danger water!!!!!!!

[rockraper]

hey i was woundering what is the best way to waterproof all of your gear(esc,servo,reciever,and morots) i have read around 3-4 diffrent ways but i wanted to know what the best way was????

[cotharyus]

The most accepted way is to plasticoat your servoes, and ballon your reciever and/or esc. Of course that can lead to heat problems. While new to the crawling scene, I've been into R/C for 19 years, mostly electric, and over the years I've figured something out that I'll say every time I see one of these threads:

Take every precaution against water when it comes to protecting your electronics. Once you've done that, you can probly survive a chance encounter with water. However, when I see water, I *still* stay as far away from it as possible. If you *have* to run near water, do yourself a favor, and get an ESC that claims to be water proof, plasticoat your servos, and ballon your reciever..

[SR5Dave]

I have a waterproof ESC... we will see how it works once the rig is finished If you run lathe motors you can seal your ESC in tupperware... The ESC makes SO little heat that its fine; but that isn't good enough for under water.

I used the balloon method on my reciever, and I haven't messed with the servo's much yet.

[rckjeep]

I've completely submerged one of my rc's a didn't have any issues after letting it air dry.

[Team-FSU]

so your saying you can get a water PROOF (not resistant but proof) ESC? i always want to drive threw huge mud puddle and stuff (thats what the savage is for) but i think it would be fun to get the crawler into some thick mud and not damage anything!and what about the motor? what happens if dirt and mud and water gets into the motor, will it destroy it??

[SR5Dave]

Its not great for the motors, I have sealed motors that I used to mud with, no problems there. The waterproof ESCs are made by Mtronik. Mixed reviews on them, search for the thread in the Electronics section

[rbgerrish]

http://www.gerrish.net/tltunderwater.avi

[trapt1011]

when you say sealed motor do u mean like a stock clod motor or what
and also cant you just put silicone on your servo

[cotharyus]

It's not water you have to worry about with motors - I used to break in motors by running them under water - they break in much faster, then you oil the bearings or bushings when you're done and it's fine. What will kill the motor is the mud and grit that can go along with the water when you're offroad. When you get finished playing in the mud, tear the motor down and clean it really well, oil everything, and you should be fine.

[trapt1011]

what i was saying though is with a closed end motor which u cannot take apart

[dabid]

I went mudding with my Pede a while back, great fun! I ballooned the servo, rx, and ESC, geared down big time, put a cruddy 22t motor in, and put on my paddle tires. It was really fun, but the mud just got too soupy, and water managed to work its way into my ESC. The motor was actually killed by the mud and crap that I drove through, but the esc was fine after a few days of drying out on the garage workbench.

If I did it again, I would use an MSC or something to be sure I don't kill something I care about, and cover the motor. I think I'd put a pin hole in one end of a balloon, slide the shaft through, and zip tie it at the back around the wires. All you'd have to do is watch the temps, and not be totally stupid........like me.

[SR5Dave]

Originally Posted by trapt1011

what i was saying though is with a closed end motor which u cannot take apart

Most of those motors that you can't take apart won't do it... the motors I was referring to was my Pullmasters, which have NO holes minus the screw holes, and are sealed with a ball bearing at either end.

And yeah, water+motors is no big deal at all.

[trapt1011]

so i cant go bogging with stock clod motors

[rbgerrish]

sure you can. Just clean them out real well once you're done and hit them with WD40!

[SR5Dave]

I wouldn't worry about motors that cost 3$ Get it!!

[trapt1011]

mine only cost me a dollar for 3 of them on ebay and they all work

[sambmx]

Balloning and grease seems to work best for recevers and esc's. I run a f1 pro and see no heat problems with a multiplex permax motor and a lot of gear reduction. As for servos ive submerged my traxxas servos quite a few times and they hold up well never had a problem, but im not afraid to take some risks with cheep ones like them. If its a decent high end servo id waterproof it with plastidip or that orange silicone make a gasket stuff.

[Soya]

I have my esc in a radioshack container with a 20 mm fan inside.

[mike]

a wile ago i had some water proofing foam i got from the hardware store ain the plumbing isle i think that i just sprayed on my trucks before id go drive in the rain and i had no problems

[CRAWLOVERYOU]

when you plastic dip the servo what do with the output shaft