1W Car roof Meshtastic Node - Wisblock RAK19007 1W

I designed a housing that can potentially be weatherproof/waterproof if built right.

This Prin file is a slight modification of my Original car node to allow space for the Rak 1-watt board. This housing will still work without the 1W board and will also work with the Rak WisBlock mini (rak19003), but will only use two mounting posts.

 You can find the parts list below. 

Note that this isn’t intended to be 100% self sustaining, as the solar panel is quite small, but rather intended to give weeks or months of use before recharging is needed. That said, I have run this on my truck, and the battery hasn’t gone below 60%. I do live in a very sunny part of southern USA, though
 

For best results, print the housing out of ASA-CF, ASA, or even PETG.

Instructions:

After printing, spray a light coat of the sealant on, let it dry, and repeat.

After the sealant has completely dried, install the solar panel by putting a generous amount of glue around the solar panel hole. This will effectively use the solar panel to waterproof that hole. I recommend checking the spacing between the N-type antenna and solar panel before gluing, as it is tight. 

Make sure you have already soldered wires to the solar panel if you got the ones that didn’t come with pre-soldered wires.

Use a generous amount of glue for the magnets. A tip to get the magnets flush is to glue them in, and then put packing or painters tape over them, then lay the cover down on something magnetic (your car, washing machine, etc.). The tape will prevent the glue from sticking to your car, etc. while it's drying, and the metal will pull the magnets flush.

Then use a soldering iron to install the threaded inserts (Tutorial)

After that, install the wisblock, glue in the battery tray, install the antenna, and solder all the wires as needed. 

The TPU parts include a gasket to help water-seal the housing, and the TPU protective cover can help prevent the magnets from scratching your car.

Make sure to only power on the unit if the LoRa and Bluetooth antennas are installed. Powering on without an antenna can ruin your board.

After everything is installed, I typically paint the unit a lighter color so that the sun doesn't bake my black filament housing and potentially cause issues with the battery. Make sure to tape off the solar panel with painter's tape. Once all that is done, I spray the whole thing, including the underside (solar panel still taped off), with one more coat of water sealant.

As a last step, I spray two coats of Gorilla Rubber sealant on the bottom to protect the car from getting scratched. This works much better than a TPU sheet

Feel free to reach out to me at TheTinkerBadger@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, or if you would like to buy one ready-made.

Parts list:

N-type antenna and N-type Female to UFL/IPEX pigtail

OR

SMA Lora antenna and Waterproof SMA to UFL connector

Clear waterproofing sealant for housing (do not use something that requires a porous surface) This may work too but I haven't tested it.

Rubber sealant for the bottom surface

Glue such as E6000

Magnets for the cover plate 60mm x 10mm x 3mm

M3 Screws

M3 threaded inserts for plastic M3x4.6x5.7

Solar panels

The WisMesh 1W booster Starter Kit or The RAK19007 Wisblock or The RAK19003 Wisblock

Connector wires for the solar and battery ports

Battery tray for 18650

I typically don't recommend getting 18650 batteries from Amazon, as they are overpriced and usually low quality. If you must use Amazon, these may work. However, these are much better (or really any from this store)

You can also use a 1s Lipo battery like a 103450, such as this one. Check Polarity!!!

MAKE SURE THE POLARITY IS CORRECT ON THE PLUG! The plug is sometimes wired backwards. You can use a small pin or knife to gently lift the retaining tabs on the wire to switch them around if they are wrong. The Wisblocks have the positive side towards the middle of the board.

VERIFY CORRECT POLARITY!

A cheap-ish soldering iron set