My speedo's full of water...resolved with pictures.

[Okey Dokey]

ha-ha. When I saw this thread title I was thinking men's swimsuit-speedos- they shouldn't fill with water! I was curious to see how you drained them!

good technical stuff, BTW

[Tony W]

are you sure your allowed to fix it on the dinner table...
my parther would go off the wall mate....

So who's the boss when your Mrs is home then....

[junkmanjoe]

yip under the thumb.

i have noticed lately a lot of dzr400 motards on the roads.

[marks]

feck what a mission

about half way through I'd have been reaching for a hammer

well done

[paddy]

are you sure your allowed to fix it on the dinner table...
my parther would go off the wall mate....
good luck with sorting ya prob out..

Actually, whilst it is our dinner table, it tends to be used more as a "dump stuff that has no other place to live" table. The kids eat at the breakfast bar and we either eat on the couches, or on the edge of the table. Periodically, we clear it off and use it. But that doesn't last long as then there is more space to dump stuff....

I actually got away with saying, "I know you are eating at the DINING table, but would you mind moving and eating somewhere else so I don't get crumbs on my workspace". :-)

[paddy]

ha-ha. When I saw this thread title I was thinking men's swimsuit-speedos- they shouldn't fill with water! I was curious to see how you drained them!

good technical stuff, BTW

Ahhh...the all important apostrophe!

[paddy]

feck what a mission

about half way through I'd have been reaching for a hammer

well done

It was a bit like that as I had already cleaned it out once and siliconed it shut. I'd really had enough by the time I had managed to get it open again. It took me a while to decide to spend the fiddly time and desolder the cable but eventually I decided to do it. I really didn't want to go through the process again! So far it's been out overnight in one heavy downpour and it's been fine.

I will try and post some more tonight. I'll be heading into the "sealing" phase.

[paddy]

Well, I thought a great way of applying the Gasket Goo would be to use a syringe with an 18 gauge aspican (blunt needle). Why so much detail you might ask. Well, I just wanted to let anyone else, that might have a selection of medical equipment, that Gasket Goo is to thick to such into and 18G aspican. Doh. Never mind. Instead I used the aspican like a paint brush which worked really well. I suspect a toothpick would work equally well. As you can see, I applied a generous layer of Gasket Goo to the sealing surface of the buttons. I also put a layer on the plate that presses the buttons into place. I hope this will increase it's thickness a bit and help to maintain a good seal. I don't think it was leaking, but I also added a small layer on the face of the hall effect sensor's bracket.

[paddy]

Next I remounted the hall effect sensor. I noticed some vent holes that were covered with a semi-permeable cloth. I elected to fill them with hot glue. I will deal with venting my own way. I used Gasket Goo to re-seal the rubber boot, but it tended to pull away from the edges with any deflection so I gave the inside a clean with some acetone and secured it with hot glue. Once the glue was set, I forced a whole bunch more Gasket Goo under the lip from the outside. Hopefully this will do it.

As you can see in the second picture, I put a dog leg into the cable right beside the PCB. This should help to reduce the stress on the less-than-wonderful solder joints.

Oh, and a tip for using hot glue. It is called "hot" glue for a reason. You will get much better adhesion if you are patient and let the gun get really hot. I left mine for about 30 minutes before using it. The temptation is to just squeeze harder rather than waiting.

[paddy]

I decided to vent the until with some clear PVC pipe. I think it's around 4mm pipe from Mitre 10. It serves three purposes. It will allow the unit to breath with temperature and altitude changes, it services to fill up the boot which is considerably larger than the cable passing through it, and in the event that the unit gets condensation in it again, I hope to be able to introduce enough moving air to dry it out quickly.

The 16mm heatshrink that sits over the whole lot is glue lined and so should give a good seal. Oh, and if you are copying me and have the same unit, 16mm heatshrink will not fit over the connector. And yes, I discovered this before I soldered the cable to the board. :-)

You can see the remnants of the Gasket Goo in the second picture. It was a whole lot messier, but I cleaned up the outside with some acetone (just a damp napkin) which worked really well.

In the third photo you can see that I doted some hotglue around the top edge of the boot and between the cable and pipe just to help fill in all of the holes. I also applied a generous quantity around the outside edge of the boot where the heatshrink will sit. I allowed that to cool and then pushed the heatshrink down over it. The heatgun will re-melt the glue as the heatshrink shrinks. I shrank the heatshrink most of the way up and then used hotglue, injected into the end, to shrink the last 7mm or so. This gives a good seal at the far end. You can see the end result in the last photo.

It's worth noting, that while the inside of the boot was sealed with hot glue, and the top of the boot had a substantial quantity of hot glue, the middle did not. In fact I was quite pedantic about cleaning off the excess glue. I want the boot to be able to flex in the middle so that as the cable moves there is not to much stress on the seal into the TC itself.

[junkmanjoe]

yea mate most good ideas to save time, mostly turn to crap.

good on ya for attacking such a task.

hope it stops leaking aye.

yip i understand about your table, i have to move kids stuff, wifes paper work, laptops, just so i can eat my chops.......

[paddy]

Wow, this is starting to look like a job well done... The back plate that the electronics mount to fits inside the front cover (that contains the "window"). I applied a considerable amount of Gasket Goo to the rebated edge and a smaller amount to the back place itself. I was careful to ensure all screw holes were well encircled - I don't want them to leak. (In practice that means they were quite well covered, but oh well, I'm sure they'll come out if I need them too.) I put the cover on loosely at first, allowing the Gasket Goo to dry for 30 minutes before cinching the screws down. I hope this will provide a better seal.

[paddy]

Next I cut off the excess PVC tube. I tried to determine a good length by holding the unit in the bike. I wanted it to be reasonably protected from the elements without getting too carried away. I took the smallest drill in my cheap Warehouse drill kit and whacked a bunch of holes in the end of the PVC pipe. I forced some cotton wool into the pipe so that it covered the holes quite tightly and then topped the whole lot of with some hot glue. There is a recurring pattern here...

(Oh, and I meant to mention this earlier - but yes I know there is inadequate depth of field in quite a few of my photos. I wasn't really paying enough attention.)

[paddy]

As a complete aside, I just found a use for the badly constructed table they made me make in third form wood work (why on earth did I take that). It's the perfect height, holding the front wheel two or three inches off the ground, and the rear around half an inch off the ground.

[paddy]

You can just see the remounted unit (minus a small black wind/wiring shield). It just occurred to me that I haven't taken a picture of the complete and remounted unit. I will try and do that tomorrow in the light. Oh, and if you are wondering about my wonderful waterproof pannier, they are $12.99 at The Warehouse. Add some cables ties, a piece of cardboard to protect the seat, and a $3.99 pack of bungee straps and you have a very cheap, and very waterproof, way of getting your laptop to work.

Best wishes to you all.