Slashdot Mirror
$1,000 Spray Makes Gadgets Waterproof
Rio writes "A new $1,000 spray claims to protect notebook computers, iPods, cell phones and other electronic gadgets from liquid, making them completely waterproof, a Local6.com report says. A creator of the technology said it could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation." This might be a bit of a flashback from last year.
I always wanted to make an iPhone call from 1000 feet deep. Of course, that big air thingy sticking in my mouth is kind of a hinderance, but go technology!
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
The FAQ for the Golden Shellback (what they call this stuff) site says:"9. What aspects confuse people most about this process:
a. People get confused and think this is a spray. It is not, the coating needs to be applied in a piece of equipment.
b. People seem to wonder a lot about the contacts and how they are sealed. The contacts are not, the surfaces are sealed. So, water can run in and out.
That right there ought to deal with a lot of the statements and questions that are about to be made in this thread.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
A spray that magically repels water, but not air, even at vent openings?
Son, I would like to see you a part of the Brooklyn Bridge. Not the whole thing, mind you, just a portion as a souvenir. You'll get a certificate that will be filed with a US copyright office documenting its authenticity.
Snake Oil Incorporated reported their stocks have risen with a whole of 8%!
In order to waterproof anything electronic, every entry point for water needs to be completely sealed. Does anybody else see the problem here? Yes, that Blackberry might still be powered on. But no, you probably can't depress the keys any more and you almost certainly can't charge it or plug in headphones.
Also, 0.001" thick? I bet it scrapes off on accident rather easily. I also highly doubt that anybody could apply a coating that thin from a hand-held spray can.
---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
Is it a spray? are the contacts sealed? I'm not sure...
For $1,000 I could buy a new notebook, iPod, cell phone...
From the FAQ on the website:
a. People get confused and think this is a spray. It is not, the coating needs to be applied in a piece of equipment.
Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.-rms
You can get a can of stuff like Humiseal for a few bucks, what's so special about this silly thing?
Of course, that big air thingy sticking in my mouth is kind of a hinderance, but go technology!
You can take that out though and talk for a bit (as long as you are breathing out). You can even breathe in if you let the regulator flow directly under your mouth (a required skill to be certified to dive)...
You'd not be very intelligible, but you could speak.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I hear if you dump this stuff in the middle of a swimming pool, the universe ends.
Useful for preserving your iPhone for the full length of the 268 million months you're tired to your contract here in the UK.
ilovegeorgebush
In other news...
Millions of gadgets have shutdown, or been damaged, due to overheating.
Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
This isn't a conformal coatings, it's a hydrophobic coating more like Scotch Gard, or Rain-X
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
I just don't see how this can work. It has to do one of two things. It either keeps water out, meaning that it covers and seals every opening that leads into the device, or it somehow coats every surface of the device, inside and out, including all circuit boards and components.
So, if it seals the device, how does it know what openings have to be there? Blackberrys (at least my pearl), iPods, etc have power and headphone jacks. So it is only waterproof until I have to plug something into it, rupturing the film? How long will this stuff last before it ruptures on its own due to normal use (like pushing keys on a keyboard). What about battery compartments and other doors on the device? My Blackberry has a door over the MicroSD slot that I open frequently.
The other option is to coat all surfaces inside the device. What about things that have to be left open to the atmosphere to allow humidity to exit, barometric pressure to equalize, etc? I own a Yaesu VX-7R handheld transceiver for amateur radio. This device is fully submersible. One problem they had with the first batch was the waterproofing sealed the inside of the device off from the atmosphere, which would cause a pressure differential against the speaker during barometric changes, which would reduce the amount the diaphragm could travel, resulting in reduced audio output. They fixed it by installing a valve that would equalize pressure. Now that problem occurred in a device designed to be waterproof. Just imagine the problems this would cause with typical gadgets.
Better known as 318230.
Sounds like a conformal coating which is nothing new, you can buy a can of the spray on type at your local electronics store for a few bucks.
This is very true. My current phone is waterproof/dustproof/drop proof, but that doesn't mean you can make calls underwater. I tried making a bluetooth call with the phone in a glass of water, but even a small amount of water kills the signal completely.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
How would you change out the battery in a protected product? The material obviously doesn't conduct electricity. Do they coat over the battery compartment, thus sealing your battery inside? You'd be forced to break the seal every time you swap batteries, or perform a reset on smartphones with the reset button beneath the compartment lid.
FOXTROT UNIFORM CHARLIE KILO
Like a month ago we had to make something IP54 Compliant This is part of the IEC 60529 Standard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code
So even though I am the Linux Software GUY, I started to investigate water repellent coatings.
I think they are just using a hydrophobic coating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic
Hardly worth $1000 a bottle.
Similar to Scotchgard, Rain-X, Aquapel, Jigaloo, RainClear and Magic Sand.
These use Organosilanes like Trimethylsilanol (TMS) (CH3)3SiOH, or perfluorooctanesulfonates (PFOS) C8HF17O3S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFOS
Look at the fluorene chains on this one,
fluorocarbons are the basis for things like Teflon and Fluorinert that don't react with anything and so in Teflon's case make good non-stick surfaces.
Unfortunately Scotchgard has been "reformulated" to make is "safer" PFOS never breaks down, good for electronics, bad for people and the environment. the new Formula (Perfluorobutane sulfonate PFBS ) is designed to break down after a month, so you'd have to keep reapplying.
If you want to research this further see Patents, 3574791, 6676733, and 6994890
Also get on youtube and look up magic sand, some cool videos there.
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso
OK, now that we've all a bunch of posts about how it can't work, my prediction is that as soon as they get a patent, we'll have at least as many posts (many from the same people) about how the patent is bad because it is obvious.
Haven't there been lots of examples of mineral oil cooled PCs, submersing everything but the optical drives?
This post brought to you by your friendly neighborhood MBA.
Or, you could always just submerge the entire computer in mineral oil.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Is that per barrel? I can't imagine how any chemical sealant can cost that much, or who would be willing to buy it at that price.
from what I read in the summary, why the christ would I spend $1000 to protect my $250 iPod?
According to the summary:
A creator of the technology said it could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation.
If lives or the future depend on your iPod, you might get it coated. Obviously, this is for something other than iPods.
"Underwater" doesn't have a region code yet. You'd be in a creek without a paddle.
If it indeed ist just a 1 mil thick water resistant conformal coat, then that far from guarantees electronics will still function.
A lot of electronics widgets at high operating frequencies (think cell phone RF stages) may not directly be damaged by the water, but the prescence of the water will disrupt their operation by bogging down high speed signals with the high dielectric constant of water (about 80), which is also usually VERY lossy. So expect digital things to go on the fritz till the water fully drains out, and RF stuff to be euqally fouled up with low or no output power until the water drains out fully.
Over temp and time conformal coats are are real double edged sword. SMT components (99% of the stuff in most of todays consumer electronics) can be damaged in thermal cycling as a result of confomral coating that wicks under their body and expands/contracts much faster than the cermaic bodies of the parts. I've suffered the wrath of multiple different conformal coatings in mil/aerospace and concluded that usually it creates about as much mahem as it prevents. YMMV.
I've tried this and it works reasonably well. It's not really a spray, more of a protective barrier. But cheap and reliable: http://www.fetpak.com/whstore/main.pl/slist?5
The world is made by those who show up for the job.
And it ships with a 22oz bottle of snake oil.
Better take care it's a non-soluble computer then! :-)
What person will donate an airborne act of love?
On Tekzilla:
http://revision3.com/tekzilla/newtime/
Can't remember where exactly in the episode, but it's there, and there's some good footage of various pieces of tech all wet and still running.