Home built fan aspirated radiation shield

[Weather Display]

harrysvr, you can set the colour of the graph hour grid line to say grey, instead of white...will look better ....

[harrysvr]

harrysvr, you can set the colour of the graph hour grid line to say grey, instead of white...will look better ....

Didn't bothered about colours, maybe in the future...

[harrysvr]

Well, after 4 weeks operation, fars went down(broken middle-bolt arm)...

It was a raison to start for a new fars with a new solar panel.
(Btw why there is moisture on the(old) solar panel?)

[Bashy]

I had this problem with my solar, its because there not 100% water tight
I decided to go the mains operated fan, i then went to the Stevenson Screen
with the same mains fan but since the fan died on my i have not installed
another one and doubt that i will now as it looks like it didnt make much
difference if any?

I even tried sealing the solar panel and thats didnt work out too well, thats
why i gave up with it!!

[skyewright]

I even tried sealing the solar panel and thats didnt work out too well, thats
why i gave up with it!!

What I did, and what seems to be okay so far was to get a small piece of glass, say about 1cm bigger than the panel all round (e.g. from an old photo frame), place the panel upside down on the glass, then run a bead of silicone around the panel to attach the two together.
Then I attached the wires and put vaseline on the terminals (I'm worried about the acetic acid(?) fumes released during curing of the silicone causing tarnishing of the contacts).
Then I placed the glass with its attached panel on a similar sized piece of wood - with the panel as the middle layer, and then sealed all round with silicone.
That would probably be enough, but I then 'tidied' up with a layer of duct tape around the edges too, 

So far that arrangement has stood up to some pretty wet weather.

[niko]

There are silicones that don't corrode electrical connections, but they aren't commonly available with the bath tub stuff in the local hardware store. The trick to finding them conveniently here is to use the automotive products that are stated to be safe for use with oxygen sensors, like permatex blue, but I don't know what might be available in the UK.

[Bashy]

Hi Niko

I used a silicone from an automotive car place, it was in a little white tube, the problem i
had though was that the cardboard was also soaked, i didnt realise this when i silcone'd it
Then it started ot condensate again, so i took it all apart and the cardboard was drenched
so i gave up on the solar and went the way of the mains

[skyewright]

so i gave up on the solar and went the way of the mains

I think that if mains is available then it has to be favourite for a host of reasons, especially in the higher latitudes.

I reckon that with these small 'educational' panels I'd need either 3 or maybe 4 panels (wired in parallel)  adjustable for vertical angle and some of them adjustable for direction too if possible to give good 'daytime' coverage through out the year. The adjustability being to cope with the extremely wide arc of the sun in the summer and very low elevation in the winter.

[TokKiwi]

I have been running a 7.5vdc plugin supply with 10A flex pair for 50ft to run a PC power supply fan in a pulling duct for about 6 months now, makes for much smoother results.  I have an upturned narrow plastic bucket with foam and foil insulation on the inside, seems to work better than the naturally aspirated stevenson shields and so much easier to make, 3hrs tops.  May not look as nice but who cares on the back fence by the fields... the sheep don't care

[harrysvr]

Have you sealed the edges against rain?

My solar panel is behind a small sheet of glass (from a old photo frame) and 'encased' in silicone - but we probably get more rain that you! 

Must sort out some pictures...

You had right about sealing the edges, I didn't understood then, that you meant the edges of the solar power, I though the bolts above the fars,
so now, I disassembled FARS and noticed(about the moisture mentioned on a previous post) that I had to sealed it...
The solar kit is useless now(fan isnt moving)...
So I have to rebuild it with the new solar panel(I think its waterproof)   

[harrysvr]

  Ready Again 

[niko]

The perspective in the photo may be misleading but aren't you concerned that the top sensor (UV?) on the pole is obstructing the airflow to the anemometer?

[Bashy]

It does look that way from the image dont it?

[harrysvr]

Yes indeed, I have to move it lower...

[niko]

Other than that it looks to be a very nice tidy installation.