Flite Test | Waterproofing Electronics 

You guys should make a submarine plane. It can fly like a normal one but then it can dive and function underwater. Not a bad challenge idea if you ask me.

The helicopter flying out of the tank of water was cool as hell.

I would rate this as the number one best RC tip I have seen. I live in rainy Oregon and often have tempted fate to try to get in some flying in between rain showers. So far I have not lost any electronics this way, but this idea will add a layer of insurance. Thank you!

I just want to say thanks for everything you guys are doing. Your videos are a big part of what inspired me to try flying multirotors. Now I have 2 450 size and 1 230 size quadcoptes. You walked me through my first FPV setup, and so much more. I'm about to build my first plane now, and your videos have taught me everything I need to know to do that too! Now this video showed me how I can fly my new plane in Oregons nasty rainy weather! Thanks again.

Such a great video. Josh asks all the right questions and Peter gives all the right answers. Great editing and sound too.

This is one of the most useful videos I've ever watched. Thank you man!!

Good job Peter! Thanks for a very timely video just in time for snow season! Merry Xmas flite test team.

Thank you Peter. I have been using Corrosion X red label for years, saved many rec, escs and servos. I learned about it on the WaterPlanes Forum on RC Groups. I also ordered it from the dist. in Michigan. Later I found small cans of it at my local hardware store. I also use it on light bulbs in the car, house, connections on my trailers and all those lights. It works great. I also use it on the tongue jacks on trailers, and I know some people who buy it by the 5 gal cans and use it on snowmobile trailers, their snowmobiles and all the other outdoor stuff they have that they want to keep lubricated and worry free.

Ive been viewing this channel for some time without subscribing and I have to say, you group of guys are awesome and informative and make youtube a much more better place in so many ways. Thanks guys for providing us with informative videos and taking the time to show us how to properly fix, build, and waterproof our drones.

Thanks FliteTest. Great timing for this, the wind picked up this morning and freed my Versa Wing from a very tall tree. It spent 3 rainy days up there. Although the wing and battery were a total loss I was able to save the electronics with a little spray. Looking forward to getting another one as I lost it on the second flight.

I live near a lake, you have no idea how helpful this has been! Thank you!

even this is old video it is still insane, well done

I like Peter's videos, he's always really informative. More Peter's tech tips!

This was a great episode. Very useful info. We can sure use it up here in Minnesota. Thanks guys!

This isn't natural feeling to watch!! But an interesting idea. I was so worried when Peter put the battery in before coating it. He brings an interesting new aspect to Flitetest. Nice work guys!!

thank you so much flight test for all the great advice and help to the community.

Man, I'm blown away by this stuff.... I need it bad!!! Thanks for the informative video guys!

It seems waterproofing electronics is easier than I thought. Thanks for sharing this great video!

Excellent stuff, that video is a must-watch. Thanks a bunch Josh, - and Peter.

Best RC hobby video in the world. Period.

Thanks a lot for your great episodes, and this one in particular! Thanks to waterproofing my ESCs and motors I did NOT loose my entire tricopter mini prototype to water damage after crash landing it in a big puddle of water :-) Thanks again, keep up the good work :-)

This in my eyes is a Great Achievement and for you to bring it to us for free is nothing short of Awesome! Thank You so very much!

Everyone: Water and electricity dont mix FliteTest: *_Am i a joke to you?_*

Very nice guide! That underwater helicopter was amazing.

New guy to FPV, Hyperion 280 racer, been drinkin, I love you guys.

~~~also loved when he went full geek on the servo exps and josh went DUH LOL. Love you guys happy holidays Flite Test and support :)))))))

Make magazine did an article on this, and you guys were in it!! Very cool

Thanks for this video, it is going to save my solo drone, from splash downs during lake shoots. keep up the great work guys.

You guys are awesome, just ordered all of it. Thank you!

i have a challenge for the Flite Test crew. make a fpv plane that can fly in the air and under the water :D bonus points if you can make that plane jump out of the water and take off to the sky. please up vote this, so they can see this post :3

I really need to waterproof my quad ... thanks guys! Will this kind of stuff work on FPV electronics? wow.... I never thought i would say this: FIRST! :)

Wednesday should be renamed Peter's day :) Excellent job!

Peter is the perfect kind of crazy for this show. Thanks gentlemen useful advise as usual.

I see much more potential for this stuff in other areas as well. Looks like good stuff !!! thanks for the info.

Pending on price that is awesome!!! Little to no mess, and instant set up! No wait!

I sail radio control schooners . this will be a great help , thank you for posting .

FliteTest Thank you for posting this! This stuff isn't available in my country, and the description on amazon just says "anti corrosion lube". There is probably some analogue product available, but to find that you need to know what "Corrosion x" is. What is it? For a similar application I just put generic silicone grease in a syringe and fill up all the empty space, then I wrap it in vulcanizing tape. Is this similar to silicone grease? A thought on your heat shrink ESC solution, epoxy has the disadvantage that it is not pliable in its own. The manufacturer adds a softening agent (like BPA) so that it doesn't crack over time. This crates two problems: 1) The softening agent (regardless whether it is BPA or another softening agent) will migrate from the epoxy and into the other plastics that are in contact with the epoxy. When this migrates into the PCB board's coating, the wire coating and the heat shrink tube, this will alter the properties of these plastics. Migration is a big problem when you design things in plastic materials. 2) As the softening agents migrate out of the epoxy, the epoxy will lose its properties and no longer protect your ESC as you intended. You could avoid this by using vulcanizing silicone. Silicone does not need softening agents, and there are special types of vulcanizing silicone meant for electronics. They are usually sold as "heat sink adhesive" or "heat sink glue". They are thermally conductive, electrically insulating and doesn't damage the electronics. (Vulcanizing silicone will harden into a protective material, silicone paste, silicone grease or "thermal paste" will not harden.) You could easily take it one step further. If you use a syringe to inject the silicone into the heat shrink tube and replace the air, you get something called "pressure compensation". This means you can literally sink it to the bottom of the ocean and it wouldn't leak. You could solve your cooling problem by using thermally conductive silicone adhesive. You mention that by sealing the ESC in heat shrink tubing, you limit the cooling. But if you use vulcanizing silicone, the heat shrink tubing would only have the job to shape the silicone and protect it from abrasion or other mechanical damage. After you've shrunk the tubing you cut a hole right over the heat generating parts of the ESC. Now you add a very thin layer of the heat conductive vulcanizing silicone and add a metal heat sink. After this you fill the heat shrink tubing with silicone as before. This would create a perfectly waterproof ESC housing without sacrificing the cooling.

Peter & Josh very good Video on water Proofing ! Thanks

Liquid electrical tape is also very useful, and it's pretty easy to remove. I did my video transmitter, FC, Radio, and ESCs and I was able to fly in pouring rain. I haven't tried it submerged, but it I'm sure it will work.

Very very Educational, Thank you. Hope you had a great Christmas guys.

The best video! That guy is just full of info . Thank you

Peter thanks, All At flite test and every where Happy Christmas and new year.

Awesome video, as usual I am late to the party. I found many uses for corrosion x the last 25 years on many corroded stuff and electronics. I would add is to be careful when using on your transmitter. The plastic on the screw areas and battery compartment in my tx JR 9x slowly fell apart. Remember to wipe away excess spray and keep it on the electronics only.

For things with dip switches or tuning pots I have used silicone sealant. Means that it can be peeled off again easy. I have also heard of people using plasti dip as well. Can also use marine grease and pack their servos full of it, electronics and all to waterproof. I have also heard of grease used to protect connectors.

Excellent work!

Josh: Is this going to kill me? Peter: You'll be fine. Josh: Don't do this at home. Josh: Don't do this at home. Josh: I don't care if it works here. Don't do this at home.

I used Corrosion X HD after watching this episode on a cheap HXT900 servo I have setup for my underwater ROV and so far it is waterproof in fresh water up to 40 feet deep so far. Next dive should be 80ft or more. Thanks Flite Test for the great idea!!!

This is awesome, I will be way more confident flying over the water with this. Good thing I can swim too!

Excellent stuff. You guys are great

Just bookmarked this page, great info guys

When epoxying the esc, use the heat gun on the epoxy you put on to help it flow into all the gaps. You will get a better seal that way.

Amazing! Keep the good work!

Why don´t use Corrosion-X HD to all components? and thanks flitetest for a great episode!

I learnt the hard way when I used a non waterproof steering servo in my nitro RC car in the rain, one minute it's driving fine in a straight line then the servo starts twitching at full speed and flips the buggy. Make sure to water proof your servos or buy a water proof one! Great tips Flite test :)

You might consider sealing your heat shrink with RTV Silicone as well. Windshield sealant (RTV) will seep into crevices very well. If you think you might ever want to get back into your electronics, RTV would be a lot easier to dig out than epoxy!!! You might also want to try Dielectric grease. It's a little messy, but does a great job of keeping moisture out of connectors. I had a customer who wanted to waterproof his Satellite Broadcast Transmitter. TWTs (Traveling Wave Tubes) Normally run at about 8800vdc on the Cathode, 4400 and 2500 volts on the two collectors. He used Humiseal 1B31 to coat all the circuit boards and dielectric grease to seal all the connectors in his transmitter. Then he took it out to the parking lot...put it in transmit (that means with the High Voltage power supplies turned on) and put a garden hose in the chassis and turned it on!!! He ran it that way for half an hour with with the water running with no failures!!! I doubt you'll ever run into 8800 volt power supplies in your RC equipment, though! ;-)

Cool stuff.. ive been using rubber baloons to seal rx and esc's thx for sharing !

@9:30 THANK YOU!!! THIS is what I was looking for. I run an RC tugboat on the Columbia River, towing myself and my family in our large sea kayaks for up to 10 miles. I dropped my transmitter in the water and had it losing its mind on me 3 miles from the dock. This is what I needed... how to protect my transmitter from being dropped in the water or rained on. I can use this to protect my USB power-port for my cameras too!

Would love your feedback on Plasti-Dip ECS vs your other options here?

Finally, good content!!

Take a look at Tough-Seal 21 to Pot your ESC's. I have used that product for potting instrumentation that we developed for NOAA. Works great in deep sea immersion and at low temps in Antarctica. It has also survived well in the Tropics of Sierra Leone

you are a genius peter

great vid josh and peter but is there one spray to use for all for just bad weather flying as opposed to full submersal?

Peter is awesome... You too Josh... and Josh... and Alex... and Chad... and David (miss that crazy Swede) and everybody at FliteTest...

So rad! Had no idea! I live on Maui and only place without vegetation is the beach. Long story short, brand new 1/8 scale, running full throttle, servo horn stripped. Straight into the ocean 🤑

Standard 5 min epoxy is conductive to a point. I have been waterproofing electronics for over 15 years. For esc the best way is is by using 3m potting compound. You need to disassemble and then brush all 2 light coats over all the fets, resistors ect. Then put back together and you are good to go. Servos corrosion x is good. For the rx you need to remove from case take a small piece of styrofoam stick on pins temporarily and then spray with liquid electrical tape. I use clear but black will work. Spray a couple coats and you are golden with no loss of range. I have a entire thread on OSE offshore electrics forum from about 8 to 10 years ago showing the exact procedures. We were making our gas and nitro boats electronics waterproof long before there was fast electric boats and waterproof electronics for rc. Anyways awesome vid enjoyed watching.

I loved watching Josh's panicked expressions throughout.

Excellent video! You guys should make a plane that flys under water. Subs can be complex with ballast tanks but wings can creat lift underwater (you just need waterproof foam!)

Thank you guys. you sacrificed your ESC and took the risk of sacrificing your other components and maybe your life too(putting a battery in water seems extremely dangerous) to help others understand how to waterproof electronics. This makes my respect for you guys even higher.🙏

Great vid! you two are the best leaders, began to look your show more. Its better also to put a small pack of desiccant inside a heat srink tube with the esc. imho

I've had good experiences coating my esc units in clear silicon caulking for waterproofing.

thx for teaching me something new...this is great.

Great video, can't wait to try this stuff out!!! I want to CX my FPV gear, do you think it would it be ok to apply the CorrosionX to the antenna connector? Also, if I use the CorrosionX on a PDB, can I clean it off later if I need to re-solder a connection?

hey for testing salinity content you can use electronic testors, or mechanical ones. salinity changes buoyancy. For Automotive battery, and radiators the mechanical testors use different pellets that float at different levels depending on electrolyte content. or a needle that floats.

Superb video guys - thanks so much!

Great job guys!

Thanks! I'm about to assemble a 2.1M Cessna 150 for use exclusivley on a salt water lagoon in Florida. This will help immensley.

So awesome, I'm late to the party, but still good. Thanks for sharing this with us.

thanks for a timely video, I recently crashed into a puddle and the esc stopped working. I was wondering if we could use the liquid electrical tape on the esc to water proof it ?

I've loved this video for years and have used Corrosion X since then on all my RC stuff and many other uses. Now I've got an e-bike and am wondering if there's any reason(s) not to soak my mid-drive motor and electrics with Corrosion X. Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys and its just started snowing UK

Awesome video and very helpful info. I am curious as to the odd plane behind Peter at the end however. I don't recognize it at all.

What about Flight Controllers like a Naze32 and/or CC3D?

Another great video .. the question I have is how long will it last on your electronics.. or do you have to use it every time you think your going to be around water ? This would be great on my float planes

what about the fpv cameras?

Wicked helpful information. Thank you.

My attempt: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EmQT5W7hhwI.html And also for my 250 mini: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-A1KoHTmTILU.html As recommended in the video, I mostly use it as a preventive measure for rain/wet grass/puddles/etc.

"H2Over" BWAHAHA! Merry Christmas, you nuts! And thanks for another awesomely helpful episode!

+FliteTest why not use bathroom silicone for shielding the ESC ?

on a lot of the PCB's that Horizon sells, you'll see a clear nonglossy coating around some of the IC chips.

for ur rotor bones kit, can u add all the hardware, like the props, esc, motors...

Most intriguing flite test episode ever

Good info! How long does it keep it waterproof for?

Can you do another one of these with some of the waterproofing stuff that's come out recently

I've been waterproofing my stuff with NeverWet spray. I have a couple of vids on it. I haven't had the sack to do a full dunk test though. I may start using corrosion x, Seems faster.

Does caulk work to seal the ESC instead of the epoxy?

Would silicon work better on the esc better than epoxy

Plasti dip in a dip can or spray is my favorite. Waterproof and it peels off easy for repairs. Really good for esc's

I wish I saw this video a long time ago! Great job!

thanks to this video i used a plane ESC added a part from a CPU heatsink to the heatsink, used some pipeps running throu the heatsink, epoxy the entire ESC except the new heatsink part and added watercooling silicone tubes to it to cool it on a RC boat, still running, been sub-ed alot. :)

Plastidip works great! Been using it for 2 years in my RC cards... Works great!