Waterproof Radios & Other Electronics.

For prepping we need reliable electronics, especially radios, hence the need for waterproofing circuit boards. Here I show you how to do this using Conformal and a UV flashlight.
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[Justin-bddg]

"Ain't nobody got time for dat!" LMFAO

[RadioMalopolska]

My neighbar from Krakow ..give mi after 2010 Motorola GM900 .. 2stc .. in Poland was a deep flood in this year. 6 days Her Truck ( He was worked on sand transport near river Wisła ) Her truck was 6 days under water .. Motorola was a 6 days in Vistula river .. Afrer this flood . Neightbar give me this motorola . Mud in PCB mud in speaker and microphone .... i dry it ... and this radio does without problems to today .. 10 yrs after flood radio is like new .. Modulation ... Receiving .. Motorola GM900 is Waterproof i tell you! like a Polish Prepper .

[mtqnypw]

At first I thought you were going to say "hot glue". 🤣 73

[tasheido]

Hello Gil, having some experience with conformal coatings on PCBs i can share a few thoughts. If i where you i would replace the corroded switches and dip wash and brush all the board in isopropyl alcohol. Dry it bake it at 60c on an oven for a couple of hours. And then apply the varnish. Carefull with trimpots trimcaps switches connectors and stuff that might get stuck of insulated after application.

I have used silicone type, polyurethane types and acrillyc type coatings.. some have advantages and disadvantages over the others.. in terms of how easy to they are to apply, repair, remove etc..oh and cost!

Hope it helped, 73
Cheers

[RobertWardJones]

Conformal can be any kind of non-conductive film applied to a circuit board. It doesn't have to be a UV resin.

Its best to use UV resin at night with artificial lights yellow in color. White LED lights do emit some UV light.

UV resin can be purchased in metal cans used for fiberglassing. As an alternate you can use epoxy resin or vinyl resin used for auto body repair. Marine varnish can be used as well. Just be aware that adding a resin layer to your circuit board can create a dielectric component to RF circuits.

A trick i learned from the telephone industry is to inject switches with petroleum jelly/Vaseline/ grease to keep out water. Just put some grease in a small syringe and inject it in. Also put some dust caps on the switches. Cut a small thin rectangle bigger than the switch and then cut a small hole which is big enough for the switch shaft to fit in the rectangular dust protector.

[dennisschultz]

Glad this worked out for you! The last time you used epoxy to seal a unun was a disaster.

[edmcg]

Gil, Thank you for your practical, adventurous and always enjoyable videos. A fellow sailor, I have had some success with pure silicon o-ring lube (Scuba type like Triton) for plugs, antenna connections and switches, followed by clear Krylon spray lacquer for the pcb boards..
Looking forward to you getting back to sea after the lockdown. 73. Ed

[videossimon]

Thank you Gil. I'm interested to see how it looks after a few months.

[michaellukasik]

A Comformal coat spray is made by MG Chemicals, part number 419B-340g. I use this for all
my repairs and it hold parts from moving. IN Ontario this cost is $16:00 Ca

[EOGIY]

According to Wikipedia conformal does not have to be any specific resin. The cheapest UV resins cost pennies. A cheap and obtainable conformal is a shellack that should be dissolved in alcohol. After the solvent evaporates what is left is conformal coating. Shellack after years likes to crack so it has to be renewed. Any resin glue would work as conformal. That lowers the price tag really low.

[wntu]

I can assure tiy that Q-Tips are still sold.

[jertres]

I did have a two band MTR in an altoids tin and the cats that like my wife but not me, one of them, decided to micturate corrosive fluid onto it. I was not happy. Cleaned off it got rehoused in one of steve’s custom cases that he had a few extra of. 20 and fourty, it’s a favorite. .Most of our parts would tolerate just water without a problem, there are some fluxes designed to cleanup with water. Switches and trimmers are a problem to protect and a problem if not protected and violated. I would be tempted to try and encase the trimmers as it might also keep them locked but switches might just have to be replaced if damaged by corrosives. The uv curing stuff sounds really permanent, while acrylic spray could probably be removed with solvents and if applied thinly you can solder “through” it if needed. Another alternative is to melt some bees wax.

[blog]

Good one Gill, Conformal coating is very common I'm sure your "Green" radios will have some, normally you want to put it everywhere except your switches or variable components unless you never want to change them mask off those areas and do the coating first and also underneath. Try and get a reeneterable one that you can solder through ...all will stink if you use a soldering iron on them so do that outside. Also your switches/connectors arn't waterproof and will still rot with sea water..not much you can do about that. Look at CPC/RS/Farnell etc for a half litre bottle or spray can if you are doing a lot of this Gill!

[FEGX]

Pour protéger, la graisse marche bien, sauf en plein soleil ça fini par goutter. Sinon les vernis tropicalisant sont bien. Et la cire d'abeille purifiée peut faire aussi office de protection.

[markgjvy]

Never heard of conformal before, thanks Gil 👍👏👏

[brucef]

Steve Weber just saw this, had a heart attack, and was raced to the hospital. (just kidding, sort of...)

[jertres]

For toroids I dissolve styrofoam in MEK. For the rest I either do nothing or sometimes will mask off switches and connectors with tape and then spray really light sprays of KRYLON clear which is acrylic and cheap and dries fast.

[stevejava]

I'm looking into this radio. Tell me what you think.
It is said to be water proof. Similar to military grade.
Ultra-compact transceiver
Lab599 Discovery TX-500

[Dr-T]

Conformal coating of PCB's is widely used in the Automotive industry for modules fitted under the hood or in the doors as both are -- at best -- 'wet and humid' environments.
There are many different types of coating materials and they don't need to be particularly 'High Tech.' However, they do need to be 'insulating' or -- for high impedance circuits, coating will have a negative performance effect.
The problem with only partially coating a pcb is that moisture will get under the coating you have applied and actually make things worse!
Masking off components (switches in your case) and spraying the conformal coat will give much better coverage -- but is a LOT more work! Automotive pcb's are both sprayed or dipped in the conformal coating material after masking the areas of the pcb you don't want coated.
Conformal coating is both a science and an art!
It's not easy to get it right. 73 Bruce G4ABX

[karlhill]

I have seen others using clear nail polish to at least splash proof their electronic creations like Arduinos etc., it seems to work really good and is very cheap as well.
Then there is of course silicon, better heat resistance but perhaps a little bit messy to apply?
Maybe both is worth a try?
Perhaps do a video on it and show what it can handle and what not?
73's de sa5vox