GORE^® Protective Vents’ Membrane Technology Offers Reliable Condensation Management Solutions

Outdoor electronics enclosures need to withstand weather changes. But certain changes can challenge both the housing’s exterior and interior. For example, when a cold front collides with a humid (moisture-laden) warm front, any airborne moisture will condense into precipitation. This process doesn’t just affect a housing’s exterior. Any airborne moisture within the enclosure will also condense into small water droplets.

Condensation in outdoor enclosures creates problems: it can fog, blur or dim lenses, and threaten to corrode electronic components. This can compromise the performance and lifespan of everything from outdoor lighting, security cameras or control panels to solar, energy-grid components or telecommunication systems, as well as heavy-duty equipment.

Current trends make preventing condensation in outdoor enclosures more important than ever. For example:

• Unlike conventional lamps, LED lighting generates less heat, creating a cold spot at the lens that encourages humidity to build up into condensation. The LED benefits — energy-efficiency and bulb life — can easily be cancelled out if condensation causes premature lamp failure, and more frequent, more costly maintenance calls or warranty claims. 
• As electronic devices of all types integrate more components and functions into smaller housings, they become more vulnerable to condensation-induced corrosion. At the same time, customers expect these higher-value assemblies will deliver more reliable performance over longer times. It’s particularly true for can’t-fail systems involving telecommunications, energy grid or security functions … as well as agricultural or industrial operations where heavy-equipment failure can bring everything to a grinding halt. 
   

Old attempts to use a through-hole or tube as a humidity vent could actually worsen condensation by creating an entry path for rain, splashes or fluids, along with other contaminants. Gore created a breakthrough solution when it developed the first engineered ePTFE membrane designed to improve an enclosure’s ventilation and airflow, which in turn could enable better condensation control. This initial membrane technology has since evolved into the advanced venting solutions you can find in our current product portfolio. 

GORE® Protective Vents Adhesive Series, Snap-In Series and Screw-In Series enable effective, ongoing condensation reduction across the whole range of outdoor electronic enclosures and applications.

How to prevent condensation in enclosures? Keep rain and liquids from entering and make sure the humidity can exit before it accumulates into condensation. It sounds simple, yet the GORE Membrane, which is at the heart of all GORE Protective Vents, is based on some very complex engineering. Made of 100% ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene) this membrane’s proprietary microstructure has pores small enough to block entry of water, fluids, dust, dirt, salts and other contaminants. Yet at the same time, these pores are large enough to allow molecules of air and gases — including humidity (moisture vapor) —  to exit the enclosure. This not only reduces the chance of condensation build-up, but also equalizes pressures that could otherwise stress enclosure seals to fail and admit even more moisture.

This breathable barrier membrane is especially important in reducing outdoor LED light condensation. In LED lights particularly, condensation brings the risk of performance-threatening corrosion. There’s another reason customers ask us how to stop condensation in outdoor lights:  the condensation carries with it dust, smog or dirt that can streak or fog the lens, dimming lamp illumination and making nighttime transit or working conditions potentially more hazardous.

Those same reasons — potential for corrosion, and for foggy or streaked lenses — make it equally important to have long-lasting, effective venting to prevent security camera condensation. Really, anywhere sealed-box condensation is an issue, GORE Protective Vents are the solution.

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All GORE Protective Vents for outdoor electronics have been fully tested by independent laboratories and are certified to withstand a wide range of environmental challenges. In particular, these vents perform durably in high-humidity testing, and are designed to provide a range of Ingress Protection levels — including resistance to extended immersion — to meet different application needs.

• Public, Commercial and Industrial Lighting
• Telecommunications Towers, Systems and Components
• Solar, Energy Grid and Batteries
• Heavy-Duty Construction, Material Handling and Agricultural Equipment
• Surveillance, Security, Tracking and Monitoring Systems