This is why I despair with Mikrotik. They make equipment that functions quite well yet neglect to make the kit properly waterproof. Just had two NetMETAL 5 2xRPSMA, 2000mW fail last night due to rainwater getting in the window where the LED's are visible. I had numerous Groove units fail this way and it frankly sucks.

We are now taking off the LED window and pumping silicone into the hole to ensure this does not happen again.

So Mikrotik - why don't you make sure that your products are fit for purpose?

Here is a picture showing the result of the water ingress.....

Please contact your reseller for RMA replacement. This should not happen, most likely this unit had a factory defect. We test the units in extreme conditions

Can you post a picture of the full device?

Attached are two pictures which clearly show the water damage is localised around the LED window. This is a ridiculous design flaw which I am certain other users will suffer from at some stage. In general the NetMETAL unit is a very good design - however to have a cheap sticker acting as a window for the LED's is sheer stupidity. I saw several Groove units fail from the same location. Perhaps the Mikrotik test units were put together with more care but after a few months of being baked in the sun combined with mass production sticker placement - this is going to be a nightmare.

Today I had to replace a NetMetal. It went out of service after 3 days (2 with rain) from installation. I found it full of water.

I have several other installed and only this one was affected, so I suppose it's something like an assembling error more than a design flaw. Will see what happens to the others.

Today I had to replace a NetMetal. It went out of service after 3 days (2 with rain) from installation. I found it full of water.

I have several other installed and only this one was affected, so I suppose it's something like an assembling error more than a design flaw. Will see what happens to the others.

Can you identify where the water got in? This would be really interesting to know - especially if it was via the LED window.

Once again, I want to say that overall the NetMETAL is the best outdoor radio unit I have seen in this class - but if it has a weakness then this must be identified.

Today I had to replace a NetMetal. It went out of service after 3 days (2 with rain) from installation. I found it full of water.

I have several other installed and only this one was affected, so I suppose it's something like an assembling error more than a design flaw. Will see what happens to the others.

could you send some pictures of bad router so we can see how it looks like. Both - the board and case (the led sticker)

I find this thread very informative, especially the second and third picture. But i also have a question / proposal: why the leds are not inside, where the sfp/usb ports are, so they're not visible from outside? I can pretty sure live without them being visible from outside, if they're prone to this type of failure.
When you have to aim the antenna ... and if you're using the leds (i always prefer a laptop) ... you can pretty simply open the unit and see the leds ... and when you're done aiming the antenna ... just close the whole thing.

problem that these users have should not happen, as the design was tested to not to leak any moisture over there, well, anywhere.

Mistakes happen. I'm sure it will be resolved.

Do you have a list of serial's that might be affected? I just bought a bunch of these and luckily it's snowing here, as it's cold outside. I'm just wondering if it will happen to me in spring time.

I just want to add a comment from one of my technicians who has many years of experience in the field of electrical and electronic engineering. I instructed him to remove the LED sticker and fill the holes with clear silicone. He was expecting the sticker to be difficult to remove but found it came away quite easily. This is a unit that was purchased 2 months after the previous failed ones so this just confirms my suspicions - the NetMETAL units are not fit for purpose out of the box. Only removing the LED sticker and applying silicone will make these units suitable for heavy rain.

MikroTik please take note..........

This is a unique situation, there is no list of serial numbers. This topic is the first time we see such problem. I am very sorry this happened, please submit the unit for warranty replacement.

Will we See an new Revision of Netmetall?
Wer just stop Order of 100 Pieces,
Because we dont Need this issue!

Will we See an new Revision of Netmetall?
Wer just stop Order of 100 Pieces,
Because we dont Need this issue!

I already explained that this a unique situation for one person. Netmetals are waterproof.

So I just got time to examine a third unit which I withdrew from service at the same location as a precaution - the attached photos speak for themselves. The serial number is shown in one of the pictures as requested by Normis. These pictures clearly show a manufacturing error and obviously is not going to be unique to any unit I purchased. This sticker is a really bad idea as only a small placement error renders the unit unsuitable for outdoor use. This is not a complete disaster once people are aware of the problem and use silicone to fill the LED window and I will continue to use the units. However future designs need to take account of this......

all the routers with this problem are eligible for RMA or silicone treatment if so you choose.

@normis

Wie just get 5 pieces, all of them have bad Sticker.
Sticker on this Place is very bad Solution, this Units
Will Never bei usable at hard places!

Mistry7

I have had 3 netmetals fail due to this issue as well

Two Netmetal 5 were in service 1 month before failure. The two Netmetal 5 that failed were in adverse conditions exposed to salt water mist . When the bottom latch was opened 3 ounces of salt water came out and the ETH/POE was charred on both Netmetal 5 units . Currently the plan is to seal all the seams and orifices with silicon until weather proof plastic enclosures can be built to house the NetMetal units.

We have had 3 failures due to water intrusion so this now my personal recommendation of weather proofing NetMetal 5 .

all the routers with this problem are eligible for RMA or silicone treatment if so you choose.

Janisk -

What is the "Silicone Treatment " ?

The same here.
LAN connector is dead also.
Is it uder warranty?

Sorry for unclear explanation, I will try to summarise:

- the earliest batch of NetMetals occasionally included a bad sticker
- we have since changed sticker production to include stronger glue
- if you have a bad sticker, you can submit the unit to RMA, if there is water inside because of sticker, unit will be covered by warranty

Since only a few stickers had quality issues, I do not recommend you to submit unit to warranty, if you don't see any problems (ie. sticker doesn't come loose, water doesn't seep through). We will accept items to RMA even if they are past warranty date, if the water issue is clearly due to sticker glue problem.

- the earliest batch of NetMetals occasionally included a bad sticker

Is Mikrotik going to withdraw this production batch?
If not, then Mikrotik should report serial numbers.
I've also stopped the ordering proccess of 40 units.
And I am not going to order unless I'm 100% sure that I will not have such problems.
Sending back brand new devices for replacement is not an option for me.
Waiting for reply
Thanks

- the earliest batch of NetMetals occasionally included a bad sticker

Is Mikrotik going to withdraw this production batch?
If not, then Mikrotik should report serial numbers.
I've also stopped the ordering proccess of 40 units.
And I am not going to order unless I'm 100% sure that I will not have such problems.
Sending back brand new devices for replacement is not an option for me.
Waiting for reply
Thanks

The affected number is not higher than any general anomaly, the number of returns is within our average. I agree that the issue is very inconvenient for some of you, but please treat this just like any other situation where some device has been found to be defective. This is why the warranty replacement program exists, to replace any kind of unit that has a problem.

Well I don't think the issue has been resolved, I have had two units fail last night, and less than a month old, odly enough I had a quick look inside and the damage looks identical to the problems shown above.

Well I don't think the issue has been resolved, I have had two units fail last night, and less than a month old, odly enough I had a quick look inside and the damage looks identical to the problems shown above.

It would help us with investigation of this issue, if you could post your serial number and close up photos of the damaged area

I cleaned up the PCB with isopropyl alcohol, and replaced the Ethernet socket, unfortunately the Ethernet chip is toast, I will get this shipped back to my supplier, shame we have had nearly all our outdoor kit go faulty. Our first lot of kit was the groove access point we used to use and had all 50 in the field slowly fail. We have also had 8 out of the 12 of these fail, it's the first time we have opened these, we put it down to lightning damage as it was always during or just after really bad weather.

how about the serial number?

unfortunately is a very known issue, most experienced installers put silicone on that led windows on mikrotik outdoor devices at the moment of the installation trying to prevent this kind of issues

One question: Is this equipment certified by IEC standard 60529, what is your IP code? Or any other standard?

Chechito, we fixed the LED sticker years ago. If you still have seen any issues, like I asked, please make photos and send us the serial number. I have not seen any reports from you in our support system.

We are pretty experienced, but not used the netmetals before, we were trying these on a new project as I really like the routers and they give better functionality than a ubiquiti rocket, we have been doing wireless networks and two way radio for many years, generally the words weatherproof on equipment designed for towers means it can withstand a bit of rain, I have gone round all our installed kit and hope for the best, takes me back to the days when we first setup and built our gear from wrt54 units in weatherproof boxes for our network.