How to Waterproof Electronics || Nail Polish, Silicone, Potting Compound 

I've had quite a lot of experience with sealing electronics for commercial purposes. I'll start by saying that it is considerably more complicated than your video showed. A couple of comments. - there are many different types of potting compounds. The one you used seems to be quite hard. Most are a little bit softer. The hard ones can actually rip SMD parts off the circuit board. - Testing is also quite complicated and extensive. Far more so than just submerging it in water. Typically what causes problems is temperature cycling. Stress testing. - The other problem tends to be where anything touches the potting. Maintaining that bond is tough. So where wires exit the material is a source of water ingress. - Another big problem is the potting material separating from the enclosure. The enclosure needs to be very clean, and if a plastic enclosure is used then you have to make sure the manufacturer didn't use any mood release or any regrind. Both will cause the potting to separate from the enclosure. And if the PCB is touching the enclosure, which is almost always, water will find that spot and damage the PCB. - There are also commercially available PCB coating materials that do a much better job than nail polish. That said, those types of products are primarily used for water resistance, not water proofing. More for keeping the humidity in the air from damaging the parts. If you are looking to waterproof, both will eventually breakdown. But if you are just looking for something to work for a home project, I would go with an epoxy.

I love the capacitor overcharging at the end. Really helps to show how stable the potting compound is. That and the fact that overcharging capacitors is just entertaining in itself.

Attach a heatsink with thermal compound and coat the whole thing with epoxy, leaving some of the fins of the heatsink. Done.

I love you for blowing up that capacitor

Time to tear apart my phone and apply some nail polish.

To make a waterproof PCB with silicone I suggest you put the circuit in a plastic bag and then pour the silicone, which you can then shape around the components simply by squeezing the polyethylene bag where you need it. You will get smoother surfaces and thinner layers. and (perhaps) minor drying times. Afterthe silicone hardening you can remove the bag without difficulty since the silicone does not adhere to the polyethylene. The high temperature silicone does not have a better thermal conduction than normal silicone but only a higher resistance to high temperatures (around 250-280 °) while the normal silicone resists up to 200 °. Temperatures to which our PCBs are already permanently dead, so it is possible to use the normal silicon with a small saving (in case hig temperature is more expensive) Frohe Weihnachten und ein glückliches neues Jahr für Sie und Ihre Familie und für alle, die uns lesen! Merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family and to all those who read us!

ElectroBoom at the end

GreatScott! You just saved me $20 bucks for expensive conformal coating. I suddenly had a thought to use clear nail polish for an outdoor solar light, did a google search and YOU show up as the first search result! Too Cool! Normally I'd skip the video results but I recognized you as one of my subscribed Go-Tos! Congrats and Thank You!

Can we talk about your handwriting and how on point it is?

You really overdid it on the silicon and the Kabelvergussmaße. I think the amount of silicon used also was the reason why it didn't cure: Uhu Datasheet says more than 3 days for anything thicker than 5 mm - and you went a bit further than that. With a mixing silicon it would have worked better. And for both the silicon as well as the sealing resin it would have been enough if you just gave it a coating (a few mm into the box, then dip the regulator into it and take it back out).

I still learned more than at school. You better do a function Generator DIY or BUY

My new favorite channel. Awesome info and thorough.

IDK anything about electronics, but his vids are so satisfying

As always, nice video. I often use heat shrink tubing, filled with neutral cure silicon (non acidic). When you shrink it the excess silicon is squeezed out and looks tidy. Works great for waterproof wire connections too.

ive noticed in your more recent videos you have really improved in quality! Keep up the great work!

Very nice, I learned lots. Suggestion: heating the silicone to a high temperature, say 33 to 40 degrees might help in having a less viscous pour and getting the air bubbles out of the clear silicone, heat it a bit after mixing or even remove with a vacuum chamber if you have one (I'm absolutely certain you could easily build one for us and show us how to do that too). Love your channel, thanks for showing us all this good stuff.

A good idea for coating esc’s is conformal coating. It works good and is very similar to nail polish

the temperature measurements were flawed, an ESC doesn't draw a lot of current/create a lot of heat if the motor is spinning freely. You should have put some load on the motor.

Love the capacitor pop at the end. Great video. Thank you

I want to thank you for continuously delivering such a quality material which educates us improves our knowledge

Good video! Only problem is that those ESCs are huge after you applied those coatings! Not to mention the increased thermals when the ESC takes on a load because running the motor like that won't stress out the ESC. Running the motor with some 1045 props will. I think PeterSripol's Waterproofing ESCs can help.

"So... how many Arduino's do you have?" GreatScott: yes

This looks to be an excellent video. I was only looking to waterproof my R/C trucks against rain puddles and small bodies of water. The Nail Polish approach is something I would never have thought of

Couldnt have asked for a more informative video, thank you!

Thanks for sharing your research. Those bubbles can be removed by pulling a vacuum on the resin immediately after mixing. Silicon also comes in two part mixes that will set without the need for exposure to air, which was the problem you had with that black sealant. The one part silicon is also probably acidic so it could be corroding your electronics anyway, a slow death rather than a fast one from water. It would have been interesting to try Carnauba wax as it melts at over 80°C and is hard as far as waxes go, the potential advantage of wax is that you can melt it off to service or inspect the part. You can always dip the circuit that is potted in wax into silicone to give it a more resilient outer layer that can be peeled off. One last thing to consider is the specific heat capacity of the substances used, and wax may actually score well in that regard.

JLCPCB man that looks like a deal... :D

You really doing great job Your videos teach me a lot regarding electronic and electric circuits Keep doing more and more

Thank you and all those involved in the content, efforts and production of this channel. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all. May the new year bring you, your families and friends much health, wealth, happiness, safety, security, appreciation, respect and peace.

liked 👍 this would be great for boats!

What have you done to this poor capacitor at the end? ;)

I had no clue about the nail polish! Very interesting and thanks for posting the video!

I love your rich vocabulary. I learn not only electronics from your videos but also English :D

Could you Repeat this Test with a Propeller attached? May change the results

Mery Crismas tomorrow from Bayern ^^

One of your most awesome project videos. Been watching your channel for more than a year and a half. :)

Tip on using room temperature silicones...put some dish detergent in a bowl with water, about twice as much as if you were going to wash the bowl. If you dip your fingers and tools in that, the silicone compound will not stick to your fingers/tools. In fact, if you use a small container with water and dish detergent, you can squeeze a lump of compound right out of the tube into the soapy water. Then you can pick it up with your hands, and mold it onto your circuit manually. I’ve used this technique for years testing amateur oceanography instruments. Works a treat! Works with most moisture-cure polyurethanes, too.

Merry Christmas 'Greatscott!' and everyone!!!

Wait, is this a German uploading out of Schedule? Shouldn´t it be this time tomorrow as a Christmas present? Anyway, still a great video :)

Your handwriting is perfect.

Always an entertainment to watch your videos. Thanks for making videos.

So potting compound is basically liquid epoxy renamed?

too bad you didn't mention anyting about the price, that would be interesting as well!

Great video. I often wondered about this water resistant electronic coatings. Thanks

High quality video and very clear. Thank you.

now today is saturday

No conformal coating in this round-up?

The potty component looks so beautiful!

Clear, temporary peel coat paint for cars work great! It's good enough to hold up to the weather for 6 months or more.

I think the temperature could become a problem if the motor is under load

Honey, Where’s all my nail polish gone!

The nail polish idea just saved a project of mine. Thanks

Interesting video! In the past, I've used epoxy, crazy glue, but mostly bees wax. I used a nitro powered RC truck once. I took the circuit boards out for the servos, and receiver, and battery connections and packed with pure bees wax. The receiver cell pack was multilayered in heat shrink that had wax applied first. I ran that around in heavy rain for several tanks of nitro. I don't think this would work well in high heat areas, as with all electric rc applications, but it's fun to experiment!

How to make BL Dc motor waterproof ? For example project like RC submarine..

Can you make a video about converting AC to DC please

I like your thoughtful methodology. Thanks for sharing.

I would like to recommend JB Weld Plastic Bonder. It comes in what looks like the typical two part epoxy side-by-side syringe. Use a small disposable container and plunge the contents in and mix well. You can then either dip or brush on the adhesive agent. Instead of a block of material with the components inside, you have a closer resemblance to the nail polish, except it is opaque-white and much thicker. This will also aid in heat concerns compared to the 'block' style submersion.

Knipex pliers

Avasva is cool

Great scott! What a great video! :D The silicone likely had a problem because so much was added, and the surface cured before the inside, and sealed the inside from curing and having the volatile compounds vaporize, I think...

THANKS THIS VIDEO HELP ME A LOT FOR WATER POOF OUTDOOR ELECTRIC PARTS

Clear polyurethane.

What happened with the drone ?

Great video! Thanks so much!! Love your channel

Thank You Great, research and tip for personal electronics proyects and also car diy electronic repairs

His name in Diffent Languages English: Great Scott German: Großartiger Scott? Russian: Великий Скотт Chinese: 伟大的斯科特 Japanese: グレートスコット Hungarian:Nagy Scott Czech:Skvělý Scott ↕ Its the same whatever Slovak:Skvělý Scott Hindi:महान स्कॉट Thats it 9 Languages are enough Translated by Google Tranlator Expect German and English

Once you start hearing GASP every time before he starts talking...

Guten Tag, I enjoy your videos here in the USA.

I've found Plasti Dip clear to work well. Since it's an aerosol it gets into fine spaces. It cures quickly so a few coats can be applied. It also remains somewhat flexible so it handles flexing around wire to board connections.

how to waterproof your phone don’t get your phone wet

Once you notice the sound of him breathing between takes, you can't stop hearing it

RU-vid read my mind. I'm working on cooling PCBs with water, while keeping material density and conductive coefficient in mind. Thermal resin with silicon dioxide filler did indeed end up being the solution of choice. Except I'm trying to dissipate 50W of power, not 1 or 2. Good stuff.

Perfect video. I'm deploying electronics on a saillboad. I have a $60 bms I'm thinking about coating..

i want to water sound proof my wife

I wanted to see the potted led lit up! great video. I been thinking about what would be the best way to seal a PCB!

Finally ! Thanks man you helped me so much !

Thanks, as usual very informative.

*_Happy Holidays Great One_*

great video scott!!!!!

Whenever I'm wondering how to do something with electronics, somehow, GreatScott always has a video about it.

I really enjoyed the clip of the capacitor exploding in the resin

RTV coating to pot electronics normally Scott as its tough as old nails also need to de-gas whatever it is your using using a vacuum chamber to get consistent potting results (without air bubbles), costs a lot but get a really professional end product. Another great video Scott well done 😉

Great video Scott!!!! Interesting argument!! Thanks!

Excellent info! Thank you!

I subscribe just because the the name of his channel. It's one of my fav saying of all time, one of my fav movie back to the future

GreatScott!+ The best potting compound I ever used is 2 part epoxy... It also stops the components from corroding.

Good Video, informative electronics protection in an increasingly electronic world.

Silicone for mold making is great for potting electronics as its two part and sets whether closed from air or open. Oomoo is something I've used several time to pot parts for wet conditions in Broadcasting.

oh yeah, that potted cap going off! Whether you celebrate it or not; have a merry Christmas!

Nice informative video, thank you for sharing!

Great Scott. You Are Electronic King......!

Nice video! I've been thinking about this for the past few months but never did any research :P

I use a 2 part epoxy with a brush like your nail polish. It doesn't build up much volume so allows heat transfer. The epoxy resin is also much more robust than an acrylic paint.

Thanks for the awesome project once again 👍

Wow, this is good to know! Thank you!

Amazing sharing as always, keep it up.

Great videos. Am I the only one who finds the attention to detail fascinating.

Very useful video as usual :)

Sehr Spannendes Experiment werde ich auch mal versuchen. Danke geliebter Bruder 8i.

Dow Corning has some awesome silicon elastomers for electronics. They have very high dielectric strength and heat conductive.

Thank you for show us this video