Waterproof Monitor

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 12:48 PM

Hi,

I'm looking for a waterproof monitor for installation onto a bike. What do you guys think of this one?

http://www.diytrade.com/china/4/prod...e_Display.html

If anyone has any other suggestions, I would be happy to hear them, also any info on making waterproof enclosures would be welcome as well.

Thanks.

**Tidder** · 01-31-2009, 12:54 PM

I really have no input other than I'm really interested to see how you do with this.

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 01:06 PM

The main thing I'm concerned about is ventilation.

I can't really find anything on how much air an LCD needs to stay cool. If someone could tell something along these lines, I could design and build the enclosure myself.

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 01:09 PM

Here's another one.
http://www.rackmountmart.com/rmLCD/Table20.htm
It says they have the option of IP65 standard waterproof protection. However I would Ideally like to have the monitor be 7" due to size constraints.

**HiJackZX1** · 01-31-2009, 01:12 PM

I'm wondering.... does this have to be touchscreen also? If so, maybe you can build a enclosure, but the top has a clear rubber barrier to use the screen. The ventilation can easily be at the bottom of the custom case so water cant go up into the screen.

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 04:59 PM

Yes, must have touchscreen.
Still deciding on the technology, as it will be mostly used with gloves.
I am thinking about trying to somehow use wacom's touch screen technology as it is compatible with gloved hands.

As far as the screen, I don’t know about rubber. I don’t know of any that are clear. And even if there were clear rubbers, they are fairly flexible. I am thinking of some sort of plastic like polycarb or acrylic. What do you think about that?

**blackcobra487** · 01-31-2009, 07:57 PM

You could probably make one pretty water resistant yourself, depending on your setup. I would think making a custom case for it would work really well, since you're likely to make a custom mount anyway. You could do this with any TS, and put a small bead of silicon around the edge of the TS overlay before putting it into the bezel. I'd imagine this wold work pretty well.

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 10:37 PM

Black,

Yes, I thought that too, but what concerns me is the heat that would build up. Also condensation might be an issue.

That being said, I then thought about laptops. The screens in laptops are fairly well sealed in really restrictive enclosures with no ventilation (as far as I can tell). And they don't really get all that hot. This leads me to believe that maybe the main heat source is the controller, and not necessarily the screen itself. So maybe, if I mount the controller away from the screen, I can seal off the screen really well.

Thoughts????

**blackcobra487** · 01-31-2009, 10:53 PM

That may be possible, but you'll have some restrictions. Most LCDs connect to the controller with a ribbon cable, as well as the TS overlay. This would limit how far the control board can be, unless you can extend the cables. I think that the LCD ribbon can only be extended so much before you notice that the signal becomes degraded.

I don't think heat would be too much of an issue for a few reasons.
First, you're most likely go with a transflective screen, since sunlight will be a big issue. I don't think I've seen a transflective that doesn't have LEDs as it's backlight. LEDs don't make much heat. It's when you have a CCFL as a backlight that you get heat. Not only from the light, but from the control board since it needs to create high voltage. LEDs are low voltage.
Second, it's ouside, on a bike. As long as the housing is painted a fairly lighter color, or maybe even clearcoated really well, it shouldn't get much hotter than the air around it. I'd suggest keeping you building materials thin rather than thick. This should reduce any "insulation" affect.

This is something I would like to try myself, but I don't own a motorcycle and I can't see putting a PC on my 18 speed.

Edit: Afterthought. Maybe this is the key: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/yoon/78 ??

**superart** · 01-31-2009, 11:28 PM

That is a good link, thanks. But i bet it's probably really expensive.
On a similar note, its fairly cheap to get some spray conformal coating from radio shack and spray over everything. That should achieve similar results.