I've been thinking about it and something like this would be perfect out by my parents' hot tub. It has several issues to overcome though. I'm just trying to brainstorm to see if something like this would be feasible (even with $100-200 of modifications).

1. It would be near a hot tub. People with wet hands would be changing the controls.

2. It rains and there is dew many mornings. There is rarely snow or ice.

3. Cold: it only falls below freezing for a couple weeks a year around here, but lowest temps have been the low teens farenheit.

4. There is also heat (it stays 85-95 for most of August and has on a few occasions risen just above 100 degrees farenheit).

I realize this is outside the recommended use of the product, but I find it likely that there would be some way to make it work. For example, the unit could be encased in plastic to protect it from water, like many of those kits to use regular cameras underwater. Power could be cut if the temperature got too high or too low. Alternately, a small heating coil could turn on if the temp got too low and a fan turn on if it got too high. Any ideas, regardless of how wacky, would be appreciated. I could probably build small circuit boards and stuff if necessary.

-Biscuits

I have the speakers mounted under the eaves out by the hot tub, but the player indoors. I have an IR repeater sitting just inside the kitchen windowsill.

I can't see the player from the hot tub, but as long as I set up the playlist before getting in the tub, the remote is fine for skipping tracks and changing the volume.

I, too, would like to do something where it's mounted properly so I could see it from the tub. The only way I think I could pull it off is if it was behind a window so that it was really inside the house and I only used the remote control with it. We get pretty extreme weather up on our hilltop and I just don't see how I could do it with the receiver actually outside. Anything weatherproof would prevent it from ventilating (and it has an amplifier so it will generate a little heat).

Wouldn't it be possible to use some kind of passive heat transfer to at least match the ambient temperature? I don't know what one would look like, but I'm visualizing something like a computer heatsink built into the side.

It could also be vented somehow, with the vents shielded from the elements.

There are also water cooling kits for computers... Possibly something like that could be used on the cold water line / hot water from the tub.

Hmmm.... There are a lot of possibilities, its just hard to figure out what is feasible....

How waterproof is the remote BTW?

-Biscuits

How waterproof is the remote BTW?

No more waterproof than any other stereo remote. I just make sure not to submerge it. We keep it indoors except when we're actually using it. We set it on the lid that covers the hot tub filters while we're using it, which is the same place I set my drink. It only gets an occasional droplet splashed on it and those don't seem to be a problem. Submersion would kill it, I'm sure, but I won't be doing that.

I've been trying to look at the temperature specs on the Rio Receiver to no avail. It doesn't seem to be listed anywhere. I found the empeg ones though: 5c to 55c operating (40-130f), -20c-60c standby (-4-140f). I have no clue whether the Rio Receiver is anywhere close to it though.

If it does, it seems temperature is less of a worry. If it was just turned off during extreme hot/cold it should be fine... Of course, I don't think there is any automated shutdown, though one could be made pretty easy.

I suppose the real issue then is moisture: rain, wet hands, and the ubiquitous dew. Rain and wet hands could be dealt with by building an enclosure. The dew worries me a bit more though.

-Biscuits

Although I agree that moisture (dew especially) is a concern, don't discount the temperature part of it. Too cold or too hot (or, more importantly, constant cycling between the two extremes) and circuit traces can crack, solder joints can come up, etc. Only units designed for outdoor usage should be subjected to that kind of torture.

As far as the temperatures go, I think the only way to prevent the extremes is to have some kind of temperature regulation to prevent one or both extremes. Nothing seems all that promising here:

HOT WEATHER
1. A heatsink or fan could whisk away heat while the system is running. However, it would, at the most, lower the temperature to ambient. At night, when the unit would be used most often, heat is not (as much of) a concern. However, the fan could possibly help to evaporate condensation (?)
2. You could have design a water cooling system, possibly using the cold water pipe going into the hot tub. I suspect this would only be moderately difficult to implement, but there are a number of complications. In hot weather, it may cause condensation inside. In cold weather, the thing would need to turn off and there is the danger of freezing pipes, among other things. Perhaps most importantly, it would be relatively expensive and possibly difficult to make look decent.

COLD WEATHER
1. You could put the unit under the cover to the hot tub to prevent it from getting cold, but there is a lot of condensation under there and overheating is a definate issue year round.
2. You could design a water heating system. The water is already heated in the hot tub, so it would be possible to try to pump that over. It would be difficult to figure out how to get the water in/out of the hot tub without looking tacky. There is an issue of all the chemicals, etc. in the water. It would also be relatively expensive.

All of these solutions seem difficult to implement. Fortunately, we have pretty mild weather around here. Assuming that a Rio Receiver could survive a couple years of this abuse, it might make sense to simply cross one's fingers and replace it when necessary.

Are the actual temperature tolerances for this unit posted anywhere?

-Biscuits

All of those things sound like WAY too much trouble for a $99.00 player.

Hehe, exactly my conclusion.

I think if one could build a small sealed box that has vents shielded from the rain, a way to still use the controls, and possibly a fan blowing across it, it would be just fine.

-Biscuits

I think the fan would be too much trouble.

The main thing I'd be worried about is mains voltage - you don't want that anywhere near water!

The receiver itself runs totally from 12v - inside, there's the PSU and 4 wires (2 ground, 2 power) running to the main board.

In theory, you could remove the mains PSU, recase it somewhere else (or use another 12v psu) and just run 12v out to the receiver. For full volume you need something like 3.5A at 12v.

This would make it a lot safer to use outdoors; the backlight runs at ~2kV but it's very low current and hard to touch (ie, behind the front plastics).

I don't think you'd have any temperature issues beyond LCD contrast when very cold or hot. External PSU and some sort of waterproofing is probably the best option.

Hugo

In reply to:

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In theory, you could remove the mains PSU, recase it somewhere else (or use another 12v psu) and just run 12v out to the receiver. For full volume you need something like 3.5A at 12v.

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Hmm, this 3.5A 12Volt requirement wouldn't be the reason the fire sale Empegs came with 3.5 Amp transformers from the mumble mumble device?

An updated Receiver in the wings?

...wouldn't be the reason...

Nah.