Reddit reviews MG Chemicals 422B-340G Silicone Conformal Coating, Clear, 340 gram Aerosol

If nothing else works, you may want to just waterproof your electronics with conformal coating. Take apart the Vive to get to the mobo, remove the mainboard, spray one side, put back the mainboard and reconnect, cover-up sensor connectors, spray the other side. Reconnect the sensors and put them back together. Of course, observe the drying times needed.

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-422B-340G-Silicone-Conformal/dp/B008O9YGQI/

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I never did it for a Vive. But that's how you waterproof everything else (super popular DIY for drones since they can crash into water).

It creates a thin silicone layer making it waterproof. It's pretty thin so it's not too hard on the electronics. It does make manually repairing it a bit harder though.

Since it sounds like you have a bunch of broken vives around you can even try spraying it on a broken one just to get the feel of the process.

I have several suggestions:


1st: Whatever enclosure you use, you will have to ensure that it is UV protected, or you will have to paint it with paint rated for outdoor use, such as Krylon or Rustoleum all purpose spray paints.


2nd: if you are in a climate that experiences extremes on one or both ends of the temperature spectrum seasonally, you will want to take precautions.

-If your climate is higher temps but dry, you will want a breathable enclosure.

-If your climate experiences humidity as most do in the United States outside of deserts, you will want to coat the board in a "dry" conformal coating. That is, once applied, the coating dries. You will want to take care to seal or plug any of the ports to protect against corrosion from moisture. After applying this coating to the board, and appropriately sealing or plugging ports, you can use an open enclosure for venting purposes, taking care to only have openings at the bottom of the enclosure to ensure moisture cannot drip in, but can leach out.


-If you decide to do a closed or sealed enclosure, you should do so with a conductive material such as aluminum and flood it with a non-conductive fluid like detergentless motor oil. This will ensure the RPi can cool in higher temps, and all but guarantees no moisture corrosion. Make sure to use standoffs that will make sure the RPI does not contact the inside enclosure surface and keeps the RPi snug. Using 4 drops of non-conductive automotive gasket maker in the corners of the RPi board to create at least 1/8" gap between the board and the enclosure is a simple way to do this. Take care in this option to plug ports you intend on using later such as the HDMI, 2 of USB ports, and any others. You can use a light coating of silicon to seal the SD card, and around the pins on the bus you are using, as well as the power connector. Since motor oil is non conductive, you can leave any non-used ports open. You can use gasket maker or silicone to seal the enclosure and if you drill a hole in the top, a syringe to flood it with oil after closing, then using the silicone or gasket maker to plug the hole. Obviously you would want holes for the leads and power cable to pass through, taking care to seal those too. This is exactly how transformers on telephone poles are insulated against moisture and heat.


3rd: Consider keeping the RPi inside altogether and running leads out to the sign. If you need less than 8 leads, cat5/6/7 cable can accomplish this and you can even drill a 1/4" hole through your wall to route the cable, taking care to seal the gap. If you need more leads, look into circuit designs that can convert the output from the RPi into a serial signal, and have a circuit on the back of your sign, with it's own power supply for turning the serial signal back into something that drives a relay bank, or some other simple LED control.

Or this. Haven't tried it either.

MG Chemicals 422B Silicone Conformal Coating, 12 oz Aerosol, Clear https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008O9YGQI/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_Tx62wbS60TAPP

Have you looked at silicone conformal spray?

Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Silicone-Conformal-Coating/dp/B008O9YGQI

First saw it used in 3D printing on objects of adult nature.

We've used it on boards for a long time. Had some ducts to an intake fan that had some odd angles that made them difficult to print. Was going to print them in pieces and put them together. Ended up spraying them and being able to keep them in one piece and they sealed up.

May be able to pause then spray, or spray after printing. I haven't really tried it with water. I have used XTC-3D to seal water before, but I think the spray would probably end up cleaner.

You could make any PCB "water resistant" if you're willing to open it up & spray the board with conformal coating (there are other variants available, including a brush-on type).

Mitigating dust and humidity?
Using conformal coating. You can buy an aerosol version to test it out on your first run of boards.

This also had some good layout info (i.e pad shapes, etc).

I dont get it?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008O9YIV6
is $13 is that out of your price range?
The nice thing about actual conformal coating is that you can solder through the coating or remove it if needed. Had grate luck with it so-fare.

They sell https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Silicone-Conformal-Coating/dp/B008O9YGQI its about $5 more though, it is an Aerosol. Never used it before though.

https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-422B-340G-Silicone-Conformal/dp/B008O9YGQI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1543569078&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=silicone+conformal+coating&dpPl=1&dpID=41mcAG9pGLL&ref=plSrch Do it.

There are two types you can use that seem to work well. A Silicon version, and a Acrylic version.

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https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-422B-340G-Silicone-Conformal/dp/B008O9YGQI/

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and:

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https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-Premium-Acrylic-Conformal/dp/B06XWGCKX5

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Both work well. I prefer the Silicone version as the Acrylic version has a blueish tint that bothers some people.