Water Proofing Electronics

[rockpanda]

I run my rx and esc in balloons and my servos are waterproof bluebird 1's.

[rockpanda]

Update... Shorted out motor in mud and smoked my esc in the space of 10 mins!

[rockpanda]

I have done some investigating and I have discovered that the mud went down the inside of my motor wires. If you plan to balloon the electronics, make sure that you cable tie all of the wires quite tight.

[walthor]

I've been boating for many years now and one thing I've learned, you can't keep all the water out. The best you can do is control it.
Balloons are great and will keep water off your rx ONLY if you put a loop into the wiring and put the rx higher than than the loop. That forces water to run uphill and as we all know, we are all prisoners of gravity. CorrosionX is an excellent waterproofer as well. Stinks awful but it protects electronics really well. Just immerse your servos, rx batteries etc, let it dry overnight and you have a nice water barrier. Open up the electronics to let it seep into all the corners.
In my boats I have accepted the fact that water will get into my radio box. I try to minimize it but do some things to keep my equipment dry. I use the hollow pool noodles, cut them in half and put my rx & batteries in there. Keeps it high, dry and cushions it. As added protection for my servos, I throw in a few tampons int the radio box as well. They wick away moisture like crazy. When the day is over, I just squeeze them out and leave everything open to dry. In fact on a car, buggy or crawler I can't see why you wouldn't put a small drainage hole in the radio box to let water it drain out.
It isn't the end all to waterproofing but it has worked for me. When my crawler arrives I will probably do the same.
Wally

[nikkievix]

i also found that if you don't want to risk getting silicone sealer on the gears of your servos, sealing the gear cover and main servo body with electrical tape over the seam works great, you can still use the sealer on the bottom to main seam. i also put a greased up O-ring on the output shaft and that seems to work very well.

[tattoo chris]

just move to the desert !......... hell theres no h2o around here !

[schmaged88]

Thanks for the info I will try this out

[Fanfor88]

Plasti Dip Industrial Protective Coatings & Adhesives, Plastic Coatings, Protective Foam Coatings There are videos on youtube about using this stuff to waterproof.

[hibbs]

I just wanted to comment on my experience with waterproofing using liquid electrical tape. I took my FX-R apart and coated all the circuit boards with it. It worked great. I was still able to see the LEDs and program the ESC. I put it in a bowl of water along with my receiver (also liquid electrical tape coated). They both worked flawlessly. I installed them on the truck. I ran in a stream on my usual hike/trail run. I ran in the water a LOT. It worked perfectly. A bit later I headed to a different trail. This one had a good deal of mud/sand in the water. After a while the truck started glitching infrequently. If I hit the trigger sometimes nothing happened and it would suddenly go. It was so infrequent I wondered if it was just me. So a few mins later and the truck started breathing heavy white smoke. Then I hear poof and see orange flames. It's the ESC and it burned like mad. I was able to tear the body apart quickly enough to keep anything from being ruined. I don't feel this was from the liquid electrical tape, I think it was a short in my LED circuit, but I have no idea. I just thought I'd add my experience so others can make a decision.

[Paul B]

read the whole thing, very informative, So I have a RTR SXC10 dingo and honcho. both with the Ae-2 speed control. One quick question, Anyone out there know if the Axial Ae-2 is considered waterproof? And I'm assuming I am going to have to waterproof the servo and RX...

[Crawlntall]

Originally Posted by Paul B

read the whole thing, very informative, So I have a RTR SXC10 dingo and honcho. both with the Ae-2 speed control. One quick question, Anyone out there know if the Axial Ae-2 is considered waterproof? And I'm assuming I am going to have to waterproof the servo and RX...

I had an AE-2 and it is not waterproof!

[Paul B]

Ok, good to know, tried the balloon trick on both of them and while crawling in the garage on our in house course for a solid 1/2 hr, the Dingo cut out, no steering, no throttle, but lights were on, this is on a nice dry course. the truck is completely factory exept for some wheel weights and a set of 1.9 super swampers. checked the balloon with the ESC in it, and yes, it was hot to the touch. let the truck sit for 5 min and everything works fine again. I'm assuming it's got some sort of high heat cut out built into it. while everything is fine now, I'm not comfortable leaving them in balloons as they are simply not getting enough airflow. While balloons may work fine for the RX, I am going to have to try the liquid tape option for the ESC.

[shaggy2112]

Do u need to do anything to plugs...battery,rx, ect.? Havent seen any mention of this. Should i cover them with dielectric grease?

[hibbs]

@paul- what sort of gearing are you running, and what turn motor? If you go to a higher wind motor or lower your gearing you could probably get to where even in the balloon, the ESC won't overheat.

@Shaggy- I don't ever worry about the plugs. While they are carrying current, they aren't carrying enough to cause a short when submerged. I used to worry about it and put o-rings on my deans connections. It really isn't necessary. I don't have problems running 3s lipo.

[Hardcoretam]

Hi all,

I seen the video in this thread of the ESC and Reciever being coated with Liquid tape. Would using Plastidip and painting it on with a brush have the same effect, or do both have different properties?

[Hardcoretam]

Bump on the above. I've more often seen Plastidip used on external components and dielectrical grease / liquid tape used on the internal components like circuit boards ect.

Has anyone used Plastidip on the internal circuit boards also?

To summerise if anyone else opens this thread and to check with others i have this right.
To prep your vehicle for water....

1. Dielectric grease is best for the connections like batterys, reciever plugs ect. Can also be used on the boards directly and isn't pernament.
   
2. Teflon or other types of silicone grease is best for repelling water around areas that are harder to seal (i.e servo external gear)
   
3. Marine grease is best for repelling water from parts that might rust (but not too much or it'll cause too much friction)
   
4. Liquid tape is better than dielectrical grease as a more pernament method of water proofing for circuit boards.
   
5. Plastidip is best for providing a water proof seal on external enclosures

Could someone confirm / correct me on the above before i make any expensive mistakes?

[hillbillyrc]

i waterproofed my esc and rx (stock rtr mrc), used dielectric grease and clear rtv silicone (non sensor safe). everything worked before hand and now i just get a flicker of an orange light on the esc and nothing out of the rx. did i fry one or both using the non sensor safe silicone? or is there something else wrong that I'm not thinking of? and I'm a noob to electronics that is why i got a rtr.

[Losimantom]

You can plasti-dip your esc. Djmedic2008 shows you how its really easy. RC ADVENTURES - How to Waterproof an ESC - TEKIN FXR Model - YouTube

[Hardcoretam]

But can you apply that same type of plasti dip to the internal board directly. What's the difference between plastidip and liquid electric tape?

[hibbs]

Originally Posted by Hardcoretam

Bump on the above. I've more often seen Plastidip used on external components and dielectrical grease / liquid tape used on the internal components like circuit boards ect.

Has anyone used Plastidip on the internal circuit boards also?

To summerise if anyone else opens this thread and to check with others i have this right.
To prep your vehicle for water....

1. Dielectric grease is best for the connections like batterys, reciever plugs ect. Can also be used on the boards directly and isn't pernament.
   
2. Teflon or other types of silicone grease is best for repelling water around areas that are harder to seal (i.e servo external gear)
   
3. Marine grease is best for repelling water from parts that might rust (but not too much or it'll cause too much friction)
   
4. Liquid tape is better than dielectrical grease as a more pernament method of water proofing for circuit boards.
   
5. Plastidip is best for providing a water proof seal on external enclosures

Could someone confirm / correct me on the above before i make any expensive mistakes?

1. Yes dielectric grease is fine for connections. I stated above in a post that I don't find it necessary. The plugs carry current but not enough to cause a short underwater. This has been the case for me running deans plugs on 3s lipos. I don't worry about plugs at all, dunk 'em.
2. I'm not familiar with teflon grease but I think you've got the right idea. I recommend opening up the servo and coating the circuit board with liquid electrical tape or plasti-dip so that if water does make it in, it can't short out the electronics of the servo as easy. I use either dielectric grease, marine grease or vaseline to go around the servo horn externally. Something thick will stay on better and not be washed away by water/mud, etc. You can also put a big glob of grease on the output spline shaft of the servo before putting the top of the case on to help seal inside at that point of entry as well.
3. I got some marine grease from Ace and i like it. I pack the axles and trans with the stuff to help keep water out. For me it has kept the bearings and internals in good shape. Nothing keeps rust away like some good old fashioned maintenance. I do try to assemble the truck without the motor hooked up and push it back and forth on the floor a lot to loosen up the grease from the gears, it does put a lot of drag on the drivetrain.
4. I also use liquid electrical tape. Other than the FX-R I had catch on fire (I believe from clogging the motor up with sand/mud) everything I've coated with liquid electrical tape has been flawless. I recommend several coats, let it dry for 30 or so minutes and look it over, little pores and holes open up as it dries, so recoat those areas and make sure it's sealed (especially if it's an expensive ESC, etc.)
5. I bought a can of plasti-dip and never opened it. I think it's yellow and I realized I don't want that on my truck. I use liquid electical tape on external seals as well (like the seams on servos). I think it dries a whole lot thinner than plasti-dip but it works good for me.

I've found over time that I prefer to bench test my waterproofing. It's a lot less frustrating than going out on the trail and something gives out and you wonder a million questions... is it the ESC, did the servo get wet, maybe the receiver shorted...etc. If you sit on the bench, power everything up and dunk one item at a time, you'll know it's good. Things still go wrong but it makes you more confident of your waterproofing job.