New project: filtering or sealing trackspots

muvment

Active Member
I've been given the task of preparing a rig for a very harsh environment. I have to get 8 trackspots and 6 AF1000s to survive a week in a sandstorm. The AF1000s are weatherized, so i'm going to do very little about them. The trackspots, on the other hand, could be problematic. So far, I've come up with sticking car air filters on the front vent and gaffer taping all possible entry point of sand. I have not yet figured out how to seal the intake port. I will also be given a budget to replace the pan and tilt motors as they clog and die. But I really don't want to be replacing interior parts except lamps and I don't want to be cleaning the color wheels on a daily basis.

Difficulty: the sand is a heavy alkaline and could be corrosive. It is also a very fine particle, similar to talcum powder.

Bonus: Technobeams?

Super Duper Bonus: Emulators.

Finally, I'll be taking backup controllers, but really don't want to lose any vintage HES LCD controllers, as they're getting difficult to acquire. Any thoughts on protecting these?
 
I am presuming you cannot get the sealed dome all weather enclosures to house them in....? The problem is that they need the air intake and they need to be able to expel heat build up from the interior, or that will do more damage than the sand will... Sealing the actual fixture to be air-tight will just shorten your lamp life and the components will overheat and be destroyed. If you have a budget--try to get those eco-domes... You could call and ask HES if they have a suggestion on possible "OK" sealing points or perhaps how to protect the mirror from damage....but I am betting they will suggest the domes too given the environment you are using them in..

As for the HES LCD, try bagging it up in like a slow-cook oven bag or other clear plastic bag so the only exit hole is for the control cable and power which you can seal up tightly around the cables..tho the unit itself if I recall is fairly durable. Thats a simple enough task to do....

JMO..hopefully others will have ideas for you to try as well.
-w
 
This is an example of some of the domes you can get..this one is inflatable...there are others out there...many are quite adaptable--you can also call some local provider companies in the region of the world you are going to and see if they have ones to rent....

http://www.martin.com/product/product.asp?product=kingdome
 
I have seen the ones made for scanners at Six Flags.
 
Sand gets in everything.
It's not cool to still be shaking it out of your boots a month later.
Good luck with that, I find it easier to waterproof.
 
Domes are not an option because the fixtures will be on a moving vehicle (no joke, I never get the easy projects).

Basically, I think I need to come up with some way to filter the intake and exhaust and seal everything else. Lamp life, i don't care that much about. Lamps are under $6/each, so $120 in lamps should last all week. The only problem is that we'll have to change the lamps in a controlled environment and reseal the fixtures.
 
Domes are not an option because the fixtures will be on a moving vehicle (no joke, I never get the easy projects).
Basically, I think I need to come up with some way to filter the intake and exhaust and seal everything else. Lamp life, i don't care that much about. Lamps are under $6/each, so $120 in lamps should last all week. The only problem is that we'll have to change the lamps in a controlled environment and reseal the fixtures.

Why are domes not an option on a moving vehicle? Not enough space? It seems to me like that would be a better situation all around. I can't remember where, but I've seen some sort of hard-shell cases, specifically for scanners. Seems better to me. Completely enclosed. No worry of getting bumped by a flying rock or something...
 
Domes are not an option because the fixtures will be on a moving vehicle (no joke, I never get the easy projects).
Basically, I think I need to come up with some way to filter the intake and exhaust and seal everything else. Lamp life, i don't care that much about. Lamps are under $6/each, so $120 in lamps should last all week. The only problem is that we'll have to change the lamps in a controlled environment and reseal the fixtures.

Plexi cases, sealed. The amount of time and money they would save would easily outpace the endless cleaning of the fixture, plus you are going to trash the fixture no matter what you do.
 
I've got to jump on the plexi/dome bandwagon.....Sealing everything but the intake is begging for problems. You'll need more than just a budget for the pan and tilt motors you'll need it for everything else inside. And while I don't want to assume where there's sand there's usually heat....that is to say temperatures in the 80's and above.
 
Have you tried contacting the manufacture? They may have a bit of insight on the project.
 
What about building a large plexi case to mount them all in... like a big fish tank. Seal the edges with silicon. Put a bunch of your own vents on the case with computer fans or some sort of small fans and filter them really well.
 
As many others have said, Plexi cases. It'll make your life so much easier, because sand is so good at getting everywhere that there's the slightest crack. Use filtered intake and exit fans in the case.
 
As many others have said, Plexi cases. It'll make your life so much easier, because sand is so good at getting everywhere that there's the slightest crack. Use filtered intake and exit fans in the case.

Also put some sort of baffle system in that would have the air come through a small inlet into a larger space, slow down and drop it's sand in theory before going back UP and out through a small exit that is also filtered. This should help collect any sand that does make it through your exterior filters. Make it possible to clear that baffle space out from the exterior of the case.

You do some "interesting work" my friend.
 
As good as an idea as it is, I'm not too keen on building a giant plexglass case for a dozen of these. And they're all supposed to mounted in a row.

There's got to be another way.

Heat, I'm not too worried about because it gets pretty cold at night in the desert. But keeping the sand out without building a giant fishtank would be preferrable. Additionally, if I do construct a fish tank, they're going to try to book technobeams, and there's no way I want to clean those out if sand gets in them.
 
As good as an idea as it is, I'm not too keen on building a giant plexglass case for a dozen of these. And they're all supposed to mounted in a row.
There's got to be another way.
Heat, I'm not too worried about because it gets pretty cold at night in the desert. But keeping the sand out without building a giant fishtank would be preferrable. Additionally, if I do construct a fish tank, they're going to try to book technobeams, and there's no way I want to clean those out if sand gets in them.

So.... what do you want from us then?

If they are all in a row, you don't have to build multiple "tanks", just one that covers all of them.

Anyone else think this is going to end up looking like a scene from unreal tournament?
 
I do suppose you could duct all the intake fans together to a central filtered air source.
 
Is Mad Max having a rave?
 
Is Mad Max having a rave?

Haha - that's exactly what I was thinking!

But really, what is this project for, muvment? It's one of the weirder things that I've heard of in this weird world of tech.
 
I can only guess--Middle East tour for the troops? Either that or some crazy midwest desert tour (sandstorms?)

I don't know why you'd have a problem with them spec'ing technobeams if you made the tank for all of them. Assuming you took the time to make the tank well, I couldn't see how sand would get in, if you used filtered intake/exhaust fans. And if it did get through the filters, the air inside the chamber wouldn't be succumbing to any wind outside. That being said, in order for the sand to be a problem once inside the tank, it'd have to agitated enough by either the tank's fans or the techno's fans enough to fly through the air, which I don't see happening.

Alternatives to the tank? I mean, building smaller globes around the mirrors, and then sealing the rest and filtering the exhaust? Sounds like more work to me than getting some long pieces of plexi and caulking them together.
 
I can only guess--Middle East tour for the troops? Either that or some crazy midwest desert tour (sandstorms?)
I don't know why you'd have a problem with them spec'ing technobeams if you made the tank for all of them. Assuming you took the time to make the tank well, I couldn't see how sand would get in, if you used filtered intake/exhaust fans. And if it did get through the filters, the air inside the chamber wouldn't be succumbing to any wind outside. That being said, in order for the sand to be a problem once inside the tank, it'd have to agitated enough by either the tank's fans or the techno's fans enough to fly through the air, which I don't see happening.
Alternatives to the tank? I mean, building smaller globes around the mirrors, and then sealing the rest and filtering the exhaust? Sounds like more work to me than getting some long pieces of plexi and caulking them together.

I envisioned some sort of rave out in the middle of the dessert, the kind where MDMA and N02 abound.
 

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