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How "Waterproof" Is Helix?


MelThorpe
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Has anyone had an experience with spills on their Helix boards yet? I gigged with the POD HD Pro and the shortboard for years and had plenty of beers spilled on it and had it in a couple inches of water and worked great.

 

Now I switched to the floor version of the helix and I am wondering what I may need to do to protect it.

 

DI, I know there is a video for beating it up, but was there any testing done with liquid? Has anyone experienced spills? Has anyone come up with a setup for stage to help protect it like a sneeze guard?

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I would obviously highly recommend keeping it dry as possible, but I have gotten 2 units wet with no issue.  Last year at Sweetwater's GearFest, everything got rained out.  We were in tents and Helix was on a table so it was safe at first.  But when everything dried up and condensed on the poles of the tent, 2 Helix units got dripped on all night.  We came back to standing water on them.  We dried them off and let them sit for a little while and they worked just fine.  

 

The top of Helix seems pretty well sealed.  The area with the treadle was the only area I think water was able to get inside.  

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Thanks for the info. I does look sealed pretty well, but I'm not really ready to spill a few beers on it to test it. 

 

:D

 

It sounds like I shouldn't have to wrap it in a plastic bag or anything at least and that's what I was wondering. I am going to put a dummy monitor in front of it as well to at least keep people a couple feet away, but there are a few places where we play on the floor. 

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It is not really sealed to be waterproof. Also pedal cut out give you complete access to the Helix interiors. Of course it will keep working for small spills...but this is not going to make your PCBs happy on the long term.

I would really take care to not spill anything on top of your helix...;)

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Most electronics hate water. Most water is conductive and current then flows where it should not. Helix not a submarine, so I would not chance fate and wet it down if at all possible ....

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Most electronics hate water. Most water is conductive and current then flows where it should not. Helix not a submarine, so I would not chance fate and wet it down if at all possible ....

 

LOL, yeah that's fairly obvious, I am just curious as to what people have had happen and the results so I can determine the steps I need to take to protect it. 

 

:D

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...

 

The top of Helix seems pretty well sealed.  The area with the treadle was the only area I think water was able to get inside.  

 

Have always thought that the slot for the pedal should have been isolated with a plastic sleeve or separate compartment for just this reason.

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LOL, yeah that's fairly obvious, I am just curious as to what people have had happen and the results so I can determine the steps I need to take to protect it. 

 

:D

Well if its fairly obvious not to wet Helix down why even ask? The answer is also obvious, keep it dry... There. Im obviously correct...  :P

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Its fairly obvious that electronics hate water. My question is in regards to experience and outcome. That's why I asked. Do I need to keep it in a bubble or does it seem to handle spills well. It was not a question of electronics liking water or not. 

 

:wub:

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I came home to find this....

 

FullSizeRender-2-X3.jpg

 

 

I guess my dog liked it soo much he marked it as his ...

 

I still have the plastic on the LED screens...no damage...

 

Good to hear the Helix survived this. I will consider this a remarkably close approximation to a spilled beer test, functionally and substantively equivalent to spilling a Pabst Blue Ribbon on your Helix.  ;)

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Good to hear the Helix survived this. I will consider this a remarkably close approximation to a spilled beer test, functionally and substantively equivalent to spilling a Pabst Blue Ribbon on your Helix.

The next logical question is would it fare better or worse with a really hoppy micro-brew? If you're gonna investigate, investigate. ;)

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  • 1 year later...

So I unfortunately have a good amount of knowledge about spilled drinks / liquid accidents on electronics.  I have found that electronics are incredibly resilient to liquid spills.  

 

The damage that occurs to your electronics when your device meets liquid is:

  •  directly correlated with what kind of liquid was spilled on your device.
  • Device is on or off.  Hopefully your device is off when the spill occurs
  • If device was on, were you able to turn it off before the liquid penetrates into the circuitry. 
  • Adequate dry time.  For devices that are taken apart completely to dry, a dry time of over night is sufficient, however if you leave your device as is, up to a week of dry time is recommended in a well ventilated area.  

If drinking water is spilled onto your helix while it is off, your helix will be 99% fine given adequate dry time.  If a beer / soda / sticky sugary liquid / any sufficiently dirty liquid (ie rain water dripping through old dirty wood) fall into your helix or device circuitry, there is a high chance that a residue will be left on the circuitry when it drys off interfering with electrical connections preventing your device from working correctly.  This isn't device ending damage as residues can be cleaned through taking the device apart and cleaning it with distilled water.  Device ending damage occurs when resistors / transistors / inductors / and integrated circuits and chips take damage causing them to short.  Even here, if you are dedicated enough you can replace these parts and get your device working again.  Although this process of replacing electrical parts can be so time consuming and mentally exhausting that it is not worth it. 

 

For the most part electrical short damage occurs when liquids with high TDS (total dissolved solids) interact with the electronics over a period of time when the device is on.  That is why it is so important that if something spills on your device while it is on that it gets shut off immediately.  

 

I have spilled a full beer into my Marshall AVT 275 while it was on,  turned it off immediately, let it try, took it apart and soaked the circuit boards in distilled water overnight, let it dry adequately and put it back together and it worked fine.  I spilled 12 ounces of whiskey sour, which is arguably the most sticky drink onto my Corsair K95 Mechanical keyboard while it was on and wasn't able to unplug it for at least 30 seconds.  I took it apart, soaked it in distilled water, put it back together and it works fine to this day.  I actually made a couple YouTube videos documenting the rescue.  I can post it if people are interested in seeing it.

 

So to take away from this long post, don't spill stupid stuff on your helix.  Do not put food / drinks near your device or let any drunk people with liquid in there hands near your gear.  Good habits like this will keep your devices working much longer!

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