condensation on equipment

[kosh]

Hi Guys,
I have recently set up an observatory in the backyard and i am having issues with condensation on my equipment, particularly with the mount, being metal. Does anyone else have this problem?

Im meaning that this is happening overnight when i have everyrhing closed and even wrapped up in towels or blankets and not after imaging or something.

How do you stop it?

It bothers me because im concerned that the mount will have issues if it everyday it ia soaked because of moisture overnight.

Thanks.

[leon]

I know where you are coming from, and I too had that problem and this is what i did.

On those very cold nights and after imaging/observing I would close the observatory, do not put any caps on etc or cover anything .

I had power to my observatory and would run cheap K Mart fans on low and swiveling in the observatory till morning or until dry, or just run a extension lead.

Actually I had two running 24 hours a day for years on end, summer or winter hardly use any power and cheap to buy when they start rattling and need to be replaced.

Constant air flow dose dry things out, and once dry put your caps back on and cover if you wish.

My set up was pretty expensive and it did the job for me perfectly.

Leon

[glend (Glen)]

See my past posts on mount insulation and heating. I keep a foil insulation shroud over my CGX mount, which contains a 25W incadesent light bulb to provide just enough heat to prevent condensation and generates airflow through heating up the air in the shroud which has a chimney effect, carrying warm air over the mount. This has worked well in my observatory for several years. Bulb is on a timer.

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

I've got a solar powered 12 volt pc ejector fan at the high point of the wall near the roof and a vent at floor level on the opposite side. Every morning at sunrise the fan kicks in and runs all day. I dont cover anything other than the lens surfaces. Never had any moisture issues causing problems with equipment and everything has remained in place like this for many years.

[kosh]

Thanks for you thoughts gents, some interesting ideas. It has been very cold in Melbourne with some decent humidity so even if I haven't touched it for a few days, when I go in to the obsy to tinker with something in the middle of the day, the whole thing (except for the scope itself and any plastics) are wet
Last night I had a quick go at M16 and had some troubles with the Neq6 timing out and disconnecting from ascom, so i'm hoping it isn't because of this as it has always been pretty good to me. Does this kind of surface moisture have any chance of ruining the electronics of the mount or am I being paranoid?


Thanks Again,
Goran.

[leon]

It really seems like a ventilation issue to me, circulating air dose keep things dry, and a simple fan running constantly will make a big difference IMHO, however the air and moisture needs to be able to be ventilated out of the Observatory as well.

Leon