Dynamic

So I live in Canada. There is snow here. The snow for those who don't know is basically frozen water. Water is not good for electronics. Crashing means electronics get wet. So now that we have the basics covered.

Water proofing....I know a lot of savage (nitro truck) guys put there electronic in a balloon or dip then in liquid rubber in order to protect them from water. I was thinking about following the same procedure (with the balloon method) to protect my esc and receiver from moisture. Then I got to thinking about my esc and if putting it in a balloon would increase the heat enough to fry it(don't want that).

So I was wondering if anyone has waterproofed there bird using this method or if they have any other methods to protect the gizmos from wet death.

Taffey

I haven't waterproofed a heli before, but I've done plenty of electric vehicles. Yes, waterproofing an ESC generally means that it will run hotter. Too bad it isn't so warm outside... Oh wait, it's snowing. In other words, any extra heat induced by the addition of a balloon shouldn't be a problem.

Just check to see how the ESC is doing after a few minutes of flight. If you have a temp gun, even better. I would think that heat in excess of around 140 degrees F would constitute a problem.

FearNot

maybe apply silicone or liquir rubber but let the fins of the heatsink stick out

johnboyrc

I know some boat people coat their electronics with Aerotrend-Aerolite and don't worry about it. It's a liquid, like WD40 but better, designed to protect against water.
In the end, ya hvae to choose what your most comfortable with.

robmoney

If you crash a lot, why not work on hovering, orientation, etc. to become better...

I am not trying to bust on you, I have had 2 Trex's for over 2 months now, 100 + flights, started flying helis in Nov. and I don't crash because I stay inside my ability.

I am now working on inverted hover, loops, rolls, etc.

I see so many people fly outside their ability and never get better at anything other than rebuilding all the time.

I say these words because I know how frustrating a crash can be and I just missed yesterday as I was flying in a gym and the old belt snapped.

For whatever reason heli people ask me to help them when I am out flying.

I told a guy this the other day, he came back to me after just (boringly) hovering 10 batteries outside...

He now has much more control and flies much better outside as before he flet free I guess and got crazy and crashed everytime.

Hope ya don't think I am an idiot, just trying to help.

As for the balloon, I think you'll be o.k. due to the extreme cold to begin with...

Have you had and belt problems in the extreme cold? Getting loose, then tight, breaking???

Thanks,

Rob

Dynamic

I had one belt break on me that I managed to auto gyro in but that was due to it being weakened by a big jump in throttle when I hit the idleup (now fixed). Other then that no belt problems at all.

I got the hover down. I got the forward flight down. I even got some inverted flight down, but every now and then (like every 15 packs or so) I'll end up losing perspective on the bird for whatever reason and down she comes. I'm sure it happens to all of us. Plus in emergency landings (auto's or when battery protection (on high) kicks in) it sometimes lands in the snow getting wet. I do use a timer, but sometimes its just to much fun to come in to land and battery life varies a fair bit in due to the temperature here (might be +5C one day and -20C the next depending on cloud cover and what not)