narva led lights

[finga]

Mate, don't depend on those gland for waterproofing where there's two cables going in through one gland.
There's always a gap there somewhere between the two cables that H2O stuff gets in.

[Gilli]

yeah mate like finga said, those glands are not water proof fittings, i use them all the time at work and the only thing that they stop is a little bit of moisture.


What i would suggest,is make sure all of your connections in that box are tight and arent going to come out. then go down to your nearest electrical wholesaler and purchase some resin, its just like epoxy, just flexible and its a two part mixture, mix it together and fill the box just till it is over the terminal strip, put a dob of silicon in each terminal on that terminal strip so no epoxy will get onto the screw head and youll be right.

regards,
Chris

[White Pointer]

ive had narva led boat trailer lites for two years and replaced them under warranty three times now which is a real piss off every time they fail! and guess what? yesterday i rang narva again and they have stopped making that model now because they fill up with water! funny that, now im in the market for a good quality water proof lite with a long harness so the join is out of the water and still cant find one, narva dont make one suitable the rep said!

G'day,

My lamps fell apart on the trailer in 6-months. I went to REPCO and spent $150 on LEDs and they came with 6M leads, each side separate, only joining at the plug. Had some issues with resistance on the Rodeo for the brake lights but overcame that by putting a single incandescent globe in the line just before the trailer plug. Been good for 6-months now - not a mark.

White Pointer

[TheRealAndy]

yeah mate like finga said, those glands are not water proof fittings, i use them all the time at work and the only thing that they stop is a little bit of moisture.


What i would suggest,is make sure all of your connections in that box are tight and arent going to come out. then go down to your nearest electrical wholesaler and purchase some resin, its just like epoxy, just flexible and its a two part mixture, mix it together and fill the box just till it is over the terminal strip, put a dob of silicon in each terminal on that terminal strip so no epoxy will get onto the screw head and youll be right.

regards,
Chris

Nooo, dont use the resins!! It makes it damn near impossible to fix!. A small hole is a much better idea. We used to use that 2 part silicone in waterproof sensors and it is pretty good, however the stuff still gets water in it.

If you look at the photo of mine, you will see that the 2 glands from the lights are at the bottom of the box. I did this so that its harder for water to get in, and if it does get in the glands are at a good spot to get it out. I also left a bit of excess cable in my box, so that I can pull the terminal strip out to wire it..

[Gilli]

Yes the realandy, the resins are 110% watertight, we use it on HV joints underwater here in townsville. In the lakes central, it is 5% higher salinity levels than the ocean and not a scerick of water gets in and harms our joints, not to mention that the resin also holds your cables in place alongside with the cable glands.

If you have to fix it,it would be because
A. you either have a hot/lose joint

Or

B.You need to replace that length of cable.

However, the two glands on the bottom of the box is an excellent idea to allow water to drain out, but the downside to that is that water doesnt tend to drain out of a sealed box to quickly, especially when the cable glands are done up tight as they are meant to be.

Be sure to put a dob of silicon on the screw down points that hold your enclosure to the frame and even smear it around the side of the lid before you screw it down as those boxes dont normally have very good seals on them.

Regards,
Chris

[TheRealAndy]

Yes the realandy, the resins are 110% watertight, we use it on HV joints underwater here in townsville. In the lakes central, it is 5% higher salinity levels than the ocean and not a scerick of water gets in and harms our joints, not to mention that the resin also holds your cables in place alongside with the cable glands.

If you have to fix it,it would be because
A. you either have a hot/lose joint

Or

B.You need to replace that length of cable.

However, the two glands on the bottom of the box is an excellent idea to allow water to drain out, but the downside to that is that water doesnt tend to drain out of a sealed box to quickly, especially when the cable glands are done up tight as they are meant to be.

Be sure to put a dob of silicon on the screw down points that hold your enclosure to the frame and even smear it around the side of the lid before you screw it down as those boxes dont normally have very good seals on them.

Regards,
Chris

I used to use the silicon stuff on water conductivity sensors. Basically a couple of coils of wire in a plastic part. I must admit there were very few returns, but we did still get some. For the most part it was pretty shit hot stuff.

The glands i got from jaycar did not even have the rubber washers that fit between the gland and the case. I figured the thing would not get that wet anyway, only when its raining. Been on there for a while now and still ok. I reckon lippa's idea with the lanolin spray is the go. That stuff managed to make my airlock lights keep going for 6 months after they were completley cracked and stuffed. Also managed to keep the smashed up LED light going for about 2 months as well!

The screws that hold the box down are in little holes that are sealed by the lid. If you take a look at my second pic you can see one of the mounting screws. The box is a little different to lippers. I would not say the box itself is waterproof, maybe water resistant if you are lucky, but it will do just fine.

Kinda OT, And I have said it many times here before, but having spent a lot of time doing insturmentation in wet environments the only real way to waterproof electrics/electronics is to use positive pressure inside the box, usually by using nitrogen or dried compressed air. A lot of food processing factories do this as they need to be washed down each day with high pressure water. Works a treat and is the only thing I have ever found to be 100% watertight!

[lippa]

i had one of these led lights crack, and short the circuit.

i must say the crew from ashdowns ingram, and the rep from narva were awesome. i had a replacement in 2 days at no cost. these guys bent over backwards to get me back on the road.

ashdowns are awesome for all your automotive electrical needs, and being wholesalers its usally alot chaper than the reatil stores.

cheers

lippa

[ozscott]

Bringing up and old post - Lippa or Garry or anyone else, where do you get those waterproof joiner boxes and grommet fittings? Jaycar? I have just bought Narva submersible LED's with individual looms that run from each light to the trailer plug that I am fitting this weekend. I could solder the wires from each loom to a piece of 7 core trailer wire to the plug, cover each solder joint in starbright and then annealing tape, but I wondered if the box is a better idea, especially if I damage just one light - lot less work to change out.

Cheers

[ozscott]

Ahha..that is a 240v box. I just picked one up with the screw in nipples from Haymans.

Cheers

[ozscott]

Got the gland fittings and box at Haymens and fitted it all up today. Those Narva LED's are bright! So no joins to the box on the draw bar.

Cheers

[deckie]

I joined them up inside the drawbar. Not all are box steel though of course. Cheapo chocolate box to connect up wires, then potted in epoxy to wproof and threaded it up into drawbar with a fair bit of excess cable both ends. If need to fix/change anything i'll just chop it off and do same again for maybe $5 cost. No issues so far and no cable glands used/no jiffy boxes either.