Gearing up for snow RCing

[vintage AE]

Woke up this morning to the death of summer



So... lets talk tech tips on water proofing our electronics!

This is something I haven't done before and need to master is I want to enjoy the next 6 months of my life. I have a Wraith that I want to get ready for winter so I can rig around in the snow. I think I'm going to end up plastidipping my goods to keep the water out of them, but technique and finesse is what I need to know too.

Please help me make things like this less stressful

[justinspeed79]

I just saw an article on Facebook about how the whole country is supposed to get hammered with record-breaking snow this year.

My weapon of choice for waterproofing is balloons. The have always worked great for me, and are relatively cheap and easy.

[Diamond Dave]

Balloons work great, Plasti Dip is great!

I use conformal coating on the PCB's inside servos and ESC's. Here is a link to the good stuff. http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/protective-coatings/conformal/silicone-conformal-coating-422b/

It is not cheap, it remains flexible and is completely waterproof. 4-5 thin coats and you know for sure the electronics are safe. (4-5 coats is less than what I do)

To top it off, some Plasti Dip in spray form. Any colour, any size can works. Coat the whole thing and let it dry thoroughly. Do a second coating if you feel it needs it.

Some guys like to buy the paint can of Plasti Dip and actually dip the item to be "water resistant". Hang it on a screwdriver or piece of wire over some newspaper/paper towel and let dry. Repeat.

Liquid electrical tape, and all that other stuff works, but I can rely on Plasti Dip because it works well, and you can remove it if need be.

[vintage AE]

Dave, can you get the conformal coating in Calgary?

[Diamond Dave]

Sure can,

B&E Electronics. http://www.be-electronics.com/product_p/422b-340g.htm

HEAD OFFICE
Calgary : 444 Manitou Rd. S.E.
Tel: (403) 243-7211 • Fax: (403) 287-1664
Email: [email protected]

Active Electronics, or the new name is Active Tech. http://www.active123.com/422B340G-Silicone-Conformal-Coating-Prodview.html

Active Calgary
2015-32nd Ave N.E., Unit 1, Calgary, Alberta, T2E 6Z3 Canada
Phone: (403) 291-5626
Fax: (403) 291-1020
Email: [email protected]
Store Hours:
Mon-Fri. 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM / Sat. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM / Sun. Closed

Hope that gets you on your way to running the trucks at home and at work!

[Diamond Dave]

This morning was not bad in Calgary, it was the afternoon that killed summer for sure.

It started snowing around 3pm, still coming down 3 hours later. It won't stay though, never does this early in the year. We will still get some great fall weather.

[hondaman]

Wow.. that is something we don't see here in Los Angeles.. it was 90-degrees and going to be that way for a couple days.. we got hit with a crazy tropical thunderstorm a couple days ago and dumped a ton of rain in a short time and got some flooding outside of la.. sort of envious of you guys in the north.. looking forward to fall, if we can really call it that here.. 70-80° weaather with sun most of the time..

Shawn

[marlo]

Chills down my spine, we haven't even entered Fall yet

[Diamond Dave]

Chills down my spine, we haven't even entered Fall yet

I know huh, just silly really. It has gone from one extreme to another in the last day or so. No more snow, weather is warm.

It rained abit today and we are expecting some decent heat in the next few days. I am going fishing, enough of this crap.

[vintage AE]

Given the fact that the NE of America is getting hammered I'd bring this up again. I forgot to take the servo apart, but have at least 10 coats of plastidip on everything.

I assume I have to place all of the electronics and connect everything before coating the connections. That was my plan anyway, then cover the electronics in my electronic box and then coat that too.

That about the Lipo? Coat it too, and the deans connector?

[SFC K]

I just put mine in sandwich bags and have never had an issue with the lipos when I run in snow conditions.

[R Cane]

Does the plastidip not cause heat problems with the esc?
Or do you leave the cooling fins exposed?

[Diamond Dave]

The heat sink can be exposed, minimal heat build up on all the electronics. Plugging all the connections into the receiver and then coating it is best.

If you feel that you need to spray the end of the battery, go ahead. I do on some of mine. Keeps water out just in case. Clear marine silicone lasts longer.

The good thing about all this is that it is all reversible. Many many coats of Plastidip can be peeled off in no time.

[vintage AE]

I almost got the Wraith waterproof. I have to find some ultra small heat shrink for the wires that broke off of the lights. Maybe the LHS has some small enough. Otherwise, there is enough plastidip on the electronics for 4 builds.

In the mean time I used balloons on the RC10truggy. The servo is already waterproof, so I placed the battery and receiver in balloons, I figured the esc is high enough for water spray..

The balloons I had for the battery were too small, I ended up using a condom for it... slid on no problem I took him out for a few spins, this thing works excellent. The hilarious thing is this buggy is geared for my neighbor's kids to learn on

[Coelacanth]

The balloons I had for the battery were too small, I ended up using a condom for it... slid on no problem

Won't you need to discard and replace it after each "bash"?