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1st winter with Observatory

Equipment Observatory Weather
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Mossyback avatar
Mossyback avatar
I finished my new ROR observatory (8’x10’) this past Spring and I need suggestions as we enter into winter. We’ve just had our 1st snowfall and I have a couple of concerns and I would like some input from those of you in a similar situation.

1. I used 2.5 inch brush weather protection to keep insects out. It worked extremely well. Now, with blowing snow etc. I’m concerned that the plastic fibers will freeze to the building and when the roof is rolled off they will rip off.

2. If there is ice build up on the rails, it will cause problems with opening and closing the roof.

I’m thinking of using a tarp on the roof large enough to hang down and protect the gap between the roof and the walls. (Flat roof) For the rails I could wrap them in plastic, bungeed on. 

I’m hoping for some tried and true methods that others in a similar situation have developed that would be better than what I’m proposing.

Hank
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Bill McLaughlin avatar
Bill McLaughlin avatar
I used brush seals when I first built mine back in 2002. They were OK but did not  really seal that effectively and I still got flies and such inside. When I rebuilt the roof to be higher several years later, I largely got rid of them and just went with a larger vertical overlap of the top part of the roof on the sides and used "U" shaped sections of 1/16 EPDM rubber for the end (compression) seals. No change in insects, never had a scrap of snow inside, and no ice jamming. I do clear the roof and tracks of snow if I am going to image when that is present but that is mainly to keep it from blowing onto the optics. OTOH, since the winter seeing is often awful, I seldom image under those conditions anymore.
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Noah Tingey avatar
Noah Tingey avatar
Regarding the brush seals: I know that silicone lubricant spray is sometimes used to prevent ice buildup on brushes and seals in agricultural equipment and for garage door weather stripping. Alternatively, you could buy a UHMW polyethylene tape and apply strips along the surface you worry about the brushes getting frozen onto. Ice shouldn't stick to UHMW PE tape. And it should be easier to remove and require less maintenance than silicone spray.

For ice build up on the rails, I'm not sure I can picture what you mean if they're wrapped in plastic. Are they the normal, garage-door style rails that you see on many RORs? I would consider adhering self-regulating electric heating cables to the rails. Something like this, though note that I haven't checked whether this product is the exact right one for this use case, so check the spec sheets.
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Noah Tingey avatar
Noah Tingey avatar
Also, since your roof is flat – do you have gutters or anything installed to prevent liquid from falling into your obs as the roof rolls off?
Mossyback avatar
Mossyback avatar
The roof is flat but with a slight taper to allow for water run off. I hadn’t considered the silicone spray and that could certainly be an option. I had thought about using electric heating cables. I could route out a groove in the 4x4’s under the rails for the cables and melt any accumulation of ice. Thanks for the input Noah.
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