Hardware - Preventing Moisture, Vibration and Corrosion

[SkipperDon]

    I’m curious how people are protecting their Raspberry Pi onboard. Freshwater or salt, boats are still pretty good at destroying electronics, and I’d like to give mine a fighting chance.
What are you all using for enclosures to keep the Pi safe from moisture, vibration, and corrosion?
Are you going with IP‑rated boxes, custom 3D‑printed cases, Pelican‑style micro cases, or something else entirely?
Also, how are you keeping everything sealed while still allowing for heat management and cable access?
Drip loops? Cable glands? Vent plugs? Magic? I’m open to ideas.
Would love to hear what’s working (or not working) for you on your boats.
Thanks!

[Boatingbaileys]

Mines inside the boat and never been in a waterproof case, same goes for the Pi3 and Pi4 I ran. Where are you planning to install yours?

[SkipperDon]

I’ve got an opening in the helm behind the gauges where I’m planning to tuck the electronics. Everything is water‑resistant, but that space doesn’t get much airflow. I’m debating whether adding a small exhaust fan would help or just invite more moisture and corrosion into the party—especially for the connections and the Raspberry Pi.
Part of me thinks I’m being sensible… the other part thinks I’m inventing problems faster than I can solve them.

[mikekolling]

I’m curious how people are protecting their Raspberry Pi onboard. Freshwater or salt, boats are still pretty good at destroying electronics, and I’d like to give mine a fighting chance.
What are you all using for enclosures to keep the Pi safe from moisture, vibration, and corrosion?
Are you going with IP‑rated boxes, custom 3D‑printed cases, Pelican‑style micro cases, or something else entirely?
Also, how are you keeping everything sealed while still allowing for heat management and cable access?
Drip loops? Cable glands? Vent plugs? Magic? I’m open to ideas.
Would love to hear what’s working (or not working) for you on your boats.
Thanks!

i wonder if an ip65 case will cause it to overheat due to no air flow? I had so much problems with RPI5 with overheating as mine was fitted inside a windscreen a bit like yours. I switched to a Orange Pi 5 as it is much much better with the heat although it was a total pain in the arris to find a decent operating system to run on it. It is also insanely faster than the rpi 5.  I tried the RPI5 under the dashboard and in several places and just found it untrustworthy and on a boat that wont do. I think thats the difference between sailboats where the thing is indoors and motor boats where it needs to be outside or at least in the cockpit under a hood.

[Boatingbaileys]

Mine is inside a box thats designed to house a axiom or similar which is inside the boat, so its similar in that it doesn't get any airflow. I think if you dont get water in that space, then i would keep it simple, they aren't expensive items and see how you go. You need an active cooler i think or you need to look at the large passive heatsink options.

Get it to record some data and see how hot the space gets and also the Pi.

[SkipperDon]

Mine is inside a box thats designed to house a axiom or similar which is inside the boat, so its similar in that it doesn't get any airflow. I think if you dont get water in that space, then i would keep it simple, they aren't expensive items and see how you go. You need an active cooler i think or you need to look at the large passive heatsink options.

Get it to record some data and see how hot the space gets and also the Pi.

Based on your suggestion, to record the temperature i could use the raspberry pi 4 with Pican-m hat.  Use the internal temperature of the pi to see how hot it gets. AI suggested that I:
Open a terminal to record the following
vcgencmd measure_temp
watch -n 60 vcgencmd measure_temp
#this records the temperature every minute
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> temp_log.csv
  sleep 60
done
#this writes it to a temporary log file
#the AI says that most Pi throttle at 80 C geez if it was big enough I cook some eggs eh

oops, I tried this out an two things I need to fix immediately.  First I think this should be in the pi log file directory and I believe this should be persistent
#!/bin/bash
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> /home/pi/logs/pi_temp.csv
  sleep 60
done

chmod +x /home/pi/scripts/log_temp.sh

[PaddyB]

Mine is inside a box thats designed to house a axiom or similar which is inside the boat, so its similar in that it doesn't get any airflow. I think if you dont get water in that space, then i would keep it simple, they aren't expensive items and see how you go. You need an active cooler i think or you need to look at the large passive heatsink options.

Get it to record some data and see how hot the space gets and also the Pi.

Based on your suggestion, to record the temperature i could use the raspberry pi 4 with Pican-m hat.  Use the internal temperature of the pi to see how hot it gets. AI suggested that I:
Open a terminal to record the following
vcgencmd measure_temp
watch -n 60 vcgencmd measure_temp
#this records the temperature every minute
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> temp_log.csv
  sleep 60
done
#this writes it to a temporary log file
#the AI says that most Pi throttle at 80 C geez if it was big enough I cook some eggs eh

oops, I tried this out an two things I need to fix immediately.  First I think this should be in the pi log file directory and I believe this should be persistent
#!/bin/bash
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> /home/pi/logs/pi_temp.csv
  sleep 60
done

chmod +x /home/pi/scripts/log_temp.sh

there's a signalk app to do all that for you in the app store, then another record everything to influxdb to view. 
https://github.com/sberl/signalk-rpi-monitor

[SkipperDon]

I’m looking at one of those “IP67 waterproof but also vented” outdoor electrical boxes for my next OpenPlotter build, and I’m wondering if anyone here has actually used this style of enclosure. The marketing claims it’s fully waterproof, dustproof, marine‑ready, and then casually mentions it has vents—which at first sounded like “waterproof, except for the holes,” but apparently the vents use a Gore‑Tex‑style membrane so air and heat get out while water and crud stay outside where they belong. On paper it seems perfect for keeping a Raspberry Pi from cooking itself inside a sealed box, but before I start drilling holes and routing cables like a caffeinated shipwright, I’d love to hear if anyone has tried this enclosure with OpenPlotter and how it holds up in real marine conditions.

[SkipperDon]

Mine is inside a box thats designed to house a axiom or similar which is inside the boat, so its similar in that it doesn't get any airflow. I think if you dont get water in that space, then i would keep it simple, they aren't expensive items and see how you go. You need an active cooler i think or you need to look at the large passive heatsink options.

Get it to record some data and see how hot the space gets and also the Pi.

Based on your suggestion, to record the temperature i could use the raspberry pi 4 with Pican-m hat.  Use the internal temperature of the pi to see how hot it gets. AI suggested that I:
Open a terminal to record the following
vcgencmd measure_temp
watch -n 60 vcgencmd measure_temp
#this records the temperature every minute
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> temp_log.csv
  sleep 60
done
#this writes it to a temporary log file
#the AI says that most Pi throttle at 80 C geez if it was big enough I cook some eggs eh

oops, I tried this out an two things I need to fix immediately.  First I think this should be in the pi log file directory and I believe this should be persistent
#!/bin/bash
while true; do
  echo "$(date), $(vcgencmd measure_temp)" >> /home/pi/logs/pi_temp.csv
  sleep 60
done

chmod +x /home/pi/scripts/log_temp.sh

there's a signalk app to do all that for you in the app store, then another record everything to influxdb to view. 
https://github.com/sberl/signalk-rpi-monitor

can this signalk-rpi-monitor be installed in signal k?

[beercansailor]

I’m looking at one of those “IP67 waterproof but also vented” outdoor electrical boxes for my next OpenPlotter build, and I’m wondering if anyone here has actually used this style of enclosure. The marketing claims it’s fully waterproof, dustproof, marine‑ready, and then casually mentions it has vents—which at first sounded like “waterproof, except for the holes,” but apparently the vents use a Gore‑Tex‑style membrane so air and heat get out while water and crud stay outside where they belong. On paper it seems perfect for keeping a Raspberry Pi from cooking itself inside a sealed box, but before I start drilling holes and routing cables like a caffeinated shipwright, I’d love to hear if anyone has tried this enclosure with OpenPlotter and how it holds up in real marine conditions.

A buoy tracking product, which is deployed in a marine environment, uses IP67 boxes, and 'breather plugs' successfully through a few winter storms and months of sunshine, rain,  waves and weather.

• Project: race buoy tracker, https://github.com/guthip/Meshtastic-sol...y-tracking 
  
• Box: Waterproof Outdoor Project ABS Plastic Junction Box IP67, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ2ZXRKS?ref...title&th=1 
  
• Breather plugs: Breather Plug M12x15 Venting Screw in Vents for Solar G-PS Tracker Box, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLJHPP7N?ref...asin_title 
  

The breather plugs are needed to allow compression/decompression through cold/warm cycles, while still keeping the water out. If you don't use such plugs, the air inside will expand and get out through the seals.

So far, these boxes are holding up just fine.