Condensation in keypad makes system go crazy. Anyone ever hear of this?

[Roveer]

We had a customer call us this weekend after his alarm started beeping
at all the panels. He went to the basement pulled the power and all
the batteries to get it to stop. He made a real mess. The alarm
company came out this morning and found one of the keypads was soaking
wet inside. The display was fogged up and the PCB was definetly wet.
There was crystalization next to one of the chips which leads me to
believe this has happened before.

Question here is, what caused this? They insist they did not get this
keypad wet in any way. There is no indication of water in or down the
wall. All I can figure is this:

The homeowner has the inside temperature of the house set to 67
degrees F. Yes, it's actually set and making 67 degrees. The hallway
in question is probably a little cooler than that because it is right
off the main trunk and pretty well shaded, so lets say 65 degrees.

The keypad in question is right next to the garage door and the
outside garage doors are open almost all the time. The only thing I
can figure is that they had the door open (homeowner admits to
probably 15 minutes), and that the outside air (here in NJ for the
past two weeks it's been in the high 80's with 90-100% humidity) mixed
with the cold inside air and immediatly condensated on this keypad.

Has anyone ever seen this happen before? Our alarm guy says never in
18 years. Just wondering how this thing got soaked.

Thanks

 

[David Kratz]

We had a customer call us this weekend after his alarm started beeping
at all the panels.

This is very common with the OLD ITI CareTaker Keypads (not the plus).... It
was never fixed.

 

[Petem]

We had a customer call us this weekend after his alarm started beeping
at all the panels. He went to the basement pulled the power and all
the batteries to get it to stop. He made a real mess. The alarm
company came out this morning and found one of the keypads was soaking
wet inside. The display was fogged up and the PCB was definetly wet.
There was crystalization next to one of the chips which leads me to
believe this has happened before.

Question here is, what caused this? They insist they did not get this
keypad wet in any way. There is no indication of water in or down the
wall. All I can figure is this:

This happened to me at a refrigerated warehouse were the entry was not
heated during the summer times
the keypads were going bad after just a few month...here in montreal
humidity level are most of the time in the 80% during long period of
time..(that's why I have 15000 btu in AC in the apartment..;-) )

so this entry is always between 2 world the hot and humid and the cold and
dry....

so if the entry is not open for a long time the temp is going around 50 F
(its minus 5 inside) then when someone leave the door open too long..(taking
a smoke) the whole entry hall is getting wet..

there is nothing you can do against it except one thing..heat the
keypad!!(that's what I did )I took the heating parts of cameras and put them
behind the electronic of the keypad(was dsc pc4020 keypad) I kept the
thermostat and glued it to the back of the keypad below the heater..

never had to change the keypad again..

 

[Frank Olson]

I'd be really concerned about the state of the insulation in the affected
wall... If there's enough condensation you could wind up with some "killer"
mold. If there's no other possible source, your best bet is to ensure the
vapour barrier is properly sealed (at the keypad). You'll have to replace
it too by the way...

--
Frank E. Olson
http://www.alt-security-alarms.com
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Please visit the unofficial web site to view FAQ and participant
information.

 

[Larry Korenchan]

Warm, humid air is probably blowing in from the hole in the wall where the
cable passes into the keypad and even around the keyboard's wall anchors.
The airflow could be caused by the HVAC system or an over-sized power roof
vent causing a negative air pressure within the house, and its sucking
outside air in from anywhere it can. The keypad housing is colder than the
humid air and the moisture is condensating within.

I have seen a similar problem with walk-in coolers and freezers where the
glass domes protecting the incandescent or fluorescent lights fill with
water; in the freezers the bulbs shatter after the water level reaches the
bulb and the water inside the dome has frozen. After the cooler door is
closed, the refrigeration lowers the air temp inside and it causes a vacuum
when the air volume shrinks, thus sucking outside air into the cooler. It
is always caused by the electrician who forgot to fill the conduit poke-thru
with RTV silicone to stop the airflow to the light fixture inside.