Waterproofing a Flat Screen??

[Ted Appleberry]

So I have a Hot tub and I also have a 18" flat panel monitor I would love too hookup above the tub. I am wondering if there is a way to "waterproof" the monitor so I can mount it above the tub? I live in Santa Barbara, CA where the weather is normally very sunny and in addition I am currently building a gazebo to go around\over the tub.. Could I have a plexiglass box built with some sort of grometted hole for the wires to run out or is that crazy talk? Thanks! TED!

[AJScott]

No, but mounting a huge elecrical appiance over a big tub of water -- now that's crazy talk.

There are more dignified and intelligent ways to kill yourself, IMO.

AJS

[Tim or Marty Shephard]

Doesn't your shower have a light? Most pools have lights. I would think it could be done safely if completely thought out. I would think an inspector would allow a SOLID wall, with a plexiglass panel with the panel screen securely set into it from the back. Make it so NO controls are accessible from in the tub, or even reaching around the back of the wall from the tub (like you would have to have 5 foot arms). Outside, must be GFI anyway, if designed for touch protection, and so unit must (if ever) fall away from the water, what's the differrence from that and a porch light?

Tim S.

"waterproof"

[John McGaw]

It is probably doable but probably not as easy as you might think. Yes, a sealed plastic box would do the job -- think about an underwater camera housing and you get the idea. BUT, and this is a really big but, your flat panel monitor is not a passive device and generates heat from the internal light source and circuitry -- place it in a sealed box and it would likely suffer complete failure pretty quickly. So the problem becomes one of keeping water away from where it would do damage and simultaneously allowing sufficient air circulation to allow proper cooling. I suspect that it could be done without much trouble but without knowing all the particulars (and having a sacrificial monitor to kill in the course of testing) I wouldn't want to venture any "easy" solutions beyond suggesting that a small fan might be needed to help in the cooling.

[Ted Appleberry]

Trust me, I would mount this sucker in very tight, in addition I was going to mount it so it was not directly above the tub but off to the side a little.

[Ted Appleberry]

I thought this could be doable as well. I would have the plexi box professionally created.. There is a guy in town who does wonders.. My only concern would be "fogging" from the heat? I just got back from snowboarding and was rubbing my goggles off 1/2 the time.. Would the heat cause condensation to build up inside the plexi box even if it was sealed??

[Ted Appleberry]

Good call on the fan... That would be a must.. The question is would a sealed plexiglass box with some sort of special fan do the trick?

I have a vision gentleman; Sunday's in the hot tub watching football and drinking beers..

[John Hines]

You would have to add an air dryer, think of those little packets that say "do not eat" in your tech toys, but bigger.

Now find one that has a quarter to half pound of the packets inside, which can be re-charged by placing it in the oven at 220f for 8-12 hours. These are commonly used by mechanics and machinists for drying out toolboxes.

Put one of these inside your sealed box, swap out when it fogs up. You will need to have some way for heat to escape, and for the air pressure to equalize.

But that should keep a mostly sealed box from fogging up.

[John Hines]

A low voltage (ie 12vdc) unit, think mobile home, rv or boat applications, would remove most of the safety problems with 120 v electrical around water. The power supply can be located away from the water.

[BinaryBillThesailor]

Thermospas sells hot tubs with entertainment systems built in, so it's at least possible to do. It's possible that they, or another company sell a complete (and U.L. approved?) setup with all the problems already worked out.

BB

[Halvey]

[John Hines]

Yeah, but I knew I couldn't spell it right.