Condensation in instruments

[dbSail]

Help! I have condensation in my speedometer so much so that I cannot read the digital display. I'm in the Pacific Northwest and it is the cold rainy time of year. The previous owner build a box that holds the radar unit that will have to be totally disassembled to get the instrument out so I was hoping for some nifty remedy that might avoid that.

[dbostrom]

As a fellow PNW denizen I sympathize.

I've been responsible for keeping a lot of electronics working in remote, ultra-humid locations. Just forget about truly hermetic sealing; it's virtually impossible to achieve in equipment with plugs, connectors, windows etc.

If the size of the gear permits it, provide a vent and use a Goretex vent plug:

Protective Vents – Performance and Cost Advantages of Venting

Happy Holidays!

[CaptTom]

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I've always thought the heat from the tiny light bulbs that provide backlighting for the gauges helps keep the condensation down. On boats where they're not wired to come on with the engine, I've been known to turn on the running lights for a while. It seemed to help.

Now that you mention it, I'm going to reconsider buying LEDs to replace the ones that are burned out on my boat.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I've always thought the heat from the tiny light bulbs that provide backlighting for the gauges helps keep the condensation down. On boats where they're not wired to come on with the engine, I've been known to turn on the running lights for a while. It seemed to help.

Now that you mention it, I'm going to reconsider buying LEDs to replace the ones that are burned out on my boat.

Yep, turn the instrument lights on.

Not LEDs of course, there's very little heat from LEDs but instrument lights draw so little power and are used so infrequently that swapping them out for LEDs (if you can even find replacements) makes little sense.