Mini pointy wheely box

[codemonkey]

Got some work done on what will eventually house the Avalon and my other gear.

I currently have a 5x5x4(h)ft aluminium composite panel box that has housed my gear for a while. It has a number of problems with water ingress and condensation, so I decided to build something a bit different this time, using ply instead of aluminium for the cladding as one of several ways that I'll hopefully reduce moisture in the box.

This one is small, really small--1500x1200x400. I've basically designed it in a way that it'll close over my pier with the scope, mount, cameras etc still attached and leave little room to spare. Size isn't really a constraint, I'm just being cheap. The design also allows a little storage at the bottom which I'll use for my batteries.

The whole thing will be on wheels and I'll simply push it away from the pier when in use. Obviously this design doesn't lend itself to easy automation, but that's not what I had in mind for the moment.

My pier is about 20x20cm square and concrete (made of besser actually) and the hole in the side of the decking is a gap for the pier. The door will basically close onto the pier. Haven't fully decided how I'm going to do the door yet, tossing up a couple of options.

To combat the moisture issues I've had in the past, I've used ply instead of aluminium (as I said), created a sloped roof so that water will run off, used decking with gaps in the base to increase airflow, and before I'm done I'll add a solar panel with a 120mm fan up the top to draw air up through the gaps in the decking. This should keep the temperature close to ambient as well.

I've got exterior bond ply ready to go for the cladding. Any recommendations for sealant?

[trent_julie]

Hi Lee,
I have started a similar little project eith automation in mind. How will ply prevent moisture?

[codemonkey]

Many people that use sheds and other sheet metal clad constructs seem to have problem with condensation--I definitely did with my composite panel box.

I think it's a couple of factors, but one of them is the metal itself. I think the sun hits the metal, which in turn heats up the air in the box very rapidly. Then you have a cold chunk of metal (your mount), probably connected to a very large chunk of cold concrete (your pier) all of which is heating up much more slowly than that air. From there, all that moist air condenses on your equipment.

So, by using ply instead of sheet metal I hope to slow down that initial temperature increase by virtue of the ply being a bit more insulative than sheet metal. There's many ways to skin a cat, but this is an easy one to do *shrug*

[glend]

My roll off roof obs is made of ply and I have no condensation issues. If you can raise it off the ground that also helps ventilate underneath. Obviously a pier needs to go up through the floor.

[astronobob]

Sounds like a plan Lee, my last obs out Leyburn qld. was made from roofing iron, walls and all, was big enough to sleep in but id wake half the mornings from rain drops hitting my head and face, Lol.
My current home build 'rig rolling cover' is all timber except the small steep pitched roof - so I may need to deal with some condensation here as well ? see how it goes for a while . .
Will be interested with how your unit goes, sounds promising !!

[codemonkey]

Sounds like I'm on the right track then :)



haha, sounds about right. I was horrified the first time I went up to my "obs" in the morning and found it dripping condensation from the roof onto my gear. I had a towel thrown over it all anyway, but it still concerned me.

You might be fine with a pitched roof and timber sides, not sure. At least any condensation that forms on the roof should run off to the walls instead of dripping onto your gear, I would think. If you're worried, check it out at about 7am, should give you a good idea. If you do have issues I'd just increase ventilation as much as possible in your situation.