What is water-ingress condition?
Water that has got past a seal into a space meant to stay dry — fogging, droplets, standing water and wet connections — and how an inspector decides how far it has reached.
Water-ingress condition means water has got past a seal, gasket, cable entry or connector boot into a space that is meant to stay dry. It shows as fogging or droplets inside a lens, tide marks, standing water or silt in a base can, water in a connector boot or cable joint, and wet or corroded connections.
Ingress is a path problem: drying the asset does not stop it coming back unless the entry path is found and fixed. Minor ingress is dried, checked and monitored. Major ingress, where a seal or entry has failed, is dried out, the seal or part replaced and the path fixed, with a new O-ring or gasket fitted whenever a fixture is opened. Water that reaches connectors, joints, transformers or live parts, or shows up as low insulation resistance or an earth fault, is critical and made safe first.
Water inside a sealed space after getting past a seal or entry. It can come and go with the weather and may be present before any metal is visibly attacked.
The slow chemical attack on metal that moisture often causes. It is the result left behind, and shows that water has been present for some time.
- Make the area safe. Work under the permit-to-work. Wet equipment is never assumed to be isolated or dead.
- Photograph as found. Before opening or drying, with date and location, including any water level or tide marks.
- Find the water. Fogging, droplets inside a lens, standing water, wet connectors, water in a joint.
- Trace the entry path. Failed seal or O-ring, cracked housing, damaged cable entry, worn connector boot, blocked drainage, high water table.
- Judge how far it reached. Optics only, or connectors, joints, transformer or live parts? Test insulation resistance where the procedure calls for it, after isolation.
- Classify and act. Minor, major or critical, then dry, check, replace the seal or part, or make safe, and fix the entry path. Re-test insulation resistance after drying and before re-energising.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1What does water-ingress condition mean in AGL inspection?
An asset where water has got past a seal, gasket, cable entry or connector boot into a space meant to stay dry, showing as fogging, droplets, tide marks, standing water or wet connections. It is recorded, classified by how far the water has reached and what it affects, and acted on according to the site's procedures.
Q2How is water ingress different from condensation or a wet surface?
A wet outer surface after rain is normal and does not mean a seal has failed. Water ingress is water inside a sealed space. Light condensation that clears can be minor, but fogging that keeps coming back usually means the seal is letting moist air or water in, so it is recorded and checked.
Q3How is water ingress different from corrosion?
Water ingress is the cause and corrosion is often the result. Ingress can be present before any metal is visibly attacked, and it can come and go with the weather. Corroded metal is evidence that moisture has been there for some time.
Q4Where does water get into airfield lighting?
Through failed or dried-out lens seals and O-rings, cracked housings, damaged cable entries, worn connector boots and joint kits, poorly seated covers and lids, and through base cans and pits that drain badly or sit in a high water table. Finding the entry path matters as much as drying the asset.
Q5How is water ingress classified?
By how far the water has reached and what it affects. Minor ingress is contained, such as light condensation, with the seal intact and no water at electrical parts; it is dried, checked and monitored. Major ingress means a seal or entry has failed and water is getting in; it is dried out, the seal or part is replaced and the entry path fixed. Critical ingress reaches connectors, joints, transformers or live parts, or shows up as low insulation resistance or an earth fault; it is isolated and made safe first. The exact grading comes from the site's inspection procedure.
Q6Why is water ingress a concern in a series circuit?
Water in a connector, joint or transformer can lower insulation resistance and cause earth faults, intermittent faults or arcing. In a series circuit one wet connection can affect the whole circuit, and it can make the CCR’s open-circuit or over-current protection operate, or raise an earth-fault or insulation-monitoring alarm. Water also makes an apparently dead part a shock hazard, so wet equipment is never assumed to be isolated.
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