Waterproofing and power supply vents

[twinkleclaus]

I have a waterproof enclosure that will hold (2) Rays 27ch DMX controllers and a Mean Well 12v/50a SE power supply (has a fan). This enclosure will be sealed and sitting on the ground. Unfortunately, I live near Chicago, so have to deal with rain, sleet, snow and water. This is not a problem for the enclosure, but I am worried about ventilation for the power supply. I don't want a 1meter snorkel sticking up, and thought about making a twisty turny P-trap, but while walking through Menards to get ideas for various projects, I found myself in front of faucet aerators and shower heads. Soooo, I figured I'd throw out an idea to see if anyone can see flaws. I was thinking about putting a cheap shower aerator on as a vent, angled slightly downward. If that doesn't seem like a good idea, what about a simple 90 degree vent (PVC elbow) with a sink aerator? Will either of these keep the guts nice and dry whist sitting on the ground through a Chicago winter? One concern is that the aerator ices up and gets blocked.


Another idea is to make a p trap inside a p trap. The inner pipe has a bunch of holes while the outside is open on the end.


How would you go about creating a vent in an on-the-ground waterproof enclosure?

 

[Kaden]

Eddy says here http://auschristmaslighting.com/forums/index.php/topic,2596.msg22736.html#msg22736

What i have done for ventilation is put two elbows pointing down, one across from the other and one lower than the other, this way i get some form of convectional air flow, Im actually planning on adding some very small 12vdc fans this year to help with the air flow. But the above method has worked 2 years straight for me in very exposed conditions on the roof of the house.

I think you add some flyscreen to stop the bugs and you are done

 

[twinkleclaus]

My issue is the enclosure may be buried in snow A simple down vent may not keep out the evil fluid conductor.

 

[Kaden]

My issue is the enclosure may be buried in snow A simple down vent may not keep out the evil fluid conductor.

Maybe put the enclosures on a garden stake so they stay upright and above the snow?

 

[AAH]

Depending on how hard you are working things inside the box you may be better with a fully sealed box. If there is a chance that there will be snow then you are stuck with the possibility of sucking snow inside the box. Anything under 25 to 30 watts being dissipated inside the box I wouldn't worry about it as your ambient temperature is likely to be about 30 degrees celcius colder than what we have down here in Aussieland at Xmas. You can reasonably comfortably work out that the power supply and dimmer boards are going to be about 90% efficient. If you have a load of under 150W to 200W continuous then things won't get too hot I'd say. You can scale that wattage up depending on what proportion of the time your lights are on for.