver the chance to observe its effectiveness.

Congrats Heater on 15k posts.

scruss wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 6:00 pm

...Make sure that the door faces out of the wind...

I was worrying about that. This is going to be installed high up on a pole down by the sea in Helsinki. Helsinki is a windy place and that is about the worst spot.

Despite the northern latitude and potential for very low temps I have known out door equipment to die of heat in the summer. A roof can help keep the direct sun off the box.

scruss wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 6:00 pm

... you're going to have to do at least an annual inspection,...

That would be luxury. I fully expect nothing gets visited unless it fails, drops offline or reports errors of some kind.

davidcoton wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:39 pm

I have the box, yet to put it to use (haven't started that project yet).
It looks pretty good, metal so no use for WiFi (which was one thing I did want to try).

Great. Perhaps you could do me a favor and say what is the usable space inside, length, width, height, I can't make it out for sure from any of the info I have found.

Metal is OK. We are using a 4G modem with external antennas.

davidcoton wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:39 pm

Congrats Heater on 15k posts.

Why thank you. It was nothing. Well, mostly nothing. I like to think that possibly, maybe, 1% or so of my ramblings have proved useful to someone, somewhere.

I did not notice, quite fortuitous that I hit such a nice round number on opening a thread.

Heater wrote:what is the usable space inside, length, width, height,

210mm H x131mm W x46mm D (above fitted base plate, into lid space). Ask if you need more.
BTW it comes with wall and mast mounts.

Heater wrote:1% or so of my ramblings have proved useful to someone, somewhere.

Probably optimistic

Heater wrote:I did not notice, quite fortuitous that I hit such a nice round number on opening a thread.

Not sure which was actually number 15000, since the post count is a total that updates in all posts. So all I know is it was probably your last post last night.

Ah thanks. That might be a bit of squeeze for what we have here.

You are right. That's the current post count, silly me. I recall getting a few "thanks" here, so not totally wasted.

Hi,

I have two: one holds an rPi LoRaWan gateway, the other a LoRaWan node. The latter is on a pole, under a wood duck house, in the middle of a beaver pond, so sheltered from the top. Ordered direct from Pi Suppy, shipped to the US - service was great.

It is pretty well built. The sheet metal plate that comes with it is only mounted via 2 screws and not supported elsewhere. So that is a bit flimsy. I custom cut a piece that mounts with 4 screws for more support. It's deep enough to triple stack a pi or arduino device with hats.

There are some images with dimensions on github: https://github.com/NebraLtd/IP67-Enclosure. But the drawing does not specify the threadsize/dimensions of all the holes. I had to buy an assortment of metric and PG glands to get something for every port.

I would buy it again.

/s/ Martin