How to water-proof electronics ??

[meme405]

Originally Posted by meme405

Yeah dude sillicon from those industrial cocking guns, that stuff works like a charm, comes in packs like this for about 1$:

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...5/HPIM0019.jpg

Image breaks forum tables. Left as a link. Please be cautious of image sizes.

MY IMAGE DOES NOT BRAKE THE TABLES ITS 800* 600, just like the rules, sorry im not angry at you donzi you may have loaded the screen before i edited it like 2 mins after i posted it, but it works now...

Just pssin me off with the photobucket crap *** junk setup..

[Donziikid]

Originally Posted by meme405

MY IMAGE DOES NOT BRAKE THE TABLES ITS 800* 600, just like the rules, sorry im not angry at you donzi you may have loaded the screen before i edited it like 2 mins after i posted it, but it works now...

Just pssin me off with the photobucket crap *** junk setup..

That must have been the case, because before it was 1000x900. Edited your post back to [img] brackets. Thanks for changing it.

[snowboi1289]

I got another question,but on the same topic..
What if the motor and the servo are under water(fully wet),and the board under water also,but it has that grease on it/or the board is completely outta the water,would it fry the board or ruin the servo/motor ??

[Classiclover]

The motor would be fine, some people break in their motors by running them in water. The servo motor will probably be fine, but the potentiometer most likely be ruined.

[bestdragon2001]

Yes motors would be fine but not the pot, so youshould seal off the servo assembaly too.

[xmodkidd33]

For heating issues, try a small fan or snorkel type setup.

[snowboi1289]

Originally Posted by xmodkidd33

For heating issues, try a small fan or snorkel type setup.

If I do the snorkel thing,then I'ma wait till 4x4Daddy makes his for his current project,I wanna learn from him,so I dont mess up.
I'm going to try and find a off-road truck model,then take the snorkel from the model kit,and mod it to fit either my '99 Silverado,or a different xmod body.I don't really know how I'm going to completely seal the servo and the servo assembly,but I can try..

[bondo]

why the hell would you need a snorkle for electronics?
they dont need aspiration to run.
are you planning on putting a fan in the snorkle tube?
i'm completely lost with this.......

if were talking about mud running then a snorkle isnt going to do a **** thing.
it wont get any downforce from aerodynamics due to lack of speed(and scale) and a fan wouldnt do anything but get clogged with mud and add more resistance to your circuit.(assuming were talking about complete submersion, if not then you wouldnt need a whole lot of waterproofing)

if were talking about driving through water deeper then the truck is tall then a fan wont do anything besides act as an impeller and actually push water at your ESC.
again, a snorkle wouldnt do anything here either.

just out of curiosity though, are we talking about driving through boiling water and mud?
if i can remember correctly from science class, standing water usually stays at either surface or air temp so as long as you not driving through mud pits in hell or thermo pools in yellowstone, you should be actually cooling your elecs with any water/mud that happens to get on them.

if your worried about the resistance heating your board enough to blow then here's a test for ya.
place ANY stock battery Xmod against a wall, mash and hold the gas.
i dont care how long you hold it, it wont heat up enough to blow.
you cant get much more resistance then that.
if you want to worry about something getting hot then worry about the lithium cells.
li-ion/li-po will heat up alot more from resistance then your board ever will.

[snowboi1289]

Thanks bondo.
I kinda want a snorkel just for looks,But it would be cool if it cooled down the motor/servo or servo's.
I was wanting to go muddin' really deep,but the only 2 problems will be,the electronic,and it getting stuck from the chassie sinking into the mud(lack of no traction,due to the type of tires).But now its only one problem.
The grease we were talking about is kinda expensive,I'ma goning to try and find another way to get some extra money,but before I do,theres a couple adhesive super glue that might work.I'm going to try to see if it will do anything sometime this week with a board or a motor.

While were on topic of sealing electronics,heres a youtube video of a guy that sealed his electronics and his rc is fully under water.He used a ballon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz7XKpGkbfU

[madcat303]

the eisiest is hot glue, cheap :P

[snowboi1289]

Yes,but there is a reason why nobody prolly does it,BECAUSE ITS HOT,and will melt the plastic wires and board parts...

[Donziikid]

Originally Posted by snowboi1289

Yes,but there is a reason why nobody prolly does it,BECAUSE ITS HOT,and will melt the plastic wires and board parts...

Hot glue dries/cools at a fairly quick rate. The only time when the board would be in danger of harm would be the instant the glue hits the board. Most non-industrial hot glue guns burn the thermoplastic adhesive (the glue) at 250*F (~120*C); which isn't hot enough to burn solder which has an average melting point of 350*F (~176*C). The only thing the glue could potentially harm would be the heat shrink coating around the wires; but even then the heat shrink would have to be in contact with the maximum temperture of the glue (~250*F or ~120*C), which is possible because the glue cools at such a rapid rate.

It's possible and should not cause any harm to your electronics.

[bondo]

the reason people dont water proof(at any scale) with hot glue is because it's a pian in the *** to remove should you need to repair something.
a coat of hot glue on the underside of the board would throw off the tolerances and a coat on the top....well, it would be ugly.

sure it would protect the board from water but what happens if you blow a fet or decide to go with a hotter motor?

i read above that someone said dielectric grease is expensive???
a large tube is about $9.00 and if you ask around an auto store they can point you in the direction of the gram packs for .97

another idea that i've been throwing around but havnt quite tried yet is liquid mask.
similar to rubber cement but cures better and holds itself when you remove it instead of pulling apart. plus it can be sprayed through an airbrush after reducing it with water.
if anyone has some and tries it, i would suggest atleast 6 coats to ensure a clean pull without leaving any stuck to the board.

i also have plans to build a water proof stencil chassis for trucks.
i have the plans laid out and i'm getting ready to cut it.
the only thing i need for production is someone with a CNC and CAD to bring the tolerances closer together.

[xmodkidd33]

Heat rises, correct? Well, make a snorkel that goes up, and the heat is gone. You can then waterproof it up as you want, since completely sealing up the board cover with hot glue would make it get extremely hot under there.

Just a note - I tried sealing up the board directly with hot glue and something happened, I'm not sure what, but it became unresponsive, it just beeped whenever you tried to get it to move.

[suicide_star]

this thread is actually very useful and can be handy in the future, please refrain from trashing it with spam Thanks guys. -SS

[GearHeadV8]

maybe if you used like the hot glue but put a staw in the middle and layer a ton of glue on it and when its hot blow in the straw to form a air bubble then take teh glue gun and cover the cracks and leave the straw in and send it up the antena hole.and you have a snorkel

[snowboi1289]

Originally Posted by crazyxmoder

maybe if you used like the hot glue but put a staw in the middle and layer a ton of glue on it and when its hot blow in the straw to form a air bubble then take teh glue gun and cover the cracks and leave the straw in and send it up the antena hole.and you have a snorkel

Hot glue wont do it. Silicone will though.

I don't know what Nikko boats you guys have seen, but the two that I have had both had wax on the electronics.

Don't use WD-40. It initially can work to repel moisture, but as it sits on the surface over time, it collects particles from the air that can actually help retain moisture and everything else. It never dries, and it catches everything that breezes by it. An old air force guy warned me about this. I didn't believe him and used WD-40 on my car's carburetor, and then the linkage started to stick after driving in the rain a couple of times. I took a look at it and sure enough, there was a dirty film on the linkage with just enough friction to keep my choke linkages from releasing. So don't use WD-40. I'd be wary of grease for the same reason. Real messy.

I'd say wax is your best bet. I'd imagine that you could use a woman's hair-removing wax. If they can put it on their skin without being blistered, then I'd imagine that your circuit board would be safe, too. Wax is great at repelling moisture, doesn't make a mess after it's applied, and is easier to remove than hot glue. You'd just have to make sure that your surface was clean before you apply it.

[dccracing]

one thing i have never tried that might work is hot glue. just as long as it isn't too hot. i think it would kinda incase the electrics in a bubble of rubber... lol. bubble of rubber

[Riellyc]

Don't know if this has been said but if you put the wax that you recieve if you have braces on the board it works great and isn't to hard to take off. It also does not melt easily...