Seaking 180 ESC Waterproofing

[Howard]

Hi guys,

I just purchased a new seaking 180 ESC from OSE. I read some posts about waterproofing materials for ESC's. I found an excellent product at Home Depot. It's Gardner Bender Liquid electrical tape. Cost was $6.99. I also used some black silicone to seal the ends of the extra caps first.

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[Howard]

Next I sealed all the open areas that were exposed to air/water.

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[Howard]

This electrical tape dry's fast.

Liquid Electrical Tape is a liquid coating that is used to insulate and protect electrical splices and connections. This waterproof seal will not unravel or deteriorate like traditional electrical tapes. Perfect for auto and marine applications, not to mention hundreds of other uses. - Highly resistant to chemicals, solvents, saltwater, and other common fluids - Dielectric properties are 2X better than standard electrical tape - Dries in minutes, and cures within 24 hours - Forms a protective, waterproof, uv resistant, dielectric seal

Key words hear are Dielectric properties which means it won't conduct electricity :w00t:

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Since my boat seems to get wet alot (and even gets submerged at times I wanted to make sure the ESC stays safe!:rockon2:

Howard

[Alfa Spirit]

What version is your Hobbywing Seaking 180A?

[Howard]

it says version 2, Does it matter?

I know it's suppose to be waterproof but it definitely is now. Here's the pics after the electrical tape has dried.

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[BHChieftain]

Thanks-- very timely as I just bought one of these. Question-- would you also coat the caps on the main board?
Chief

[pyroM!KE]

Thanks-- very timely as I just bought one of these. Question-- would you also coat the caps on the main board?
Chief
This is the method Ive used for over a year now with great results..Ive even had a full submerge and was still able to get her in without hurting anything..also, coat your battery pack ends to get them water proofed..I paint everything exposed with the liquid tape..Even the caps..

[LarrysDrifter]

Water does not hurt lipos. No need to coat them.

[Bullwink]

This is a great thread and timely for me as I just got a 240 Amp Seaking I am putting in my Thundercat31 FE Conversion. I will use the Liquid Electrical Tape. Just out of curiousity, has anyone used "FlexSeal" that is advertised constantly on TV?

[megalops]

Yeah i've used flexseal. its goes on a lot thicker and takes way longer to dry than liquid tape or plasti dip. IMO not as good for hobby use but it does seal out water.

[Bullwink]

Thanks for the input!

[cbp27]

I love liquid eletrical tape and plastidip! I always use them to coat my electronics for my scale rock crawler. But I also place them in a watersealed box too. Never had any problems though. Just watch out on the liquid eletrical tape. It will leave tiny pinholes from the bubbling so make sure to give it another coat.

[Bullwink]

Question: Should I cut the stock plastic covering off of the ESC, coat everything in liquid tape and then spray it with plastic dip or, should I leave the stock plastic on and just try to waterproof the exposed ends with liquid tape and black silicon caulk?67333673346733567336

[Howard]

Either way will work. I prefer to leave the wrap on and seal the ends, others have done it the other way.


Howard

[JackBlack26]

I use "Plastic Dip" which is essentially the same thing but it comes to where you can spoon it out of the can.

For ESC's that come heat shrinked I have found that the dips or liquid tapes have a hard time adhering to the silicone wires. Water can get through there and ruin them. I already lost 1 that way. I found it better to just silicone the ends of the ESC with clear silicone. Use the good stuff like GE. Works much better and you can still see status lights if necessary.

[Bullwink]

Thanks guys. I opted to leave the heat shrink on. I used liquid tape to flow into the esc and then sealed the ends in silicone.

[tim v]

I always use conformal coating on my esc and recievers . It is sweet it dries clear and you can solder through it.....

[desmobob]

The last thing I got interested in before trying RC boats was RC float planes. I had been flying RC for many years, but finally decided to try flying off the water. I learned right away that water and ESCs did not get along. The typical solution for a lot of RC flyers is treating the ESC by submerging it in a cup of CorrosionX overnight, then letting it drain for a day before using it.

I don't believe I've heard any of the boaters here mention using CorrosionX. I think the stuff is a miracle, personally....

Take it easy,
desmobob

[martin]

You have obviously missed the discussions & mentions of Corrosion X on this forum, this stuff is probably wider used & mentioned on this forum than any other around. Its also in the OSE store.

[Mattwarner]

Can you just use silicone sealant? Plasti dip is hard to get in the UK and about x3 the price! I've got a tube of black sealant at home.

[Howard]

I use black ultra silicone sealant. So yes you can just use what you have.

[martin]

In the UK plastdip them selves sell on Ebay. Re silicon, yes you can use this as well. The problem with any sealer is where your moving the wires around on the esc etc you break the seal around the wire & you dont know whether its still water tight. If water does get in then it just sits their not drying for a long time. Silicon must not be the acid type,you know the one that smells of vinegar as that will corrod the whole esc over time, you need electronics grade or one that dosnt have acid in it. With Corrosion X you simply treat it & its good to go, you can then give it another coat anytime later ecspecially if it does get wet.

[m4a1usr]

Can you just use silicone sealant? Plasti dip is hard to get in the UK and about x3 the price! I've got a tube of black sealant at home.

You can use anything you want as long as its a sealant and has decent dialectric capabilities. But you might consider the issues with using "goops". A thin water proof membrane allows heat to travel off the boards much more efficiently. Thick covering retains more heat on the components that generate heat. If your ESC survives your setup and continues to run over the years you need to consider that heat alone is the one major factor that kills speedos. Getting them wet is up there too but the quality built speedos are not encaspsulated, sealed in a mass of some elastomer. They breathe so to speak or at least allow heta to escape as much as possible.

John

[Boaterguy]

Thanks guys. I opted to leave the heat shrink on. I used liquid tape to flow into the esc and then sealed the ends in silicone.
if the silicone is acetone based it will ruin your PCB (according to ben)

[Bullwink]

Right. I saw that. So I made sure the silicone I used was not acetone based. (I think :-) )

[Accessable]

I just let all the smoke out of a brand new Seaking 180 - not impressed with a device supposedly built for marine applications.
No, I didn't seal it - why should I have to if it's constructed correctly?
Pretty pink smoke covered the lake - looked like an emergency flare went off - laughed 'til I cried!
Got a Hydra 240 XL on order. Hope it has better engineering for preventing "liquid lightup".

[HydroMike]

Guys u might want to look into this . I just started to use this and it works great http://forums.offshoreelectrics.com/showthread.php?34077-waterproofing&p=415457&highlight=#post415457

[bigwaveohs]

Question: Should I cut the stock plastic covering off of the ESC, coat everything in liquid tape and then spray it with plastic dip or, should I leave the stock plastic on and just try to waterproof the exposed ends with liquid tape and black silicon caulk?67333673346733567336

I cut the shrink off my Swordfish 200 and used PlastiDip but it's a real mess...in hindsight I should have just plugged the ends and coated with Dip...JMHO.

[traeside]

I have a silly question, has anyone sent one of these back for repair after waterproofing it?

[traeside]

it says version 2, Does it matter?

I know it's suppose to be waterproof but it definitely is now. Here's the pics after the electrical tape has dried.

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Howard, have you submerged it yet? i followed what you did here but i must have missed something sense after about 15 minutes in the water the case was about ½ filled with water and I could not get it to drip out tell I removed all the liquid tape and the screws then I dumped all the water out. it is now sitting in rice for a few days before I try it. I saw somewhere one guy filled the whole thing up with the spay liquid tape.

[Accessable]

Well so far I've managed to destroy about $1000 worth of ESCs - Seaking 120, CC Hydra XL 240, even a Monster Mambo I semi-potted in polyester resin.....

The question remains: Why don't the manufacturers make them WATER PROOF?
Not "water RESISTANT", not "SPRAY proof" etc. but actually IMPERVIOUS to water.

These devices are sold to consumers in the full knowledge they are to be installed in a marine environment.
I think it's fair to say a relative humidity "slightly above 85%" is to be "expected".

I'm sure a little bit of clever engineering could see an ESC produced complete with internal water cooling plumbing
near the hot bits (think solderable copper tubing guys - excellent heat transferance), and everything encapsulated in
a suitable non-conductive WATER PROOF polymer.

I have used two-pack epoxy resins in the past to "pot" PCBs with great success.

Should we really have to "hit-and-miss" with various cans of liquid goop?
Who-ever comes up with one gets my next $500.

[traeside]

there must be a reason not to use corrosion-X? it the boat show I watched a TV working fully submerged in water. I am just fearful of dunking a brand new one in corrosion-X and then having it fry because of it.

[gettinbrushless]

Im sending my seaking 180 today in hope of replacement?? I dont think it was water related but after reading these post I guess it could be possible?? I just hope they go good for it!! Its still under the factory warranty.

[megalops]

Well so far I've managed to destroy about $1000 worth of ESCs - Seaking 120, CC Hydra XL 240, even a Monster Mambo I semi-potted in polyester resin.....

Have you smoked all these esc's on the same setup/boat? IF that is the case then what are you running? ie Boat model, motor size make and kv, Prop size, number of lipo cells. It may not be water that is causing it. I have a couple Hobby Wing 180s and HW 120 and have not had a single problem and they are box stock in terms of waterproofing. LOL knockin on wood..


I mean ive been doing this for almost 2 years and have only smoked one esc and that was a stock Proboat 35amp I hooked up to 6s.

[traeside]

I am sending mine in today as well

[Accessable]

Boat is a Thunder Tiger Bandit 3.5 F1 tunnel.
Motor is a CC 1518 1Y on a highly modified .67 K&B outboard leg.
Running a single 5000 6S 50C LiPo pack and various Octura props from ranging from X440 to X450.
I use Castle Link data logging - nothing out of the ordinary apart from RPM when it's airborne.
These are old pics - I had to fabricate a new water proof radio box out of PVC since.

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[Jason4636]

Dunk it in corrosion x, the stuff works great. I do all my connections, motor, esc, servo. Anything electronic, and I've yet to blow anything. When I first maidened my fantasm, After 1 minute of running. I had atleast 2-3 cups of water inside the boat. And nothing fried.

[azorian]

I just liquid taped my 180, waited overnight to powers up and everything is glitching. Any ideas?

[traeside]

was it working before? did it get wet? i filled mine with corrosion block and then coated it with liquid tape and no issues other than i can say you should recoat after every dunk in the pond as one of mine was okay the first time it got wet but it fried on the second time

[azorian]

Yes was working great right before I did this. Can't explain it. Hopefully when I get home later it will work better. Maybe the tape was still wet inside?

[traeside]

The tape should have little to no conductive properties but it is possible that the carrier does so yes if it is still wet it might cause a problem

[azorian]

All good! Got home today and I guess after 24 hours it finally cured on its own and now I am back up and running! Thanks a lot guys.

[dmitry100]

What about using some Loctite Marine Epoxy for waterproofing? Seems to work nicely...

[Pop Alexandra]

What about using some Loctite Marine Epoxy for waterproofing? Seems to work nicely...

Should work fine. It's the epdm (https://revetementagro.com/en/product/epdm-membrane) equivalent for boats.