to seal or not to seal an xenarc in a marine environment

**scott_fx** · 03-01-2011, 08:11 PM

Hey forum,

I'm in the final prep stage of my project and was concerned about installing a 7" xenarc into the dash of my boat. I know i can seal it from the front but i'm worried about moisture on the back side.

any recommendations/thoughts on taking the xenarc backing and making it 2-3 times deeper but having it completely sealed?

this is a non led lcd xenarc (700tsv)

**soundman98** · 03-01-2011, 09:26 PM

it is a risk either way-- if you leave it open, the moisture might corrode the boards.. but if you seal it, it might cook..

but being that your willing to poen up the screen, i vote for a in-between.. they offer circuit board coatings--though i am not sure how durable the are for marine use:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=341-240

or a good layer of hot glue would work as well..

**scott_fx** · 03-02-2011, 11:55 AM

i have a can of silicon conformal coating that i will spray all of the electronics with (mobo, usb-io-1, soundcard, etc) but i can't spray the back of the actual lcd screen. im not sure if that is susceptible to moisture damage or not. :\

**soundman98** · 03-02-2011, 06:43 PM

that was what i was trying to find--i saw it at fry's on the last trip there, but couldn't remember what it was called..

i would probably leave all the lcd layers alone, though i agree i would prefer to seal the layers, i just don't have any ideas on how to do it without affecting the screen...

**scott_fx** · 03-02-2011, 06:50 PM

thanks for your input in this discussion. Im not going to come right out and say it, but i was talking to someone at a certain company that manufactures certain touchscreen.... discussed it and off record he said that the screens dont generate a lot of heat and he'd probably opt to seal it from the elements completely (enlarging the enclosure). of course the screens were never tested in these environments so it's a big risk, but i think i agree with him on this one.

**soundman98** · 03-02-2011, 08:51 PM

edit: after thinking about it some more, i don't think that there is enough heat to bother it, so a enclosed screen is probably fine, but will leave the below post here just for awareness..

I agree that the screens don't generate a lot of heat, but i am more concerned with the amount of heat that the screen gets that could become contained in the screen from the sun.

in most cars, the screen is mounted in a location that the sun doesn't always hit it, or if it does, there is enough air around the screen that it can dissipate that heat.

in a boat, many screens are mounted in places that, while making them more visible to you, in most cases also make them more visible to the sun-- so i am a little concerned about the amount of heat, or sun-soak if you will, that the monitor will take on, and will need to dissipate all while being sealed up...