[RE-wrenches] Midnite Powerflo16 Enclosure Rust Issues

[Ray Walters]

I've seen corrosion like that on most NEMA 3 rated stuff, in Puerto 
Rico, Florida, and Hawaii.  Close to the coast, any regular steel is 
going to have problems.  Powder coating is better than paint, but its 
still steel underneath.  Changing the hardware to 416 Stainless might 
help some, too.

Ray Walters
Remote Solar

On 8/29/2025 12:34 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar via RE-wrenches wrote:
>
> Call Midnite???  No rust out here in Nevada😉
>
>   
> *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" 
> <http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/>https://offgridsolar1.com/ 
> <https://offgridsolar1.com/><http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/> 
> e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net text 209 813 0060*
>
>
> On 2025-08-28 4:54 pm, Jason Szumlanski via RE-wrenches wrote:
>
>> We have five PF16 installed outdoors at a home. It has been only 2 
>> weeks and I'm seeing rust forming around some cover screws (both the 
>> top cover and front cover). The brackets are also showing some rust 
>> spots, and under the rims of the top cover I'm seeing rust spots that 
>> look like they are from small metal shavings. We also found minor 
>> rust around a prepunched knockout immediately after removing the 
>> protective plastic cap.
>> This all happened after they had been mounted outdoors for two weeks, 
>> but no conduit had been installed yet and the top covers hadn't even 
>> been opened once.
>> Is anyone else seeing these issues? I'm pretty concerned that my 
>> customer won't accept this early defect, and I have lots of outdoor 
>> installations planned for other customers.
>> P.S. This is not a coastal location (although all of Florida is kind 
>> of coastal). Regardless, it's IP65 and should withstand a typical 
>> outdoor installation.
>> Jason Szumlanski
>> Florida Solar Design Group
>>
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