? on epoxy sealing ESC

[befu]

I have heard people mention that there is a "how to" on this site for coating your speed control with epoxy.

I have some HK SS brushless controls and I am wondering if they would be good candidates to try this on? At the price, I will try but was wondering what others have found.

In the past I have had good luck waterproofing electronics for RC model warship combat (shot, sunk and submerged!). Servo's can be made to work underwater by coating the board and components with 3m scotchkote (Do NOT get it on the motor or pot!). I have also made voltage regulators in the past. The main chip is attached to the heat sink with thermal coupound, then the whole assembly is potted in epoxy with the heat sink exposed and wires coming out of it.

I want to do the same thing to my ESC, but wanted to see if it had been done before and if it works. The whole coating it in epoxy vs. potting it in epoxy.

Thank you to anyone who can help out with this.

Brian

[Himalaya]

Why not do that with silicone RTV? soft and flexible, highly resistant to shock and vibration. And you can remove them when needed.

[jcald2000]

Because regular silicone seal will destroy your PCB!!!

[Himalaya]

Not likely. Just find those electronic grade silicone, of course not those that was used to seal your bath tub and kitchen desk gaps. You can also find those silicone on Ericsson and Lucent's DC-DC power modules, all components/boards are submerged in the rubber-like silicone, comfortably.

Anyway I believe you can be successful using epoxy as well, that will bring you a rock solid ESC.

[befu]

Ideas

OK, was not aware there was electrical component safe silicone. I just "knew" that silicone would kill a circuit. How about that, we can now use some silicons on electronics, but I still can't put metal in the microwave.......

I took the wrap off a HKSS speed control last night. Two items:

1. will the Capacitors hanging off the end be effected? The epoxy will be rather rigid as a block, do they ever change shape as they heat up? Do they heat up under normal operation? An epoxy block is going to lock them in to a size, the silicone would allow them to stretch.

2. Thier is a metal plate (steel) on the bottom of the speed control. OK, big assumption. Is this to act as a heat sink for the FET's? (Do they still use FETS's)
Anyways, so I attach my water cooled aluminum plate to this steel plate and then seal the whole thing, or do I try to remove the steel plate so the aluminum is against the heat generating devise? These are speed controls in the 25 to 40 amp range, so not real large.

Thank you,

Brian

[NitroVal]

Has anyone tried using that Scotch Liquid Electrical tape? I use it on all my solder points, but was wondering if it would be effective covering an entire ESC

[Jeff Wohlt]

I think just about any of these will work well as long as the electronic issue of the mix is fine. WATER PROOF is different than splash proof.

Maybe making a small mold (plastic box with vaseline in it) and then just lay the unit in it and pour it in layers of plastic coat of tool dip)...maybe even resin then pop it out. Should be able to run under water. Cooling is going to be key for that type of unit.

Follow the thread on cooling as well to see how the colder water could help.