Conformal Coatings (hydrophobic products)

[svetz]

Will probably won’t have to worry about this now that he lives in a desert… but … I might as well live on a boat considering how humid and salty it is.

Is a conformal coating a good idea for gear that sits outside, or silly as it is harder for the circuit board to reject heat?

Does anyone disassemble their new electronics after receiving them just to spray the circuit boards with a conformal coating?

Or do you just do it on cheap stuff knowing it’ll void the warranty and cross your fingers with the big ticket items?

If you do this, what products do you use? Do you brush or spray?

 

[luisenriquereyes]

I brush coated all the inner parts of a Ubiquti
Unifi UVC G3 Dome camera which is for indoor use. It's been outside in the high heat and humidity of the Dominican Republic without any problems for almost a year. It does sit under an awning so rain doesn't splash directly on it but it does get some rain drops once in awhile when its windy.

I followed this long video as a guide:

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[gnubie]

I have not coated any board in any of my devices but I don't have anything in a position where it is going to get wet in the first place. Anything I have outside is in enclosures that prevent them getting wet or damp. I live in the tropics. That said for things I build for other people, farmers and the like, I sure do coat them because I can't control what other people do that will defeat waterproofing like leaving hatches open.

 

[Will Prowse]

There is a commercial grade hydrophobic coating for solar panels that uses the morning dew to clean the panels. This cleaning effect will increase output. Not sure how it works in real world because I have never tested it, but many companies state some big benefits to using these coatings. Especially solar farms that require constant cleaning.

Personally I like to throw up more panels and let them get dirty haha. Usually its a 20-30% increase in output with a dirty panel vs clean panel, so its not that bad. Might as well throw up another 100w panel in a small array and clean it once a year :D

 

[PHoganDive]

I know they were working on a coating that uses the same principal the lotus leaves do. Not only is it hydrophobic, but the water surface tension grabs any dirt on the way by, so it keeps it clean as well.

 

[luisenriquereyes]

I know they were working on a coating that uses the same principal the lotus leaves do. Not only is it hydrophobic, but the water surface tension grabs any dirt on the way by, so it keeps it clean as well.

Looks like the water droplet in this video is grabbing dirt as it flows around:

 

[svetz]

Hyrdophillic panel coatings too. Not sure which is better.

Would you belive there's a thread on it already! See Water repellent coating for solar panels