Beaver submitted a new resource: How To - Waterproofing Servos - Step-by-step guide showing you how to waterproof your servos. Read more about this resource...
Commentary: this is just one method. Other options are available, depending on your specific conditions and needs. Choosing whether this method is suitable for a specific purpose requires posting more than just the method itself. How extensively has this method been tested? ie how deep, how long, is functionality retained while immersed, how frequently has your test subject been tested? Is this suitable for continuous submerged duty? Is this suitable for saltwater/poolwater/etc? thanks!
It will fail because you didn't O ring the output shaft. Just buy a Hitech 646 and be done with it. Beaver I was waterproffing servos before you were thought of.
Absolutely correct. I've been running a servo waterproofed with this method for two years in my cruiser. In that two years I've been to five battles and sank multiple times. I've sank my cruiser in an above ground pool for 20min, ran it in the pool with lots of water in the hull for hours. Note that I never performed any sort of maintenance at all after each use. No failure. That's the extent of my testing. Yes, it works under water. Can't say how it works in saltwater, I've never battled in saltwater. Is this method suitable for continuous submerged duty? Maybe, I can't say since I haven't done that kind of testing.
Thanks Beaver, i appreciate you taking the time to post your methods and results. There is definately some good info here. Thanks again. Craig
you must have more careful fingers than I. I've never managed to get a servo apart without gears going everywhere it seems.
I had the same issue. I had 4 $26 servos of which two of them the gears spilled out never to be returned. The other two were waterproofed and never worked... I lost time and money. They didn't have the646WP back then but I could have bought two for all the trouble.. and the time savings would have been really beneficial.
Yes.. but I tried and I could not figure it out. I am sure I might not be the only person with this problem... or am I... cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo
Ok, I'm working on incorporating an o ring on the output shaft into the tutorial. FYI, I'm planning to sink one of my home waterproofed servos in a friend's 10ft pond over the winter. Would anybody like to donate one of their store bought pre-waterproofed servos for a side by side comparison???
I sank twice at 6/7' at least years nats and ruined two waterproofed Traxxas servos (with o ring). So, I think I will pass Mind you, they were only well coated with skotchkote on the outside and an o ring on the shaft.
Traxxas waterproof servos lack the grease coating to limit water intrusion. If a little water gets past the O-ring, it's toast. Beaver's method, using lots of dielectric grease to further limit water intrusion, should improve their submerged lifespan significantly at most shallow depths. Beaver, I think you'll find that spending all winter at the bottom of the pond will be hard on your test servo, but not for the reasons you're initially expecting. You'll most likely get water wicking in the wires, causing corrosion and weakening/breaking connections. The best practical test I have seen was continuously cycling a servo while submerged to 6-10 feet for approximately 30-60mins. The continuous cycling is a good test of the mechanical seals for any exclusion-type waterproofing (like your method, Beaver), the duration is good for testing specific-component waterproofing (ie skotchkoting the circuitboard and drilling holes, my current method), and the depth is a reasonable approximation for most of the tougher ponds.
What they were doing is suitable for airplanes which don't get soaked in water (or if they do, it's very brief), but just spraying everything with Corrosion X will not prevent damage to your electronics from constant immersion.
Another note for Corrosion-X - it deteriorates over time, eventually gumming up your servos over the course of 1-2 years. It's great for an accidental immersion prior to properly waterproofing your electronics, but is NOT a suitable substitute for proper waterproofing. In my case, I had rudder servos, firing servos, and turret rotation servos all slow down to greater than 30 sec per 45 degrees. I replaced them, and then lost another set over the course of another year. Switched to skotchkoting circuit-boards, and haven't had a problem in dozens of sinkings since.
Not condemning you for sharing, but I wanted to make it clear that this isn't waterproofing in a true sense.
Scotch coat works great, easy to use an apply. Most electrical warehouses have it. Used to waterproof electrical splices.
Everybody has their own successful methods. Anyone claiming to be a expert or it "can only be done this way" then proceed with caution. That being said I have used this water resisting method. 1 coat the circuit board with a hard coat barrier ect fingernail polish,scotchcoat,whatever. 2 spray corrosion x into the pot and pot only 3 drill a vent hole next to the pot and after sinking blast with corrosion x 4no watertight boxes and easy access to servos 5 if at a NATS and a sink occurs I will pull the servos and replace them in a matter of minutes. I buy 10$ servos and will not let that part put me out of a fight that I spend 100x more to go to. 6 kiss 7 kiss 8kiss 9kiss 10kiss
