Service Manual iFLEX2 with iSCOUT expert compact
58 50 650 69 0101E_REV D (GROVE RT-TM).DOC / Rev. D / 2015-11-20 / JPD
17 TROUBLESHOOTING MOISTURE
The PAT iFLEX LMI contains electronic components in various locations, such as central unit, sensors,
junction boxes etc. These internal components cannot be designed to withstand exposure to moisture over
a longer period of time. For this reason, the housings of the components are water protected according to
IP 65. If you find water or moisture inside any of the housings, the source for the water ingress has to be
detected and corrected to ensure proper operation.
There are two major possibilities for the occurrence of excessive moisture inside an enclosure:
Water ingress
Condensation
This outline gives instructions for detecting the cause for excessive moisture by using simple
troubleshooting methods and how to prevent the moisture ingress from happening again.
17.1 WATER INGRESS
There are different possibilities for water ingress. It is possible to find out the source of water ingress by
going through the following steps and ruling out one possibility after the other until the cause is identified:
1) Spray Cleaning
The enclosures used for the PAT LMI system are water protected to IP 65. This means protection against the
environment, such as rain. However, through the use of spray cleaner at short distances, it is possible to
force water through the gasket or strain relieves. For this reason, avoid spraying any components from short
distances with spray cleaners. Convey this fact to any member of a maintenance crew.
2) Missing / Loose Screws
All screws have to be present and to be equally tight to ensure water protection of the enclosure. If there are
screws missing, replace them. If no screw is missing, check the tightness. If any were loose, then open all
screws and then re-tighten them equally.
3) Bent Lid
An enclosure will only seal correctly if the lid is not bent. To check this, loosen all screws of the lid, take the lid
off the box and visually inspect it for deflection. If the lid is bent or damaged, it needs to be replaced. Try to
determine what has caused the lid to be bent and eliminate the reason for that. Order a new lid through your
PAT representative.
4) Defective Gasket
The gasket underneath the lid seals the unit. The gasket needs to be in good condition in order to seal
correctly. If the gasket is torn, brittle or severely bent, it needs to be replaced. Order a new gasket through
your PAT representative.
5) Loose Strain Relieves
The strain relieves allow cabling to enter the box without allowing water to enter it. The strain relieves have to
be correctly tightened in order to do this. Check the tightness by taking the external cable into one hand and
carefully trying to turn it. If the internal wires turn with the outer cable, the strain relief is loose. Get a new
grommet (insert) through your PAT representative and replace the existing one with the new one. Tighten the
strain relief correctly. Note: Whenever a strain relief is opened, i.e. to replace a cable, a new grommet needs
to be used. Never re-use any grommet or the strain relief will not seal properly!
6) Water Entry Through External Cabling
Even with a tight strain relief, water may still enter the box through the inside of the cable. In this case, you
have to find out why and where water enters the cable. Look for damages to the cable itself and inspect the
opposite side of the cable. In example, if the cable comes from a connector that is full of water, the water will
run through the inside of the cable and fill up the central unit, too.
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