Waterproofing electronics?

[Mikes]

Hello everyone!
If I am going to be fly my plane in the snow should I waterproof the electronics? I have seen Flite Test's video on waterproofing electronics but they were completely submerging them. Is it necessary if there might be just a little water from the snow melting on the plane?
Thanks!

 

[Grifflyer]

I personally don't think you need to waterproof your electronics as long as you cover up your electronics bay you'll be fine.

I flew a FT mini scout in the rain using the method mentioned above without waterproofing the electronics and there was no damage.

 

[Mikes]

I personally don't think you need to waterproof your electronics as long as you cover up your electronics bay you'll be fine.

OK thanks! And I will be using the Flite Test waterproof foam board.

 

[Merv]

I agree with @Grifflyer, just close the hatch. If you wanted to go a step further, cover the electronics with a plastic bag

 

[nhk750]

You can spray electronics down with corrosionx spray and that will help. I have a Tundra that I float fly with and havnt done any waterproofing to it and it gets wet all the time with no problems yet. I beat that plane in the water, but I have noticed if the ESC gets wet the motor wont turn easily, very wierd, the motor doesn't care about getting wet though. I really should spray corrosionx on it.

 

[Merv]

I really should spray corrosionx on it.

Yes, flying off water requires a far better method of water proofing than snow.

 

[Brett_N]

From an electrical engineer's point of view - here's a few things I do with my "potentially wet" planes.

Everything get's sprayed with CorrosionX BEFORE getting silicone'd or wrapped or whatever.

1 - Receiver - good old dollar tree large balloon, a zip tie, and a glob of silicone. Pretty self explanatory just spray with CorrosionX before putting it in the balloon.

2 - ESC - pretty simple here. Just a couple beads of silicon on the ends of the shrink wrap. Spray with CorrosionX anytime.

3 - Servo's - I used to disassemble and pack with silicone grease, but with FT planes I just use cheap TowerPro 9g's so I just spray them with CorrosionX and call it a day.

 

[Kloww]

I cover all my PCBs in silicone conformal coating the moment they come out of the static bags. Just in case.

 

[slembcke]

I've had a crash on the water that submerged all of my electronics (cam + vtx, receiver, flight controller, GPS, etc). Everything was coated in a couple layers of conformal silicone, and it all came out working fine.

 

[Hondo76251]

I've flown off the snow and ice with my UMX timber a lot... Never had trouble with moisture... Water is another story! The little linear servos seem to be especially susceptible to water (especially if the little splash shield comes off)

Although out of dozens of flights on the water... That video was my first troubles...