I don’t think this will work for ABS enclosures though, only nice strong thick fiberglass (or carbon, but don’t use carbon) ones. Reason being that getting the enclosure off involved lots of prying and bending and cussing. ABS would have been shredded by the removal process. If you have an ABS enclosure and want to use butyl tape, I’d cover the alcohol-cleaned enclosure with 3 layers of fiberglass first, or at least all along the perimeter.
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You’re gonna have a tough time vacuum sealing with all of the holes required and it’ll get messy at the silicone ports. You could just heat shrink components and seal the ends much easier.
However, keeping water out is ideal. Think of it as permanent. Butyl that Brian mentioned is great stuff, but it’s gonna really stick an enclosure down. It’ll do the job, don’t expect to be working on your board weekly or it’ll drive you nuts.
Can the vac bag handle 75C temps?
The problem with heat sinking the battery with a plate that way is to get any kind of thermal conductivity that’s worthwhile, you need metal to metal contact. The heat shrink on the cells will reduce that as will the necessary fishpaper layer- and more significantly. An aluminum plate would surely be a massive short risk against the cells. With just the heat shrink.
Reducing cell temp can be achieved by spreading them out, changing the layout and/or increasing P count so you pull less amps per cell for the same total. You could provide airflow or reduce amps too.
When you want to waterproof and keep temps down, then I’d recommend looking into something like MG chemicals 834fx (I think). It’s a thermally conductive, dielectric flexible epoxy designed for this. Still, if you do the math, the thermal conductivity is pretty low when compared to something like a cpu cooler- which likely performs upwards of 20x better.
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Why the alcohol clean?
Mostly curious because I don’t see many people mention it. I acknowledge that it’s a good practice regardless, but interested why you’re calling it out here specifically when butyl wets out without too much effort or resorting to any surface treatment/promoters.
As for removing the enclosure without damage, I haven’t tried it with butyl, but you can use a brass wire (fishing line is probably better here since it’s non conductive) to floss the enclosure off.
The butyl might need some wedging to keep it from re-self adhering if the two surfaces have higher surface energies and you’re getting cohesive failure while splitting.
still hate the stuff with a passion
I was suggesting to use alcohol to clean the ABS before applying fiberglass to it.
LoL not before butyl tape application. That stuff is serious business.
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What’s your advice nowadays? Use butyl to keep water out and then not waterproofing the inside?
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Yep, exactly that.
Butyl tape works so freaking good that I stopped waterproofing entirely, which makes maintenance a breeze as well.
Use butyl tape, and run your connectors through the enclosure with epoxy:
You can ride that in a thunderstorm if you don’t use motor sensors.
Also make sure to cover the back (inside of the enclosure side) of the charge port with silicone as well.
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Cool thanks. Seem to make things a lot easier. To the point that even I want to water resistant my setup 
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Can I pleas get some advice how to best waterproof my esc. It’s a flipshit FESC 4.12
with the aluminium case.
Should I do a conformal coating first or just plug all my connections in and seal it in clear heat shrink and silicone the ends before hating it up?
A lot depends on whether you need to mount it to something that will help keep it from overheating (if you’re using it hard enough for that).
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Am I the only person that laminates their battery trays with non-thermo-activated laminating film? I’m not a big fan of gaskets. They are seldom made in such a way that they don’t have a joint that would allow for water ingress under the right circumstances.
I used to waterproof ESCs with conformal coating, but my advice now is “don’t”.
That’s because I discovered butyl rope… you can make the enclosure crazy water tight using that stuff and then not worry about water inside, if you do it right. Often putting a thin sheet of rubber on top of the enclosure (sealed with butyl rope) before affixing it to the board works really well, and then the wood/enclosure interface doesn’t matter at all and needs zero waterproofing or gasketing. Also be careful running wires out of the enclosure: in general, I just don’t do it. At all. I epoxy a connector through the enclosure and then plug into it on the water side. (on the outside)
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Yes. Do both for the best water proofing possible. Also make sure to make the enclosure as water proof as possible.
But why not use both methods together? Increase the chances of stopping water if it gets into the enclosure, but also makes it harder for water to even get in there to begin with.
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The latter makes things much more serviceable. And the latter isn’t good for serviceability.
Wood form the deck, rubber sheet than butyl tape/rope and than the enclosure? am i understanding that correctly? Now I just have to get my hands on some butyl tape, haven’t found any in our hardware stores here. What is that stuff used originally? Maybe I can find it in a specialized store.
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Never worked or even heard of conformal coating before this forum. Would an electronics store have that. Is it just a spray so you can apply it easily? Do I have to do more than one layer?
An auto parts store may have butyl rope for waterproofing automobile headlights or RV windows. But probably better to shop online.
Conformal coating does come in a spray, but it’s the brush on types referred to in these threads, like MG Chemicals 419D-55ML for example.
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This seems to be the right stuff: That is not cheap at all. Does the rubber over that stuff mean I can apply it one time and open the enclosure if I need to change anything or does it have to be applied each time I open up the enclosure? Sorry for all the questions. I’m still pretty new to all this.
Yes, that is exactly what I use.
The rubber just means you’re not using the deck as part of your waterproofing and also that it can flex independantly if needed. You don’t have to use that. Also make sure you go INSIDE the bolt holes with the butyle rope and not outside them, otherwise you have bolts holes going into your water-free area.
The butyl rope/tape is like used chewing gum that never gets hard and sticks to everything. You can open it back up but usually I apply more when I close it again. Unless it’s an ABS enclosure and you seal it to the deck, then the enclosure isn’t strong enough to open up again. A fiberglass enclosure can be opened again. You can’t just pull it off, you can get a screwdriver or something under it and apply steady pressure and it will slowly start unsticking. If you try to pull it off fast it will break. Slow and it will come right off.
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I do have a ABS enclosure for the moment. It’s a very iffy setup actually. There is an wooden riser involved. I am in the process of upgrading to ether kydex (because easier) or Fiberglas which looks like it will eat up a lot more money and especially time. Still on the fence tho.
If it’s ABS then you probably have to use the rubber. Unlikely IMHO that you’d be able to open it otherwise.