06 adding smoked plexi glare and rain cover
06 adding smoked plexi glare and rain cover:
I immediately discovered the mk1 combiner volt meters were difficult to read in daylight, but didn't have any
good way to fix that. With the new enclosures however, I planned to use some tinted plexi I had used on a
previous project to protect the meters from the glare. The meters were glued to be flush with the front of
the case, so I just cut the plexi to the width/length of the case, ran a bead of glue around the meters, and
lowered the plexi down. This makes the meters much easier to read in daylight, as well as protecting the
combiner from rain entering through the meter holes. I could have done more to waterproof the meters, but
that would not have solved the glare problem, so this one change fixes both problems, and I think the glossy
black top gives the combiners a sharp look.
These listings seem to come and go, just search for 'acrylic sheet' and find one that's 1/8" thick that is
tinted / smoked grey. Plexi cracks easily, I recommend cutting it with a small toothed band saw.
Although I cut a piece of plexi to cover the string combiner, I found that the tint was too strong and made
the meter very difficult to read. Being backlit, that meter didn't suffer as much from glare, so I just need
to focus on waterproofing it. The outer bezel of the meter should be waterproof, but not where the screen
meets the bezel nor the hole for the reset button. I may just end up covering it with some heavy packing tape
since that will waterproof the entire bezel while still allowing the reset button to be pressed.
