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$1,000 Spray Makes Gadgets Waterproof

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-thank-god-for-that dept.

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.

14 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. Not a Spray by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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    1. Re:Not a Spray by SkOink · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

      Think about this logically for a second. If by "surfaces" he means the circuit board itself, then this is called conformal coating and has been around for years. It is also not practical in small consumer electronics. If he means the surface of the device, then this requires sealing the entire device and making it fully waterproof (and not very useful).

      By fact, by definition water damages electronics by shorting contacts together. If water is allowed to run in and out of the device, the contacts must be sealed.

      I think that faq is a little disingenuous.

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      ---- I'll take you in a Hunt deathmatch any day.
    2. Re:Not a Spray by hellwig · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So let me see if I understand this.

      The device is not sealed against water (i.e. it's not wrapped in celophane), so water can flow freely throughout the device. At the same time, contacts are not sealed, meaning the water that can flow freely though-out the device can short the contacts that have not been covered (battery, headphone, button, etc...), essentially destroying the device (by burning out components, batteries, etc...).

      In otherwords, the coating only keeps water off the surface of a device that by itself isn't prone to water damage to begin with? I.e. all the plastic-coated IC's out there will last just fine under water, as long as you don't apply power to them.

      What about moving surfaces, such as the speaker or microphone diaphram? Those devices are sensitive to water (the felt or paper used probably won't stand-up to water), and the high-frequency makes it unlikely that the coating will adhere and stay on.

      Can this coating be applied to a thouch-sensitive surface? Can it be applied to the lens of a camera without severely distorting the optics?

      I once dropped my phone in a bowl of soup, and the phone told me I had plugged an unrecognized peripheral into the headphone jack. It took a couple hours of carefully disassemling, cleaning, and drying before I got it working again (luckily nothing burned-out), and it sounds like this coating wouldn't have helped (since the contacts within the headphone jack wouldn't have been coated anyway) . Nothing like spending $1000 on absolutely nothing.

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    3. Re:Not a Spray by Khashishi · · Score: 5, Funny

      water, n., a liquid characterized by its ability to short out electronics

  2. Re:Awesome. by Legion_SB · · Score: 5, Funny

    Silly n00b... you don't buy an iPhone to make phone calls...

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    'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
  3. Don't cross the streams by archen · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hear if you dump this stuff in the middle of a swimming pool, the universe ends.

  4. Contract Phones by ilovegeorgebush · · Score: 5, Funny

    A creator of the technology said it could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation.

    Useful for preserving your iPhone for the full length of the 268 million months you're tired to your contract here in the UK.

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    ilovegeorgebush
  5. Re:Awesome. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Your lack of relativistic perspective is cute.

  6. Underwater telephony by dj245 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

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  7. Re:Awesome. by bartosek · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hate to say it but 3G (1900MHz) is microwave.

  8. Re:Not to spoil a good joke, but why not? by Bobb+Sledd · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can imagine one good phone call you might make:

    "Heblblblblblbp!"

    --
    "They said I probly shouldn't fly with just one eye," "I am Bender. Please insert girder."
  9. Re:Awesome. by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you're going that deep, you'll want to take at least 3 iPhones with you.

    If you were a tech diver, you'd either find this hilarious or you'd nod your head thinking, "Yes, at least 3, or two iPhones and one of a different brand."

    The question is, of course, what they mean by waterproof.

    Do they mean it's IP68 rated, submersible at depth for long periods of time, or is is merely IP65, splashable and washable?

    Is it just "water resistant"? Have they sent the products out to be tested? Is this just snake oil?

    Some of us take "waterproof" very seriously, and want to know exactly what it means.

    Interestingly enough, the two specs that they list, MIL-PRF-38534 and MIL-PRF-38535, don't appear to have a damned thing to do with waterproofing. They're about component reliability, and there are several grades under each category.

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    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  10. Re:Awesome. by GigaHurtsMyRobot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great Cellular Reefs

  11. Re:Awesome. by LrdDimwit · · Score: 5, Funny

    I prefer asinkronous pier to pier, myself.