I can't believe how many people are freaking out over your hair and saying they're unsubbing because of it. If someone seriously unsubs for such a silly reason, you're better off without them as viewers. You do you, man. I had blue hair for months and got SO many judgey looks from old ladies. Its actually kind of hilarious. Do what you want. Its YOUR hair, not theirs!
:) thank you! Not sure why so many people are freaking out blinds funny I guess. But your right, good riddance to everyone that’s left because of hair haha
Living in Ottawa, Canada I take 3 quads with me for each outing. For each crash, I just shake the hell out of the quad to fling all the snow off, then do like you.... toss it back in the car, and then the house & leave it to dry out until the next day. So I can crash a max of 3 times (once per quad). I have tried the spray can oil based coating on parts in the past, but it can only resist water for so long, then it's usually the ESCs that go first. Immersion Vortex quads do indicate they are somewhat water resistant for short periods, but I have not over tested that to prove its legitimacy.
Drew for Joker in next Batman movie. Gotta be better than Jared Leto, amirite? EDIT: After reading more comments, holy shit, let me clarify that I love the fuck out of this hair and you should absolutely keep it. People are psycho down there in the comment zone, breh.
Hi Drew, great video and hair! I've been flying a lot lately in tons of snow and temperature as low as -19c (2.2f) I use the same conformal coating and have had great success. But you have to be very generous with it, i use two thick layers. And be careful to not cover the top of your vtx buttons so they get forever stuck on the same ch and power...
or stuck in pit mode bahahaha, just ripped the button off the vtx and went ripping again! ...and I feel ya bro, flew in -18degF the other day! craaaazy cold
I kept the batteries in my car and took them out on at a time. So 3-5 minutes in the cold didn't do too much, but definitely noticeable. It has to be said that i'm not the most extreme full power racing pilot, but for a bit of chill acro it was ok.
Do you think wet motors might have something to do with it? I watched your vid on coating the components and it seems like you did a pretty thorough job, however, the motors are totally exposed. I wonder if you can do the motors too and still have em work.
You should watch mine. Conformal Coating Christmas. I used like half a bottle. On everything, but the lens sensor. I had to blow out the USB, fits snug, still works. Did you wait the 24 hours?? Get all up in them wires, moved em around, got in between? Backsides of connector ports? I did on the back side of the XT60 as well (soldered part). I had two motors go funny for a second the first time around after prop dragging the snow and turtleing on the ice and isht, then bringing inside for the snowball of a quad to melt, and then plugging right back in. Since that time tho I haven't had a single funk with back to back packs and landing in fluffy snow each time. Rainx on the lens works freaking great when the suns out btw, can literally blow snow right off the GoPro
Mun Cheung - thanks for all the help, guys listen to him! Everything he just said. Greg - yup I just use the iron to wipe the crap off a little bit on the pads. I generally solder at 800f, high heat and a lil flux is your friend. Tin the pads back up and good to go. Reapply and done. Magic Smoke - it makes the water not stick, so on things like a car windshield when it's moving down the road the water slides right off. So a miniquad haulin does the same effect, especially cuz the props help to blow that shiz right off too.
I was flying in 10 degrees the other day and it actually wasn't the wetness of the snow, but the sheer cold that caused problems. I warmed my quad and battery for a few minutes on my car heater vents before each flight and had good results. Quad was conformal coated.
I don't look at conformal coating as a bulletproof fix... I look at it like insurance. I've had quads not initialize when wet, but work fine once they dry. I've also has one that i just shook of and flew again. But the conformal is cheap and easy, and I feel like it at least gives me a chance to make it out with all my components.
I only wanted insurance, but seemed to get lucky! Not sure if I can throw the bizitch in an ocean but turtling in the powder on ice hasn't been any biggy :P
KittFPV I think alot of it had to do with the electrolytic qualities of the water in question. and i think that's why even in the saltiest of water, a fresh water rinse and drying time seem to fix things. Either way, it's got to be better than completely unprotected components.
You have to use an uv light after useing the coating to check your work it will glow under uv light so you don’t miss a spot my quad still works being in the snow lost for for 30 Mins and I flew it right after and to this day and it still work just mint
I have yet to coat my DYS F4 V2 and biffed it a handful of times in the snow at Faurecia in Auburn Hills and have yet to have an issue. That FC takes a beating and keeps going. You don’t even have to let it sit over night. About 45 min on the floorboard of your car with the heat cranked and your good.
Serious question!!! After conformal coating what happens with soldering repairs later?? Is it flammable??? Can you solder right through it?? What's the scoop???
I would treat conformal coating as a layer of protection against initial crash and not try to fly wet afterwards. So use the coating, but when you get wet, disconnect power ASAP, then blow dry the drone and then go fly again.
I work for a company that makes circuit boards that eventually go into space. Check your conformal coating with a UV light to check your coverage. Touch up where needed.
I do several applications letting it dry overnight of all components then solder and recoat the joints over a few days. When its thick and gummy, you might have enough layers. CorrosionX all conectors and welders all but main battery connector solid. You can easily solder through SCC but be mindful of the combusted fumes.
From my experience the conformal coating keeps electronics from being killed by the water. But, your flight controller and any more sensitive electronics are likely to fail, I just conformal coat all of my quads but still leave them to dry.
A UV light can help you see if you missed any places. I thought I soaked everything with that stuff until I looked the next day with the UV light and saw all I missed. I don't think i will test it like you have but think of it more as an extra safety measure.
Biggest tip.... if you crash in the snow, get to your quad ASAP and blow as much of the snow out of the quad as possible before it melts. Obviously works best in the super cold.
On the second flight of one of my drones, before my conformal coating had arrived from amazon, I landed in some slightly damp grass and an ESC instantly caught fire. No delay or anything, hit the ground unarmed too. Haven't had a part fail that has the coating on it though.
The thing about conformal coating is that the snow can act like sandpaper and scrape it off as you crash into snow. The only way I have managed to make my quads 100% snow and rain proof is by sealing everything within the body of the quad with duct tape and by using hot glue to seal any remaining small holes and to keep the duct tape from peeling off at the ends. Since you have a 3D printer, I'm sure you could use it to make a pod for your quads to protect them from snow and rain.
My silicone conformally coated talon fusion f7 blinked out on the second snow crash today, front mounted on a glide and got snow jammed up behind the camera on top of it, and on the bottom. I think the culprit is the harness plug or maybe usb, can coat the plug, but will have to figure something out for the usb, a simple plug/cver, or bluetooth fc maybe..actually sitting on the heater vent now, so we'll see if she fires up in the morning. Also, so, did the drones live?
Funny, I waterproof too, using the same method and I had the same desync as you, I assume it is from the water in the USB port so, I used Corrosion X in the connectors on the quad and have since experienced zero desyncs flying wet
Conformal coating worked great for me can crash in the snow all day and fly in the rain fine but I put one coat on let it dry then another coat and I have the uv kind but idk how that could make a difference but I hope you get it working well soon you'll have a lot more fun whatever type of day .
You can solder through it so coat the entire piece then solder your parts together, finishing with another coating on the fresh solder joint. That way it has an entire coating, not just on the face surface area. Any time I have to open up my quad to do anything to it I add an additional coating "just for the hell of it" so I think my lack of failure in water & snow is partially due to being coated so much. Additionally, while I am happy with my results I also do not go flying my quad after dunking it in the river or snowbanks. I still let it dry off for a bit! I agree with EnokFPV too!
Hey Drew, got out for some -20C flying (-5 F) last weekend. I had only ever flown one pack in the winter before so it was definitely a learning experience. Incredible footage from a frozen lake flight ... I mean really frozen, we parked on the lake! Here's some other things to expect in the extreme cold: - Your battery on your GoPro / Runcam becomes an issue. I was completely draining the battery on my GPS5 in 2 flights, and the Runcam3 (I was trying out ND filters on it) was dying during one flight. Having a bunch of cheap power banks for USB recharging is handy - Zip ties get really brittle - I had 2 'generic' ziptie attachment goPro mounts completely come off, just landing. You think everything is cool and your GP and mount are sitting there beside the quad when you land. Scary stuff. Getting some super thick solid zip ties from electronics store asap for winter flying. - Battery life was not terrible, I was getting good use of 1800 and 1550 on my 6 inch Chameleon. 1550 only on my Rotorgeeks Odo 5 inch. Was landing with voltage showing 14.0 - 14.2 which would recover to about 15.2 by the time I charged them in a warm house. - If you're flying with a buddy it is a great idea to "buddy fly" (hey, I got that term from you and Jeff) on the same channel and trade packs so you have 2 DVRs and better recovery. Do not fly if your "DVR isn't working", stop and get your buddy to record. Close call when I hit scraggle overhanging the lake and bounced into a back yard ...
Any way you can do a similar video using corrosion x? I'm curious if it works in snow because I have crashed in a small puddle and been fine. I also think it's easier to put on just more messy and it smells but I don't smell my quad often so I'm good
Thanks for the winter-proofing tips and flight footage. Glad you’re having fun out there, Drew. Leave it to The YT comments section to lose sight of everything in this video other than your new look. Opinions are like assholes - everyone’s got one and they all stink. You just keep on doing you and staying fresh. That’s what we tune-in for.
in my experience the silicon conformal coating does in fact work great. however, it is a precausion, not an end all be all. if the components are wet enough the components short and have glitches like you just experienced. you were testing the absolute worst case scenario, which is good, but won't work. after a bad crash and wet, just dry it off with a towel and knock off any excess snow. the solder joints that are exposed are the crucial points to be sure are dry enough to not carry current through the wet. as you may know, water is a great conductor. ;)
I would have a look at a hydrophobic product like neverwet to push any moisture away from the components, Plus never wet comes in a spray can making it a lot easier to apply
I had to watch this over and over and over cuz I just did conformal coated my red micro 3 inches drone. I coated on ESC both sides, FC board, both sides as well. The vtx too, receiver. That's all I coated. The FPV 📷 is all the way inside 3D printing red canopy, very well protected. I didn't coated the 📷, but everything else, but not 📷 and not on motors. They are waterproof motors itself already anyways. I'm about to go fly and see how it goes. Thanks man for this AWESOME flight video to compared drone with uncoated and coated drones, you did great! 🙌🏼👊🏼 Good job!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Keep up great work, man 🙌🏼👊🏼🤙🏼
You've prob mentioned it in the past... What angle gopro mount do you use? Also, in your flight footage, do you slow down your footage, or are you just insanely smooth wit dem tings?
I've had great success with the silicone conformal coating. I pulled a quad out of a foot of slush and water shook it out and flew it. I have lost a couple video transmitters though they seem to be hard to get completely protected. Seems like you might as well just dip your VTX in the conformal coating. I haven't watched your other video yet but did you coat the inside of any unused micro connectors?
You should use a black light to inspect the components and make sure you have gotten everything coated. Crashes can dislodge conformal coating in the cold as well. Sometimes if you have heat shrink on the escs it sticks to the conformal and lifts bubbles which can then let water under the coating too. Plugs are also a weak point, I've had great luck just taping them real good, but a tiny brushing of corrosionX in the plugs helps prevent video issues, especially when flying in a snow storm where snow is being pushed around your cam..
Yeah I was just ripping in a blizzard and all went well. When I landed, the drone looked like a snowball! A snowball that could still fly! The next issue is keeping the motors from freezing up once they stop spinning.
LOL yes, the drone snowball is great!! Definitely thought my coat didn't work for a sec once cuz the back two motors wouldnt spin, then I tried to turn with my finger and they were iced over bahaha. flicked quick and took off, just had to keep ripping and they good
You have to use epoxy on esc’s to waterproof them but it can’t be too thick or they will burn up. I had one I conformal coated and sprayed with corrosion-x. It went into the river and was on for five minutes while I got it. I pulled it up, shook it off and flew it with the same battery. Haha!
huh so weird works great for me... more layers maybe? I think i did 3 or 4 coats on everything and then used corrosion X for the ports like xt60, ports on the board, and my sd card slot.
Corrosion X is what works. Messy? incredibly, but manageable if you carefully paint the stuff on instead of spraying it on. Effective? Hell yes! I was able to fly 3 packs back to back in a steady rain w/ zero problems, save for water on the fpv lens making seeing difficult. Haven't tested in snow...
Great video and great flying. i love how you make it look so easy with the low passes and tight spaces. Love it cheers Drew. Maybe you will have better luck next year with the water(snow) proofing! Thanks buddy :)
Is there no way to like... Shrink wrap...??? An entire flight controller? (Obviously everything else too I just went for the biggest open circuit board)
I think the humidity isn´t the problem. I believe it´s the temperature of the Snow. When you fly, you heat up the electronics and when it falls into the Snow it cools down really fast. I think this is the major problem on winter flying. Like in Alaska they also have to heat up every electronics that are outside. I hope you know what I mean. So greetings from Vienna/Austria Thomas.
I use the canned air stuff with the can turned upside down or sideways so it will be super cold and not melt the snow while blowing it off. Then use the hot air gun from a rework station on the esc's with the heatshrink taken off. I've been back to flying within 4 hours with no trouble! Quick tip. Edit: this only works for snow since its pretty much distilled water and has high resistance. Other kinds of water you may want to clean the boards with distilled water first then let it dry.
Kafuter 703 or 705 electronics grade silicone (clear and white - I like the clear) over the paint on stuff. It's a low viscosity RTV, coat one side, let it flow out level and dry (about an hour), flip and repeat. It leaves a factory appearing (and working) seal. On the camera, I coat the board and let dry overnight, (to avoid trapping fumes) then re-case and apply a small bead to the seams, screws and lens threads with a toothpick. On a micro, fillet around the case. Use Corrision X or dielectric silicone grease on the connectors (auto parts store). The silicone comes off with a stiff toothbrush or by scraping with a dull tool. You'll be able to fly all day. On the hair, man you have the kahones, most people would try a highlight or 2, you dive right in! It's different, I'll give you that, but it's disturbing your white balance. You now need new blog camera settings.... Keep up the insanity, It works!! (Edit - forgot - Hobbyking has the RTV)
Did you get your hair done at Figo? Funny to see in a youtube video but I used to work in Birmingham. Actually I worked in the first building, Google, you see in the video on Old Woodward. Good video! Is spring here yet!?
You should test out Liquipel WaterSafe coating service. Their targeted market seems to be cellphones, but seems that it could work just as well in an application like this. Been curious about it for a while now
I crashed up-side-down into the snow (didn't notice at first, under the snow there was a small puddle of water). I quickly got the drone, first disconnecting the Lipo (shaking off any excess snow, while still outdoors), looked it over and placed it up-side-down in front of a large fan set to Max throttle and placed layers of paper towel under it (to suck up any water that drips). I flipped/rotated it over checking carefully if it was dripping every 30-45 mins (did this repeatedly for about 3+ hours) I especially checked the motors and ESC's as I was bringing it in-doors.
I had a mini cam (it was a 130mm frame I crashed into the snow) on it, which was submerged into the water under the snow. It wasn't water proof, but after drying for the same time as the 130mm frame racer, it turned back on. 0_0
Sometimes my drone goes crazy after snow: -Can spin motors up without arming -ALWAYS shows wrong battery voltage -Sometimes RSSI drops down to zero with no reason -The VTX shows messy image -Some ESC's may not start up AT ALL before the quad gets dry
cant believe thats all the snow you got in the D. hair is interesting..need to color beard and stache im thinking. the conformal coating i think has issues with the pin connected boards as well. my raptor 390 tower it doesnt always work.
I wish I got that lucky. I waterproofed my quad and everything with two coats, and my FC and ESCs died. The only thing that continued to work was my VTX and camera. I just have terrible luck. I used a silicone based conformal coating as well as a little bit of corosion x HD for the connectors.
Is Le Drib also the sax player for too many Zoos? Also I saw an interesting bando in New Orleans: the defunked Six Flags amusement park. Looks tailor made for R.R.
Hey Drib, as far as I understand it - the real problem are the small droplets. I think that when the quad is in water as whole, it spreads electricty....problem is when you take it out and the water that got hold on board can act as a bridge over something and burn stuff. I was flying the whole winter and now when snow melted...Ive crashed few un-waterproofed quads into water....just unplugged while in water and as you said let it slowly dry. However I am using blowdryer to blow off the rest of water that may hold under stuff or inside of heatshrink...
KittFPV, weirdly even with coating I have problems with reception on my FrSky XSR. I managed to make a snowball out of my quad and slowly my RSSI gets down...I guess there is not really a point to conformal coat other than accidents in water. I was flying in heavy snowfall, freezing rains and heavy rain :D and FrSky reception is very bad...like 200m...(just to be clear I was outside of car under the boot on my estate so direct LOS)
Hi drew I used to do a lot of Rc scale driving and my trucks where 100% waterproof the the 2 items I used to use where plastidip which is a rubber coating that once dipped and left to dry foams a tight rubber seal over the hole item this will be good for your esc’s and means you won’t have to heat shrink them For your flight controller use corrosion X this is a very good waterproofing product you will need to plug a usb lead in but you can poor some into a bowl the just dip the hole fc into it and leave it for a couple of mins in there then remove it pat it down with a paper towel and that’s it your done. Hope this helps regards Matthew
Using a smoke stopper will make this safe for most.. One should mention, and ALLOT of components come pre coated. HOWEVER I use corrosionX in fla where I like to land in lakes....😭 lol and I've never lost anything to water damage, SINCE getting my first bottle! give it a try and it's NON conductive so you can literally spray your board down or dunk it and then turn it on. Funny part is after that you can run water over the components and they won't short out pretty incredible... ( side note I don't advise others try this) but if you want to see that it works I do have an old video on my page that says how I use it. But waterproofed or not, Just for safety I agree, let it dry when possible...
Im pretty sure that snow is not so good conductor as water. So it's not surprise that you can turn on quad after crashing in the snow. When the snow melts - it's different story. Some components of quad becomes hot very fast. And they cover up in thin water coating. Imo vibrations help this to happen very fast. Interesting what will happen if you put hidrophobic coating on the quad. Ideal water proofing would be insulator + hidrophobic - so that it repels water also. It should help to dry out quad faster.
Is the ND filter on your main GoPro doing something odd to your shutter speed? Great video regardless, and I'm glad I haven't flown in the #bombcyclone snowball here!
drew..pls reply..or anyone else who reads this comment.. everytime i try to remove props..the prop nuts just wont budge.i grip the motor so hard and try to turn my spanner..i even used rubber gloves..it just takes forever..i have to use pliers to grip my motor and try to remove the prop nut..this method sorta scratches my motor bell and dents it..i wonder how ppl remove and change props so quickly..if u have any suggestions pls tell me. luckly i use dalprops,so i dont gotta do this so often ;)
People should really think befor they say negative comments to others how would u feel getting comments like that seriously... Looking good bro matches your personality PERFECTLY
Nice saves Drew! I know it's not the "clean" way of waterproofing, BUT, at least I feel it gets complete coverage I just still use CorrosionX. Second winter haven't had a problem yet!
Snow is generally clean and not very conductive. I could easily be wrong but I wouldn't expect snow to short circuit and damage a system like a pond or lake would, or even a puddle.
When I first started in quads I would watch Steele and he was just starting to get hate for vlogs. Steele defended them in that he was "helping" others. His content was just him flying....no help. You sir, Mr. Drib, are helpful. Thanks for the content and the help.
Your links at the top...thought I'd just check out your gear, tx in particular but had a look at it all. The link to the whoop flight controller and motors are the same. Just a heads up 😉. Thanks for this video though, going snowboarding soon, planning on flying too and was wondering how risky it would be without any sort of prep work.
I can't believe how many people are freaking out over your hair and saying they're unsubbing because of it. If someone seriously unsubs for such a silly reason, you're better off without them as viewers. You do you, man. I had blue hair for months and got SO many judgey looks from old ladies. Its actually kind of hilarious. Do what you want. Its YOUR hair, not theirs!
:) thank you! Not sure why so many people are freaking out blinds funny I guess. But your right, good riddance to everyone that’s left because of hair haha
When the quad color matches your hair!!!!
Living in Ottawa, Canada I take 3 quads with me for each outing. For each crash, I just shake the hell out of the quad to fling all the snow off, then do like you.... toss it back in the car, and then the house & leave it to dry out until the next day. So I can crash a max of 3 times (once per quad). I have tried the spray can oil based coating on parts in the past, but it can only resist water for so long, then it's usually the ESCs that go first. Immersion Vortex quads do indicate they are somewhat water resistant for short periods, but I have not over tested that to prove its legitimacy.
captain drone! huge fan!
The eyeliner was one thing, but this is a whole new level
Hahaha it’ll be ok. He’s from Star Wars
Haters gonna hate
OH NO HOW DO I PICK UP A DRONE!!!😂😂
so do you want to play bass for my new pop punk band or what bro?
BOTGRINDER FPV lol
lmao NFG!
BOTGRINDER FPV Bot Killin' it lol. Stay safe, stay nerdy
BOTGRINDER FPV LOL !
I'D BUY THE ALBUM 💕
Drew for Joker in next Batman movie. Gotta be better than Jared Leto, amirite?
EDIT: After reading more comments, holy shit, let me clarify that I love the fuck out of this hair and you should absolutely keep it. People are psycho down there in the comment zone, breh.
Thanks man. Always appreciate you leaving positive comments on my vids :)
I know you got my back! :D
Hi Drew, great video and hair! I've been flying a lot lately in tons of snow and temperature as low as -19c (2.2f) I use the same conformal coating and have had great success. But you have to be very generous with it, i use two thick layers. And be careful to not cover the top of your vtx buttons so they get forever stuck on the same ch and power...
or stuck in pit mode bahahaha, just ripped the button off the vtx and went ripping again! ...and I feel ya bro, flew in -18degF the other day! craaaazy cold
I've been flying in -5c and the voltage sag of the batteries is astonishing, whats it like at -19c?
I kept the batteries in my car and took them out on at a time. So 3-5 minutes in the cold didn't do too much, but definitely noticeable. It has to be said that i'm not the most extreme full power racing pilot, but for a bit of chill acro it was ok.
Smartaudio will avoid that issue.
I don't see Le Drib hair dye in the RR store yet? what is wrong? ;)
Lenfred Dueck Its Backorder.
It’s only for sale in Dollar General. (Lol) actually Drew, do your thing....it’s just you.
Do you think wet motors might have something to do with it? I watched your vid on coating the components and it seems like you did a pretty thorough job, however, the motors are totally exposed. I wonder if you can do the motors too and still have em work.
You should watch mine. Conformal Coating Christmas. I used like half a bottle. On everything, but the lens sensor. I had to blow out the USB, fits snug, still works. Did you wait the 24 hours?? Get all up in them wires, moved em around, got in between? Backsides of connector ports? I did on the back side of the XT60 as well (soldered part). I had two motors go funny for a second the first time around after prop dragging the snow and turtleing on the ice and isht, then bringing inside for the snowball of a quad to melt, and then plugging right back in. Since that time tho I haven't had a single funk with back to back packs and landing in fluffy snow each time. Rainx on the lens works freaking great when the suns out btw, can literally blow snow right off the GoPro
KittFPV Are you able to solder through this stuff if you need to do a repair? I assume the silicone will melt away? Solder, then reapply?
How does RainX work for water on the lens, like in rain? I was wondering the same thing and almost bought some to try it out.
Rainx works amazingly! nothing sticks to that lens.
Mun Cheung - thanks for all the help, guys listen to him! Everything he just said. Greg - yup I just use the iron to wipe the crap off a little bit on the pads. I generally solder at 800f, high heat and a lil flux is your friend. Tin the pads back up and good to go. Reapply and done. Magic Smoke - it makes the water not stick, so on things like a car windshield when it's moving down the road the water slides right off. So a miniquad haulin does the same effect, especially cuz the props help to blow that shiz right off too.
lol, "On everything, but the lens sensor"
I was flying in 10 degrees the other day and it actually wasn't the wetness of the snow, but the sheer cold that caused problems. I warmed my quad and battery for a few minutes on my car heater vents before each flight and had good results. Quad was conformal coated.
I don't look at conformal coating as a bulletproof fix... I look at it like insurance. I've had quads not initialize when wet, but work fine once they dry. I've also has one that i just shook of and flew again. But the conformal is cheap and easy, and I feel like it at least gives me a chance to make it out with all my components.
I only wanted insurance, but seemed to get lucky! Not sure if I can throw the bizitch in an ocean but turtling in the powder on ice hasn't been any biggy :P
KittFPV I think alot of it had to do with the electrolytic qualities of the water in question. and i think that's why even in the saltiest of water, a fresh water rinse and drying time seem to fix things. Either way, it's got to be better than completely unprotected components.
ahh good point! And def better than nothing, that's for sure. Cheers :)
You have to use an uv light after useing the coating to check your work it will glow under uv light so you don’t miss a spot my quad still works being in the snow lost for for 30 Mins and I flew it right after and to this day and it still work just mint
I have yet to coat my DYS F4 V2 and biffed it a handful of times in the snow at Faurecia in Auburn Hills and have yet to have an issue. That FC takes a beating and keeps going. You don’t even have to let it sit over night. About 45 min on the floorboard of your car with the heat cranked and your good.
Did ya go over it with a black light to make sure you didn't miss anything? I always do 3 layers of coating also I've never had a problem..
I used like half a bottle on one quad lmao. Mine basically glows purple in the sun bahahaha
KittFPV better safe then sorry lol
wasn't sure if we was referring to the hair or the silicone coating...
Serious question!!! After conformal coating what happens with soldering repairs later?? Is it flammable??? Can you solder right through it?? What's the scoop???
I would treat conformal coating as a layer of protection against initial crash and not try to fly wet afterwards. So use the coating, but when you get wet, disconnect power ASAP, then blow dry the drone and then go fly again.
I work for a company that makes circuit boards that eventually go into space. Check your conformal coating with a UV light to check your coverage. Touch up where needed.
I do several applications letting it dry overnight of all components then solder and recoat the joints over a few days. When its thick and gummy, you might have enough layers. CorrosionX all conectors and welders all but main battery connector solid. You can easily solder through SCC but be mindful of the combusted fumes.
From my experience the conformal coating keeps electronics from being killed by the water. But, your flight controller and any more sensitive electronics are likely to fail, I just conformal coat all of my quads but still leave them to dry.
A UV light can help you see if you missed any places. I thought I soaked everything with that stuff until I looked the next day with the UV light and saw all I missed. I don't think i will test it like you have but think of it more as an extra safety measure.
Biggest tip.... if you crash in the snow, get to your quad ASAP and blow as much of the snow out of the quad as possible before it melts. Obviously works best in the super cold.
On the second flight of one of my drones, before my conformal coating had arrived from amazon, I landed in some slightly damp grass and an ESC instantly caught fire. No delay or anything, hit the ground unarmed too. Haven't had a part fail that has the coating on it though.
Would the VTX have overheated with the conformal coating limiting heat loss? Maybe a heat sink on the VTX before applying the coating?
Haven't used silicone stuff before, but I'd suggest using coloured/opaque types as they show up gaps and cracks in the finished coating better.
The thing about conformal coating is that the snow can act like sandpaper and scrape it off as you crash into snow. The only way I have managed to make my quads 100% snow and rain proof is by sealing everything within the body of the quad with duct tape and by using hot glue to seal any remaining small holes and to keep the duct tape from peeling off at the ends. Since you have a 3D printer, I'm sure you could use it to make a pod for your quads to protect them from snow and rain.
My silicone conformally coated talon fusion f7 blinked out on the second snow crash today, front mounted on a glide and got snow jammed up behind the camera on top of it, and on the bottom. I think the culprit is the harness plug or maybe usb, can coat the plug, but will have to figure something out for the usb, a simple plug/cver, or bluetooth fc maybe..actually sitting on the heater vent now, so we'll see if she fires up in the morning.
Also, so, did the drones live?
Funny, I waterproof too, using the same method and I had the same desync as you, I assume it is from the water in the USB port so, I used Corrosion X in the connectors on the quad and have since experienced zero desyncs flying wet
I like your individuality. Don’t try to please everyone. Do what makes you happy and others will be happy for you
Invest in a uv light. I use it when doing my conformal coating. Never had a failure
I use the acrylic base, but I live in Central California. No snow. Just dew and rain puddles. I use more than 1 coat as well.
Conformal coating worked great for me can crash in the snow all day and fly in the rain fine but I put one coat on let it dry then another coat and I have the uv kind but idk how that could make a difference but I hope you get it working well soon you'll have a lot more fun whatever type of day .
You can solder through it so coat the entire piece then solder your parts together, finishing with another coating on the fresh solder joint. That way it has an entire coating, not just on the face surface area. Any time I have to open up my quad to do anything to it I add an additional coating "just for the hell of it" so I think my lack of failure in water & snow is partially due to being coated so much. Additionally, while I am happy with my results I also do not go flying my quad after dunking it in the river or snowbanks. I still let it dry off for a bit! I agree with EnokFPV too!
Hey Drew, got out for some -20C flying (-5 F) last weekend. I had only ever flown one pack in the winter before so it was definitely a learning experience. Incredible footage from a frozen lake flight ... I mean really frozen, we parked on the lake!
Here's some other things to expect in the extreme cold:
- Your battery on your GoPro / Runcam becomes an issue. I was completely draining the battery on my GPS5 in 2 flights, and the Runcam3 (I was trying out ND filters on it) was dying during one flight. Having a bunch of cheap power banks for USB recharging is handy
- Zip ties get really brittle - I had 2 'generic' ziptie attachment goPro mounts completely come off, just landing. You think everything is cool and your GP and mount are sitting there beside the quad when you land. Scary stuff. Getting some super thick solid zip ties from electronics store asap for winter flying.
- Battery life was not terrible, I was getting good use of 1800 and 1550 on my 6 inch Chameleon. 1550 only on my Rotorgeeks Odo 5 inch. Was landing with voltage showing 14.0 - 14.2 which would recover to about 15.2 by the time I charged them in a warm house.
- If you're flying with a buddy it is a great idea to "buddy fly" (hey, I got that term from you and Jeff) on the same channel and trade packs so you have 2 DVRs and better recovery. Do not fly if your "DVR isn't working", stop and get your buddy to record. Close call when I hit scraggle overhanging the lake and bounced into a back yard ...
Conformal coating works great, not sure about the silicone stuff but the regular works great, that and corrosion x work wonders
Probably the best way would be to dip each component, right up to the rubber on the wires?
Any way you can do a similar video using corrosion x? I'm curious if it works in snow because I have crashed in a small puddle and been fine. I also think it's easier to put on just more messy and it smells but I don't smell my quad often so I'm good
Thanks for the winter-proofing tips and flight footage. Glad you’re having fun out there, Drew.
Leave it to The YT comments section to lose sight of everything in this video other than your new look. Opinions are like assholes - everyone’s got one and they all stink. You just keep on doing you and staying fresh. That’s what we tune-in for.
You also can use a air can after you disconnect the battery then keep flying.
in my experience the silicon conformal coating does in fact work great. however, it is a precausion, not an end all be all. if the components are wet enough the components short and have glitches like you just experienced. you were testing the absolute worst case scenario, which is good, but won't work. after a bad crash and wet, just dry it off with a towel and knock off any excess snow. the solder joints that are exposed are the crucial points to be sure are dry enough to not carry current through the wet. as you may know, water is a great conductor. ;)
I would have a look at a hydrophobic product like neverwet to push any moisture away from the components,
Plus never wet comes in a spray can making it a lot easier to apply
I had to watch this over and over and over cuz I just did conformal coated my red micro 3 inches drone. I coated on ESC both sides, FC board, both sides as well. The vtx too, receiver. That's all I coated. The FPV 📷 is all the way inside 3D printing red canopy, very well protected. I didn't coated the 📷, but everything else, but not 📷 and not on motors. They are waterproof motors itself already anyways. I'm about to go fly and see how it goes. Thanks man for this AWESOME flight video to compared drone with uncoated and coated drones, you did great! 🙌🏼👊🏼 Good job!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Keep up great work, man 🙌🏼👊🏼🤙🏼
I really thought your quad was sounding like a mosquito, nope that's the music!
that guy Ted me too! I thought it was some funny oscillation sound.
You've prob mentioned it in the past... What angle gopro mount do you use? Also, in your flight footage, do you slow down your footage, or are you just insanely smooth wit dem tings?
What is the minimum working temperature for the indicidual components. Maybe it failed due to that instead of the wetness.
Drew, maybe someone already asked this question, but what frame is your "beater" quad?
I've had great success with the silicone conformal coating. I pulled a quad out of a foot of slush and water shook it out and flew it. I have lost a couple video transmitters though they seem to be hard to get completely protected. Seems like you might as well just dip your VTX in the conformal coating. I haven't watched your other video yet but did you coat the inside of any unused micro connectors?
You should use a black light to inspect the components and make sure you have gotten everything coated. Crashes can dislodge conformal coating in the cold as well. Sometimes if you have heat shrink on the escs it sticks to the conformal and lifts bubbles which can then let water under the coating too. Plugs are also a weak point, I've had great luck just taping them real good, but a tiny brushing of corrosionX in the plugs helps prevent video issues, especially when flying in a snow storm where snow is being pushed around your cam..
This is my exact process and I've never had an issue.
Yeah I was just ripping in a blizzard and all went well. When I landed, the drone looked like a snowball! A snowball that could still fly! The next issue is keeping the motors from freezing up once they stop spinning.
LOL yes, the drone snowball is great!! Definitely thought my coat didn't work for a sec once cuz the back two motors wouldnt spin, then I tried to turn with my finger and they were iced over bahaha. flicked quick and took off, just had to keep ripping and they good
Spot on my man!
His head is the black light :-)
honestly i think you would need to dip the quad in conformal coating or maybe a pod style frame.
You have to use epoxy on esc’s to waterproof them but it can’t be too thick or they will
burn up. I had one I conformal coated and sprayed with corrosion-x. It went into the river and was on for five minutes while I got it. I pulled it up, shook it off and flew it with the same battery. Haha!
That's a nice spot, I bet it's even nicer with leaves on the trees. Some buttery smooth flying too.
huh so weird works great for me... more layers maybe? I think i did 3 or 4 coats on everything and then used corrosion X for the ports like xt60, ports on the board, and my sd card slot.
Corrosion X is what works. Messy? incredibly, but manageable if you carefully paint the stuff on instead of spraying it on. Effective? Hell yes! I was able to fly 3 packs back to back in a steady rain w/ zero problems, save for water on the fpv lens making seeing difficult. Haven't tested in snow...
You forgot to put corrosion X on all the connectors
Great video and great flying. i love how you make it look so easy with the low passes and tight spaces. Love it cheers Drew. Maybe you will have better luck next year with the water(snow) proofing! Thanks buddy :)
Why don't you put a pod on your quad so it doesn't get wet in the first place?
Got to get a air compressor. Not the can kind which freeze over (they have to be in a room temp environment).
Wouldn't it be better to put the coating on after you soldered everything on? That way you get all the connectors
Is there no way to like... Shrink wrap...??? An entire flight controller? (Obviously everything else too I just went for the biggest open circuit board)
Pro tip, set your AF points correct if you stand further from the camera and use a more shallow DOF ;)
I think the humidity isn´t the problem. I believe it´s the temperature of the Snow. When you fly, you heat up the electronics and when it falls into the Snow it cools down really fast. I think this is the major problem on winter flying. Like in Alaska they also have to heat up every electronics that are outside. I hope you know what I mean. So greetings from Vienna/Austria Thomas.
I use the canned air stuff with the can turned upside down or sideways so it will be super cold and not melt the snow while blowing it off. Then use the hot air gun from a rework station on the esc's with the heatshrink taken off. I've been back to flying within 4 hours with no trouble! Quick tip. Edit: this only works for snow since its pretty much distilled water and has high resistance. Other kinds of water you may want to clean the boards with distilled water first then let it dry.
Kafuter 703 or 705 electronics grade silicone (clear and white - I like the clear) over the paint on stuff. It's a low viscosity RTV, coat one side, let it flow out level and dry (about an hour), flip and repeat. It leaves a factory appearing (and working) seal.
On the camera, I coat the board and let dry overnight, (to avoid trapping fumes) then re-case and apply a small bead to the seams, screws and lens threads with a toothpick. On a micro, fillet around the case.
Use Corrision X or dielectric silicone grease on the connectors (auto parts store).
The silicone comes off with a stiff toothbrush or by scraping with a dull tool.
You'll be able to fly all day.
On the hair, man you have the kahones, most people would try a highlight or 2, you dive right in! It's different, I'll give you that, but it's disturbing your white balance. You now need new blog camera settings....
Keep up the insanity, It works!!
(Edit - forgot - Hobbyking has the RTV)
I flew an eachine 520s into lake Erie and it still works fine. After I got all the sanf out ..
So far I'm having luck with my coating .. I have not watched your other video .. but did you put hot glue in your USB?
Did you get your hair done at Figo?
Funny to see in a youtube video but I used to work in Birmingham. Actually I worked in the first building, Google, you see in the video on Old Woodward.
Good video! Is spring here yet!?
You should test out Liquipel WaterSafe coating service. Their targeted market seems to be cellphones, but seems that it could work just as well in an application like this. Been curious about it for a while now
I crashed up-side-down into the snow (didn't notice at first, under the snow there was a small puddle of water). I quickly got the drone, first disconnecting the Lipo (shaking off any excess snow, while still outdoors), looked it over and placed it up-side-down in front of a large fan set to Max throttle and placed layers of paper towel under it (to suck up any water that drips).
I flipped/rotated it over checking carefully if it was dripping every 30-45 mins (did this repeatedly for about 3+ hours)
I especially checked the motors and ESC's as I was bringing it in-doors.
I had a mini cam (it was a 130mm frame I crashed into the snow) on it, which was submerged into the water under the snow. It wasn't water proof, but after drying for the same time as the 130mm frame racer, it turned back on. 0_0
Sometimes my drone goes crazy after snow:
-Can spin motors up without arming
-ALWAYS shows wrong battery voltage
-Sometimes RSSI drops down to zero with no reason
-The VTX shows messy image
-Some ESC's may not start up AT ALL before the quad gets dry
Had the same thing happen in dew. All motors went to 100% speed right after I picked up out of the grass.
Finally I was one step ahead of le drib! Heads up the lid of those coating bottles glue themselves on like no ones business. Store vertical!
And the hair is mental! Was not expecting that, love it. So random.
What goggles do you use drew??
cant believe thats all the snow you got in the D. hair is interesting..need to color beard and stache im thinking. the conformal coating i think has issues with the pin connected boards as well. my raptor 390 tower it doesnt always work.
we had a race in snow this past weekend, nobody had a component die.
I wish I got that lucky. I waterproofed my quad and everything with two coats, and my FC and ESCs died. The only thing that continued to work was my VTX and camera. I just have terrible luck. I used a silicone based conformal coating as well as a little bit of corosion x HD for the connectors.
Has anybody tried flex seal????
Thanks for this video drew!! Great content right here my man! You do you on the new hair! Always fun switching things up every now and then!
Is Le Drib also the sax player for too many Zoos? Also I saw an interesting bando in New Orleans: the defunked Six Flags amusement park. Looks tailor made for R.R.
Hey Drib, as far as I understand it - the real problem are the small droplets. I think that when the quad is in water as whole, it spreads electricty....problem is when you take it out and the water that got hold on board can act as a bridge over something and burn stuff. I was flying the whole winter and now when snow melted...Ive crashed few un-waterproofed quads into water....just unplugged while in water and as you said let it slowly dry. However I am using blowdryer to blow off the rest of water that may hold under stuff or inside of heatshrink...
One of the properties of Conformal Coating is resistance to electrical bridging between nearby circuit traces.
KittFPV, weirdly even with coating I have problems with reception on my FrSky XSR. I managed to make a snowball out of my quad and slowly my RSSI gets down...I guess there is not really a point to conformal coat other than accidents in water. I was flying in heavy snowfall, freezing rains and heavy rain :D and FrSky reception is very bad...like 200m...(just to be clear I was outside of car under the boot on my estate so direct LOS)
Hey Drew!! Just curious if after drying them out was all ok or did it damage something ?
Hi drew I used to do a lot of Rc scale driving and my trucks where 100% waterproof the the 2 items I used to use where plastidip which is a rubber coating that once dipped and left to dry foams a tight rubber seal over the hole item this will be good for your esc’s and means you won’t have to heat shrink them
For your flight controller use corrosion X this is a very good waterproofing product you will need to plug a usb lead in but you can poor some into a bowl the just dip the hole fc into it and leave it for a couple of mins in there then remove it pat it down with a paper towel and that’s it your done. Hope this helps regards Matthew
Using a smoke stopper will make this safe for most.. One should mention, and ALLOT of components come pre coated. HOWEVER I use corrosionX in fla where I like to land in lakes....😭 lol and I've never lost anything to water damage, SINCE getting my first bottle! give it a try and it's NON conductive so you can literally spray your board down or dunk it and then turn it on. Funny part is after that you can run water over the components and they won't short out pretty incredible... ( side note I don't advise others try this) but if you want to see that it works I do have an old video on my page that says how I use it. But waterproofed or not, Just for safety I agree, let it dry when possible...
Have you ever tried turtle mode in betaflight?
Im pretty sure that snow is not so good conductor as water. So it's not surprise that you can turn on quad after crashing in the snow. When the snow melts - it's different story. Some components of quad becomes hot very fast. And they cover up in thin water coating. Imo vibrations help this to happen very fast. Interesting what will happen if you put hidrophobic coating on the quad. Ideal water proofing would be insulator + hidrophobic - so that it repels water also. It should help to dry out quad faster.
Will you be getting the new skyzone goggles coming out?
Is the ND filter on your main GoPro doing something odd to your shutter speed? Great video regardless, and I'm glad I haven't flown in the #bombcyclone snowball here!
Omg thats just the worst, if you fly it afterwards they just flip out, you have to warm them up before you fly after the crash again
Good video. helps answer the question about even trying to fly in the rain or snow.
drew..pls reply..or anyone else who reads this comment..
everytime i try to remove props..the prop nuts just wont budge.i grip the motor so hard and try to turn my spanner..i even used rubber gloves..it just takes forever..i have to use pliers to grip my motor and try to remove the prop nut..this method sorta scratches my motor bell and dents it..i wonder how ppl remove and change props so quickly..if u have any suggestions pls tell me.
luckly i use dalprops,so i dont gotta do this so often ;)
People should really think befor they say negative comments to others how would u feel getting comments like that seriously... Looking good bro matches your personality PERFECTLY
You need to try
Corrosion-X Heavy Duty and or Corrosion-X Aerosol
Nice saves Drew!
I know it's not the "clean" way of waterproofing, BUT, at least I feel it gets complete coverage I just still use CorrosionX. Second winter haven't had a problem yet!
Hey Drew! What goggles are you using now?
Did I see different props on that quad?
Snow is generally clean and not very conductive. I could easily be wrong but I wouldn't expect snow to short circuit and damage a system like a pond or lake would, or even a puddle.
When I first started in quads I would watch Steele and he was just starting to get hate for vlogs. Steele defended them in that he was "helping" others. His content was just him flying....no help. You sir, Mr. Drib, are helpful. Thanks for the content and the help.
Living in the desert means I never have to worry about snow or rain. A silver lining to the drought.
Your links at the top...thought I'd just check out your gear, tx in particular but had a look at it all. The link to the whoop flight controller and motors are the same. Just a heads up 😉.
Thanks for this video though, going snowboarding soon, planning on flying too and was wondering how risky it would be without any sort of prep work.
Some people give the drone one to three coats. then without camera you can tested under water.
Did you check the coating with uv light?