dielectric grease for waterproofing..

[m1009cucv]

how does this work? pretty good? needs waterproof a few things. really tight fit.. dont have the room to plastic dip them.. thanks "thumbsup"

 

[m1009cucv]

anyone

 

[Whiplashdjs]

Dielectric grease will help a little to prevent water damage, it's on the thinner side of greases though so much heat will make it disappear faster. Chemsearch makes a electronics waterproof spray if you need thin. Have to find it on their odd to navigate site though.

 

[m1009cucv]

was going to use it on the case of the servos and bored of the esc . thats it

 

[meatmonkey]

I rely heavily on dielectric grease to keep my expensive electronics alive. I consider it 100% waterproof. I've never had to reapply it, except to plugs. I frequently play in stream beds with partial and full submersion.

I pull the case on the ESC and receiver apart and pack it full of the stuff. I want there to be no air pockets at all in the component. If it's full of grease, the water can't get in.

I forced it in one side of the heatshrink on my Castle BEC until it oozed out the other side. I suggest you wear gloves, cause it's a messy task.

The servo gets packed with dielectric on the board side and Lucas red and tacky grease on the gear side.

If your ESC is marginal then heat buildup may be an issue. None of my waterproofed ESC's run hot, even the SV2 running a 4 pole 3800.

If your thinking of applying a thin layer to the exterior of your electronics, that may not work so well.

 

[project_mayhem]

Buy this stuff.

You can use this for everything. It's a non reactive heavy duty gear lubricant and corrosion inhibitor. Keeps metal parts from rusting, and can be used on your gears instead of grease. It's plastic safe, and will waterproof any solid state electronics. It won't wash off with water, even a pressure washer. All of my electronics are in the open in their regular cases. Just fill the case, then dump out the excess. Never worry again. Comes off with mild solvents, just in case you need to solder something.

 

[alexchen86]

Waterproofing anything is very easy the more times you do it. You just have to do it right the first time. After that you will be perfectly fine.

Dielectric grease is ideal for packing servos since it's not only nonconductive and waterproof, but also on the thinner side viscosity wise. So it won't overwork the servo gears up top. I pack my top gears with this. Then I pack white lithium grease on top of that and close the top of the servo case so that it oozes out. Then add a couple of o rings for added protection on the spline. On the back end of the servo all you really need is pack white lithium grease until it oozes out the case. After all of that then wipe the servo case clean of grease with alcohol. Then dip the entire servo into plastidip let it cure then after about 5-7 min it becomes dry enough to be pliable so you can make sure all the seals are properly covered and protected. Now you can directly apply your servo horn onto the spline and now you're submersible!

ESC's same trick except you would use plastidip as much as possible....use your hands after 5-7 min to make sure it covers the entire board. If your ESC has a heat sink dunk the whole thing into the plastidip can then score out the fins with a hobby knife.

RX's are even easier put them in a jewelry bag or small zip loc bag then keep twisting the bag so the wires come out of one corner. Then squeeze a dime sized amount into the opening. Zip tie the twisted end with the wires about 4 times and you're golden.

Axles pack them with marine grease. Bearings may become seized so if you constantly mud bog I'd recommend running brass bushings the same size. I haven't had any issues running Traxxas rubber sealed bearings. I'm sure other rubber sealed bearings are just as good.

Good luck!!

 

[project_mayhem]

That sounds like an incredible mess to service your rig.

 

[m1009cucv]

thanks for the posts.. i sold the truck so i dont need to worry about that one.. the lawson is new. never heard of it.. wondering it like corrosion x

 

[BigGuyJT]

I never see anyone say anything about the batts. Do the lipos need to be waterproofed too? I know the cells are sealed but what about the balance plug?

 

[DRCMAN]

I have drowned the lipo's in my scalers for 3 years with no issues "thumbsup"

 

[BigGuyJT]

I have drowned the lipo's in my scalers for 3 years with no issues "thumbsup"

Right on thanks! Yeah I'm learning this stuff, I've been flying planes and heli's for years but we dont normally find the need for water proofing them. :mrgreen:

 

[meatmonkey]

Yes, it is a mess to service my truck. Fortunately that's not very often. I tell myself that the mass of the grease-packed axles is better than wheel weights.

I first used dielectric on my servo gears. My Hitec 7954's didn't seem to mind, but I quickly found out that my Savox 1268's gears fit so tightly together that the added resistance was heating it up and slowing it down. I since switched over to Lucas red and tacky (I'm sure any NLGI #2 bearing grease would be fine) on the gear side of my servos and no longer have any problems.

I don't do anything to the exterior of my electronics. I trust the dielectric that much.

I regularly submerge my unprotected lipo's without issue. However, you should not submerge packs that have "puffed". It makes for a potentially unsafe situation if water fills up the "vented" cell.

 

[project_mayhem]

thanks for the posts.. i sold the truck so i dont need to worry about that one.. the lawson is new. never heard of it.. wondering it like corrosion x

I looked it up. The lawson stuff dries to a soft wax, rather than staying oily like corrosion x. It doesn't get all over everything. The main ingredient is lanolin. You can use it on everything too. Instead of having multiple greases and sprays, it does everything.

 

[m1009cucv]

ok nice.. yeah it makes a mess..

 

[m1009cucv]

any chance you have a link to the website thanks

 

[AdverseCity]

I've tried everything for waterproofing electronics and ended up right back where I started, using dielectric grease and balloons. Plastidip works but it takes some practice to get it just right and I've broken a couple "waterproof boxes" before. Grease the servo internals as described above. ESC's and receivers each go in their own balloon, zip tie the neck squirt in some grease and zip tie again. Totally waterproof and you shouldn't overheat if you're geared correctly and not always full throttle.

 

[Meatwad]

Same here on the zip ties, balloons and silicone grease. It's good stuff if it can stay captured, otherwise any type of warmth will cause it to wash away. I've found high vacuum silicone grease to stay put better than the hobby stuff. If it's good enough for our vacuum furnaces...

http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/details.aspx?prod=01018817&type=PROD

Some conformal coating on esc and rx boards make for a double protected setup "thumbsup"

 

[m1009cucv]

thanks for the help. I'm going to try it this way. Dielectric grease in balloons are plenty cheap to.. Corrosion X is kind of expensive. Sure makes a mess. Forgot to wash my hands last time. Couple hours later I red hands.. So all you guys have done is take apart the case. Coated with a dielectric grease. Reassemble it. Drop in some balloons and zip tie it.. Real easy.. will see how it turns out thanks.

 

[AdverseCity]

If it's in a balloon you don't need to grease the internals (but it can't hurt) before putting it in. Just remember to zip tie the neck, squirt in a good dab of grease and zip tie again to trap a bubble of grease in the neck so water can't get in.

Also, buy decent balloons. Really cheap ones are harder to stretch around stuff.