waterproofing electrics

[bcx2]

hi,

can somebody tell me how to best waterproof , a supposed to be waterproof esc,I just burned a Pulso 100 amps esc bigtime,totally burned and charred ,left a nasty burned
chemical smell on my boat, I have read once something available in Maplins,
just could not remember it.

thanks

[martin]

Hi a lot of the stuff suitable for doing these things are very difficult to get in the UK the only thing i know Maplins do in this line is an epoxy 2 part potting compound where you incapsulate the esc & it sets solid, They do various things like waterproof silicon grease which is messy & keeps coming of. Theirs also 3m DP270 clear epoxy available in the OSE shop but again this is very hard to get in the UK. I know some have used just a general clear epoxy as well. I think possibly one of the favourite things on this forum is Corrosion X spray, Its incredable stuff where water & electronics is concered. You simply spray on a few coats & thats it, If it does get wet the Corrosion X protects it from water & potential damage. You simply dry the esc off & then give it another go with Corrosion X. Its available in the OSE shop but again its scarce in the UK, I know of only one place that sells it their. You can also use Corrosion X on any of your electronics, Receivers, esc, servo circuits even inside brushless motors. Its by far the easiest & much less messy than other methods. That is my choice & what i use. Thanks Martin.

[Fluid]

"Waterproofing" an ESC is next to impossible. Even potting compound is not certain since the power and motor wires will flex and break the seal on most ESCs. The solution is to make the hull waterproof, a lot easier and it carries the advantage of not getting your motor, receiver and packs wet either. I have had decent luck with CorrosionX too.

Are you certain it burned because it got wet? That happens of course, but over-amping is more the most common cause of burned ESCs. You can remove most of the odor inside the hull by washing liberally with denatured alcohol..


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[CornelP]

Pulso ESCs have a small issue with temperature. When they assemble it in the factory, they add a 1 or even 2mm aluminum heat sink on the fets, followed by the cooling block. This is primarily because the solder on the wires is very heavy and they want to clear the height and these ESCs are made mainly for aircraft... the cooling block is like an afterthought.
You end up with two layers of thermal blanket and two heatsinks, making cooling very inefficient... push it and it burns. I did burn one before opening it to see what they do.
Overall very good ESCs, highly programmable, but you need to redo the cooling on them...

[6sHyper]

liquid elctrical tape works great, i also used mercury adhesives fast set epoxy and works great too.

[bcx2]

thanks all..
I remember I read once we can buy something from Maplins that waterproofs PCB, I tried to see a search come up with nothing.
Anyways I think I need to source some corrosion X here in UK or if no luck even the US.
I do love that 100 amp Pulso its my only programable ESC,I have a couple of ETTI ESC proven waterproof but not programable,I think it became soaking wet and I run after patting dry, worked and let go,after a few minutes it burned and caught fire inside the sealed hull leaving tonful of carbon residue.I was using 5 cell 40c 3000mah lipo and during three test runs ESC barely warms up,so I definitely think it shortcircuited.

[FRED]

waterroofing esc

nothing

[HOTWATER]

"Waterproofing" an ESC is next to impossible.

The solution is to make the hull waterproof, a lot easier and it carries the advantage of not getting your motor, receiver and packs wet either.




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[martin]

I waterproof all my hulls useing double hatches both sealed but no matter what or how water tight you make it at some point your going to have something go wrong ie water leak on a pipe or jacket, loose shaft & water enter, split in hull or seam open up or contact with something or hatch come off in high speed crash. We have all had some thing happen im sure i certainly have, Not very often but its happened. Water proofing is just a bit of double insurance just in case. I would never not seal a hatch to be as water proof as i possibly could simply because id water proofed the electrics. Thanks Martin.