Nanocoating Waterproofs Any Gadget

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Nanocoating Waterproofs Any Gadget

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 12, 2012 @03:07PM from the ever-dry-socks dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Water has always been the bane of electronics, however American company Liquipel just announced that they have developed a way to completely waterproof any device against the elements. Using a revolutionary process, Liquipel applies a hydrophobic nanocoating to phones, computers, and other devices that completely waterproofs them and protects them against accidental exposure to liquids."

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Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 15:08 · Score: 5, Funny

What? Your TV is only 3D HDTV? It's not WATER PROOF?! Why not? Are you poor? Why haven't you bought one? How else do you plan to entertain under water?
1. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 15:23 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I read this to my girlfriend because I thought it was funny. Her response? "It would be kind of cool to watch TV underwater. I want one in the shower. Do you know how boring it is to shave your legs?"
2. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by TheLink · 2012-01-12 15:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe if you helped her shave her legs it would be more interesting. At least the first few times ;).
  --
  
  Too many replies beneath your current threshold
3. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by PopeRatzo · 2012-01-12 16:06 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Maybe if you helped her shave her legs it would be more interesting.
  Then she can do his back.
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
4. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Belial6 · 2012-01-12 16:17 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Yes, in the "There Was Blood EVERYWHERE!!!" kind of way.
5. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by narcc · 2012-01-12 16:21 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That's the most interesting response I've seen from Siri yet...
  
  --
  Required reading for internet skeptics
6. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by logjon · 2012-01-12 16:38 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  He'll purr like a walrus.
  
  --
  The stories and info posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood.
  Only fools would take it as fact.
7. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Kagetsuki · 2012-01-12 17:19 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  My Android phone is waterproof (IS11CA) and I actually use it to watch video/listen to audio in the shower/bath pretty much every day. They do actaully sell TVs for use in shower by the way.
8. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Amouth · 2012-01-12 17:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  and put, on his three wolf moon shirt
  
  --
  '...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
9. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by petman · 2012-01-12 19:24 · Score: 2
  
  Since my wife doesn't have hairy legs and never needs to shave her legs, I'm curious - do women need to shave their legs in the shower?
  
  --
  Dropbox drops it like it's hot.
10. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by 0100010001010011 · 2012-01-12 19:40 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Let me guess, she doesn't poop either.
11. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by couchslug · 2012-01-12 20:09 · Score: 2
  
  "Then she can do his back."
  Or he hers...
  
  --
  "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
12. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by zazzel · 2012-01-12 20:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I wonder how people can actually do this kind of thing. I always feel relieved when I'm in the quiet sanctity of my bathroom, and the only thing I hear is water flowing and bubbles bursting. I still prefer actual books, too. They just work, and when I drop them, all I lose is a cheap paperback.
  There's way too much noise (aka "entertainment") in the world anyways.
13. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by 1u3hr · 2012-01-12 20:51 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Since my wife doesn't have hairy legs and never needs to shave her legs, I'm curious - do women need to shave their legs in the shower?
  The non-inflatable ones do, yes.
14. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by HopefulIntern · 2012-01-12 20:52 · Score: 2
  
  Samsung always include those cloths in their TVs and monitors. I thought they were meant for cleaning the "glossy" surface of the TV itself, not the screen. The cloth being included as a non-abrasive alternative to a conventional cloth or paper towel.
15. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Dunbal · 2012-01-12 21:49 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Please note that entertaining underwater when more than two (2) fish are present constitutes a public performance and you will be persecuted under appropriate copyright laws unless you pay the $2 million public performance fee.
  Love,
  MPAA
  PS: Yes, I said persecuted not prosecuted.
  
  --
  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
16. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Dunbal · 2012-01-12 21:51 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  You should learn about laser. It's expensive and it hurts like hell, but you only have to go for a few months and then you're done forever.
  
  --
  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
17. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by pepeperes · 2012-01-12 23:44 · Score: 2
  
  You have running water in front of your TV?
  I live under a bridge, you... !!
  
  --
  ... from the forgotten corner in europe
18. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by Prof.Phreak · 2012-01-13 01:24 · Score: 2
  
  There's way too much noise (aka "entertainment") in the world anyways.
  You forgot to shoo everyone off your lawn... :-)
  
  --
  "If anything can go wrong, it will." - Murphy
19. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by smooth+wombat · 2012-01-13 03:09 · Score: 2
  
  Laser hair removal is not permanent. It may make the hair be gone for an extended period of time, but it is not permanent.
  If you want permanent hair removal, you have to go with electrolysis. It is time consuming, can be expensive for each trip and is not the most comfortable thing to go through, but it is permanent.
  I should know. Been doing it for years. Pretty soon, I won't have to shave my neck area at all. What has been done is now perfectly smooth. No issues with irritation when wearing a tie.
  
  --
  We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
20. Re:Announcing Waterproof 3D HDTVs! by cylcyl · 2012-01-13 04:02 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  using lasers to saw off her legs seems like an extreme solution...
speak for yourselves.... by Shakrai · 2012-01-12 15:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

At one point we’ve all done it – spilt a drink over a laptop, gotten our tablets soaked in the rain, or even dropped our phone in the toilet.
I've never done any of those things with my expensive tools/toys. It baffles me how badly people treat expensive and hard to replace tools. It's not limited to technology either; a friend of mine has a collection of rusted saws, screwdrivers and other tools because he's too lazy to bring them in out of the rain after a big home improvement project. Pathetic.

--
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
1. Re:speak for yourselves.... by sandytaru · 2012-01-12 15:31 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I am a destroyer of keyboards. So I've learned simply to not buy expensive keyboards. Everything else, yeah, I try to treat gently, from my beloved Honda which is about to tick over 200K miles, to my late grandfather's violin 110 year old violin. Even my $80 mouse gets more care and attention and caution than my keyboard, though.
  
  My dilemma is this: If I get an expensive heavy duty mechanical keyboard, I will somehow managed to drop a gallon of paint on it no matter how careful I am. So I just use $20 el cheapo Microsoft Curve keyboards, which invariably wear out after a year because I hammer it so bad.
  
  --
  Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
2. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Ryanrule · 2012-01-12 15:34 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I can see dropping a phone in the toilet. Of course you must then recognize that every phone you see has been used while someone wiped their arse.
3. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Ethanol-fueled · 2012-01-12 15:45 · Score: 2
  
  or even dropped our phone in the toilet.
  Gotta talk while pissin.' Yes, I've seen that happen. Yank it out, pull the battery and sim, clean them with alcohol if handy, wait in anxiety while they dry.
  
  You wouldn't catch me leaving my TEK 2246 out in the rain, but my former boss who owned a construction company, left his portable corded Skilsaw rotary with a carbide rebar-cutting blade out in the rain. Man, that was one pissed-off corner-cutter.
4. Re:speak for yourselves.... by LongearedBat · 2012-01-12 15:48 · Score: 2
  
  I thought phone screens are too small for porn.
5. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 16:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  And yet, somehow they don't happen to everybody.
6. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Shoten · 2012-01-12 16:21 · Score: 2
  
  I've had a douchebag in the seat next to me on a plane make a spastic grab for his drink while reaching over me...and my laptop. Not all exposure to water is defined by the owner of the damaged item being the one who is pathetic, and none of the times my electronics got wet had to do with my negligence. I've also been caught in a scirrocco in Italy while walking back home, knocked off the side of a dock by a person turning with an oar tucked stupidly under their armpit...the ways in which water and other liquids can get to our electronics are many. Let's face it; water covers most of the planet, and even falls from the sky on regular occasions...it ain't exactly hard to get exposed to.
  
  --
  
  For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
7. Re:speak for yourselves.... by mug+funky · 2012-01-12 16:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  who needs a solution that creates more problems?
  (hyperbole aside... seriously, buying new software and learning a new platform just to get that cool magnetic DC plug that Apple will sue anyone else who uses it over?)
8. Re:speak for yourselves.... by dissy · 2012-01-12 16:31 · Score: 2
  
  Oblg.: http://www.crazywebsite.com/Website-Clipart-Pictures-Videos/Funny-People/Girl-Laptop-Bathroom-1LG.jpg
  Perhaps she is chatting on IRC, the Internet Relay Crap
  Or maybe paying for an ebay order with PeePal
  That's one heck of a core dump
  Just imagine the poor guy who has fore play with her. The packet route goes from bathroom floor - laptop - desk - her lap - his face - him realizing what he really actually ate - back to bathroom floor.
  Isn't the round-trip of life beautiful?
9. Re:speak for yourselves.... by EvanED · 2012-01-12 16:44 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I've killed two separate MS Natural 4000s, one about 30 minutes after getting it. It's very rare that I'll spill, but man, it seems like just a little splash has a high probability of rendering it useless.
  Personally though, the extra comfort of a comfortable-to-use keyboard is worth an occasional fairly-expensive (at least for a grad student) replacement. I never understand people who spend like $1500 for an awesome gaming rig or something and then get a cheapass keyboard, which is one of the couple components you actually use. But I might just be overly sensitive or something; I do pay a lot of attention to arm ergonomics as fallout from wrist problems many years back.
10. Re:speak for yourselves.... by MobileTatsu-NJG · 2012-01-12 16:44 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, they do.
  
  --
  
  "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
11. Re:speak for yourselves.... by EdIII · 2012-01-12 17:10 · Score: 2
  
  You just squint your eyes. When there is a will there is a way.......
  It may have gone too far when you are standing up on a chair, leg over on the dresser, holding your phone up desperately trying to get signal in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere to look at Internet porn.
  Cirque Du Soleil had nothing on me that day.......
12. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Glonoinha · 2012-01-12 17:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Get back to us when you kill an IBM Model M keyboard. It's like the Tonka Truck of keyboards. You hit someone with a Model M, they're going down.
  
  --
  Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
13. Re:speak for yourselves.... by EvanED · 2012-01-12 17:55 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You hit someone with a Model M, they're going down.
  Unfortunately that'll be me hitting you after I have to listen to you type for a couple hours. :-)
  (I'm well aware of the model M's reputation, but I don't find the better "button feel" to be anywhere near worth the noise, let alone the lack of a split keyboard or the Natural 4000's reverse tilt which I really really wish was more common. That alone makes typing far more comfortable; I don't understand why it's basically the only keyboard out there with that feature.)
14. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Kompressor · 2012-01-12 18:25 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Dare I make a "Yo dawg" comment?
  
  --
  kmem russian roulette: Aquillar> dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/kmem bs=1 count=1 seek=$RANDOM
15. Re:speak for yourselves.... by flonker · 2012-01-12 19:08 · Score: 2
  
  I have killed an IBM Model M keyboard. One of the original PS/2 models. A friend of mine got drunk, passed out, and somehow managed to knock it on the floor, and then dropped a 50 pound 23" CRT on top of it. A couple of keys popped off and broke.
16. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Grishnakh · 2012-01-12 19:31 · Score: 2
  
  A couple of keys broke? The keycaps are easily replaceable on Model Ms, as long as you didn't break the molded plastic tube under them. Broken keycaps don't equal a "killed" keyboard any more than a flat tire equals a "wrecked car".
17. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Grishnakh · 2012-01-12 19:33 · Score: 2
  
  I accidentally brought my cheap Samsung phone in a hot tub with me for several minutes before I realized I still had it in my pocket. After fully disassembling it and baking it an environmental chamber for a couple hours at ~100F, it worked just fine and I'm still using it.
18. Re:speak for yourselves.... by petman · 2012-01-12 19:51 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Speak for yourself. I don't wipe my arse.
  
  --
  Dropbox drops it like it's hot.
19. Re:speak for yourselves.... by Neil+Boekend · 2012-01-12 21:50 · Score: 2
  
  Or a Toshiba Toughbook CF30. It's a bit more expensive, but it doubles as a bullet shield (only small calibers, non armour piercing and it will probably not be a usefull computer afterwards). Dropping it from a dozen meters (40 feet or so) doesn't really damage it and a car driving over it is no problem if the toughbook is flat on the ground. It seems to object to a tank driving over it though.
  
  --
  Well, I might have a way, but it only works on a semi spherical planet in a vacuum.
20. Re:speak for yourselves.... by delinear · 2012-01-13 00:16 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The only real way to kill a Model M is to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was forged.
I call slashvertizing by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 15:14 · Score: 2, Insightful

The link is from a questionably "objective" source that has no real info on how (or if) it works. But by all means mail them your gadgets! They were nominated for an award you've never heard of!
1. Re:I call slashvertizing by swalve · 2012-01-12 15:31 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  I have to agree. If only because it seems impossible. How much of a gap can it bridge? Won't a coating break the buttons' electrical contacts? How does it protect the battery?
2. Re:I call slashvertizing by cheater512 · 2012-01-12 15:47 · Score: 2
  
  The interesting part is they took the battery cover off underwater.
  Now usually on most phones I've seen, the battery connects via bare copper. How can it still actually function, without allowing water to short circuit it?
  Ditto for headphone jack. Either it covers the connection or it lets water in.
3. Re:I call slashvertizing by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 16:05 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Pure water is actually a reasonable insulator. You can generally immerse electronics in pure water, then dry it off and it will work, if it stopped working at all. I'll bet all their amazing immersion demos are being done with deionised water
  Water with ions in it, such as from salt or contamination, is conductive and will corrode. I'd like to see them dunk a "waterproofed" phone into seawater.
Meh. by Ethanol-fueled · 2012-01-12 15:14 · Score: 2

Old News. I've been playing acoustic and electric guitar with Elixir strings for almost a decade, with customer satisfaction. Any nerd considering learning guitar should also, as they are resistant to Chee-toe residue.

Gripe: can you guys find a way to coat the upper B and E strings?
What I want to know is... by rsilvergun · 2012-01-12 15:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

why is my $15 Walgreens watch waterproof to a depth of 20 meters, but if I sneeze on my $400 Android / iPhone it's ruined and I voided the warranty?

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1. Re:What I want to know is... by QuasiSteve · 2012-01-12 15:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I think you'd have to do a little more than sneeze on it - but I am well aware of stories in the past where e.g. sporters who sweated a little (much) got told by the service center that the humidity indicators in their iPod (or similar) indicated the device got wet and thus the warranty was void.
  But just to address your specific example - your $15 Walgreens watch probably has little to no openings and whatever interface controls are there are very easy to make waterproof. Compare to the many slots and compartments on a typical smartphone which often are required to be easily user-accessible. You wouldn't want to have to unscrew the back of your smartphone every time you'd just want to recharge it (if it ran for 2 years on a few button cells like your watch, then that wouldn't be much of an issue).
  But, more importantly, your $15 Walgreens watch is $15. If they actually got a claim from somebody with valid proof that they only dove to 19.95m and not over 20.00m, sending out a new $15 Walgreens watch is a heck of a lot cheaper than going over that paperwork and trying to tell you that you must be mistaken.
  For $400+ devices, on the other hand, it's a lot cheaper to open it up, point at the humidity tags, and say "sucks to be you".
2. Re:What I want to know is... by ScentCone · 2012-01-12 15:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  why is my $15 Walgreens watch waterproof to a depth of 20 meters, but if I sneeze on my $400 Android / iPhone it's ruined and I voided the warranty?
  A couple of thoughts, here.
  
  1) How do the microphone, micro SD slot, speakers, and charging/data port on your watch work after you've taken it down to 20 meters?
  
  2) Has it ever occured to you that the makers and retailers of your $15 watch are simply banking (literally) on the fact that essentially nobody will every submit that cheap watch to 20 meters of water? And if someone does do so, and the watch inevitably fails, what percentage of that already tiny percentage are going to actually bother to pursue warranty service/replacement on something that costs less than a decent pizza? They could simply replace that costs-them-$3 watch every time all three people in that group take a shower, and they'll still make more money than they would have by not saying "Waterproof to 20 meters!" on the packaging and not having to service such claims.
  
  --
  Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
3. Re:What I want to know is... by thePig · 2012-01-12 16:41 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  In that case, the best and cheapest option is to nano-coat the humidity tag.
  No problems with replacement then ...
  
  --
  rajmohan_h@yahoo.com
4. Re:What I want to know is... by Cederic · 2012-01-12 22:19 · Score: 2
  
  The manufacturers could easily do it given financial incentive.
  They could do it given market demand. As it is, the market wants cheaper and/or more fashionable, and "Indestructible" isn't sexy enough to show off your metrosexual design tastes.
Nanocoatings Are Going Mainstream by againsttheodds · 2012-01-12 15:20 · Score: 5, Interesting

It is no doubt that nanocoatings are going mainstream what with the latest solar paint that can harness the sun http://www.infobarrel.com/Solar_Nanopaint_-_Paint_With_Quantum_Dot_Solar_Cells and coatings for jets and other aircraft to provide excellent aerodynamic properties. Then you have nanocoatings for engines and http://againsttheodds.hubpages.com/hub/Nanodiamond-Lubricants-And-Lubrication-Particles and countless other applications on the horizon. It is an exciting time and there is still plenty of room at the bottom.
Hydrophobic nanocoatings... by Captain+Sarcastic · 2012-01-12 15:23 · Score: 5, Funny

... are just the thing for rabid technophiles!

--
Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker
Skin Moisture by yanom · 2012-01-12 15:34 · Score: 2

I'm curious how this will react with the moisture in our skin as we tap away on said gadgets.

--
"That's either incredibly asinine or the most brilliant troll I've ever read. Not sure which." -Anonymous Coward
Re:Retro stuff by whovian · 2012-01-12 15:46 · Score: 3, Funny

I went straight to Ziebart!
No, its "Zie Bart, Zie"

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To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
shower tv by FirephoxRising · 2012-01-12 15:59 · Score: 2

my wife likes to use her ipod touch and kindle in the bath, I'm just waiting for the inevitable accident. waterproof gadgets would rock!
1. Re:shower tv by artor3 · 2012-01-12 16:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  At least for the kindle, waterproof gadgets have already been invented.
  It's called a zip-loc bag, and it is great for unwinding in the tub.
2. Re:shower tv by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 16:16 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Actually, the ipod touch/iphone works really well in a plastic bag as well. The touch sensor seems to have no problem being behind the extra plastic, which is nice in heavy rain.
3. Re:shower tv by TubeSteak · 2012-01-12 17:17 · Score: 2
  
  It's called a zip-loc bag
  I put my phone in a zip-loc bag and it took on water.
  If you intend to mix electronics and water, it's cheaper to spend the 20~50 bucks and buy a real dry bag.
  
  --
  [Fuck Beta]
  o0t!
4. Re:shower tv by modecx · 2012-01-12 17:22 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Funny you mention it, I recently saw a plastic-baggie type product designed especially for this purpose: allows full submersion of electronics, and works with capacitive touch screens despite being made of a fairly thick plastic. LokSak
  While I suppose the standard zip-loc would work for the purpose, but this looked much more confidence inspiring.
  
  --
  Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
5. Re:shower tv by SalaSSin · 2012-01-13 00:02 · Score: 2
  
  You mean shexting?
  
  --
  Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law
6. Re:shower tv by jeffmeden · 2012-01-13 04:28 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, a bag you can buy for about three and a half cents will surely work as well as one that is purpose built! The big thing is the temperature of the water; seal something up on a nice warm summer day and take it rafting with you, then drop it in the river... And watch as the inside gets just as wet as the outside. Moisture management is only effective if you take watertight sealing, plus humidity/condensation into account at the same time.
I'm not an electrician, but... by flibbidyfloo · 2012-01-12 16:00 · Score: 2

How could you coat the interior of a microSD card slot that's covered with a loose-fitting cover and make it waterproof? If the nano-coating doesn't conduct electricity then any card you insert won't make contact with the contacts. If it does conduct, then it's useless as a waterproofing seal over electronics. The same would seem to hold true for any earphone plug or charging port, right?
1. Re:I'm not an electrician, but... by JakartaDean · 2012-01-12 16:28 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  How could you coat the interior of a microSD card slot that's covered with a loose-fitting cover and make it waterproof? If the nano-coating doesn't conduct electricity then any card you insert won't make contact with the contacts. If it does conduct, then it's useless as a waterproofing seal over electronics. The same would seem to hold true for any earphone plug or charging port, right?
  I don't know how it works for sure, but I imagine its just surface tension. The coating doesn't physically close the slot, it coats the outside of the slot with a film that repels water. Water doesn't go into very small places at routine pressure -- the raindrop-size drops you encounter all the time are its least-energy state, the "natural" curvature of water drops. The coating keeps water far enough away so this curvature radius doesn't contact the inside of the slot.
  
  --
  The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures (Junius)
2. Re:I'm not an electrician, but... by Solandri · 2012-01-12 17:05 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Not only conductivity, but how does the coating hold up under the friction of plugging in the charger every day? If you peek at the metal contacts of a USB cable with a flashlight, I'll bet they have spots worn into them from being plugged in. I doubt any coating could survive that, and the parts which suffer the most wear are also the parts that need waterproofing the most.
Recoating after battery swap? by nefus · 2012-01-12 16:08 · Score: 2

Yea but do you have to recoat your phone after taking the back off and reseating or replacing the battery? I have to reseat my cell phone all the time because it gets so dang laggy, I'd hate to have to recoat my phone with this stuff every time.
Waterproof? How about salt-water or soda-proof? by Omnifarious · 2012-01-12 16:16 · Score: 2

There are many more liquids in the world than water. How does this coating stand up to something as corrosive as salt water or Coke?

--
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1. Re:Waterproof? How about salt-water or soda-proof? by Guppy · 2012-01-12 17:40 · Score: 2
  
  There are many more liquids in the world than water. How does this coating stand up to something as corrosive as salt water or Coke?
  Presumably well, hydrophobic coatings are apparently quite good at reducing corrosion. I'd be more interested to know how it stands up to something capable of wetting hydrophobic surfaces, like alcohol. Or with some fat content, like whole milk or soup.
not revolutionary by ridgecritter · 2012-01-12 16:22 · Score: 4, Informative

What I've read in the media of this process suggests that it's parylene. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parylene
If so, it's not revolutionary, but a good application of an old coating technology. When I get my iPhone 5, I'll probably send it to these guys for coating.
1. Re:not revolutionary by Guppy · 2012-01-12 17:32 · Score: 2
  
  What I've read in the media of this process suggests that it's parylene. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parylene [wikipedia.org]
  Doesn't parylene turn yellowish under UV exposure though? Except for the fluropolymer version (which I suppose it could be).
2. Re:not revolutionary by Richard+Kirk · 2012-01-12 21:27 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I have done Paralyne coating back in the 1980's. It is a vapour deposited plastic. If you are putting down Paralyne 'C' (the chlorinated version - there was no fluorinated version back then as far as I knew) then it could give a tough plastic coating that could be 100 nm deep. This forms a thin coating over all surfaces including under electronic components on boards. I have even seen it creep between stacks of microscope slides that aren't quite flat. This coating was transparent. If you put down a thinker coating you could get interference colours, and if you kept going it would look milky - particularly with Paralyne 'N' (the unchlorinated version)..
  Paralyne was a standard 'tropicalization' process for electronics to be used in harsh environments. You tended to 'tropicalize' circuit boards with masking over the board edge connectors. As Paralyne was good at penetrating, you probably could not coat anything with a 2-way switch, or plugs. But things like earphones and displays would probably be fine.
  Yellowing? I never saw it go yellow. It would have to go amazingly yellow because the coat is so thin.
Oh Gawd, not this rubbish again! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-12 17:20 · Score: 5, Informative

Prior to studying Computer Science in University, I went to college and studied Electronics Engineering. I worked for an industrial electronic design and manufacturing company for 3 years between one and the other. Most products went into the oilfield. Scada, wellhead controllers, remote sensing equipment, etc. When manufacturing circuit boards 50 at a time, they would put them into a commercial *DISHWASHER* to get all the water soluble solder flux off and wash the board clean. Because chips follow the original Texas Instruments Mach32 procurement process (as outlined by the US Air Force in the 1960's and 1970's), they are hermetically sealed, must past gross leak, and fine leak tests, thermal shock, high altitude testing, centrifuge tests, and other tests, water won't 'leak' into the chips and wreck them. When power is applied, damage can happen. When there is no current, electronics are inert. To keep things 'dry' under power, silicone spray can keep the rest of the electronics from creating short circuits (due to conduction through water, etc.). This was also important in highly corrosive environments (hello petrochemical plant). They also used Hall-effect keyboards and switches to eliminate any chance of an electric arc in hazardous environments (when a seal fails in a methane/ethane/propane plant and you need to press a button to shut off a pump to stop the leak, and pressing the switch blows up the plant you have failed). As stated previously, you can enjoy this new 'wonder technology', or you can get a can of silicone spray. Have fun!
1. Re:Oh Gawd, not this rubbish again! by Sockatume · 2012-01-12 23:47 · Score: 2
  
  When there is no current, electronics are inert.
  Galvanic corrosion can occur whenever two dissimilar metals meet and are provided with an electrolyte, so you might want to be careful about that. I wouldn't get anything with a copper heat sink wet, for example.
  
  --
  No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Boats... by Coldeagle · 2012-01-12 17:23 · Score: 5, Interesting

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the coating was applied to a boat. Would the boat be fouling proof? Also, would it go even faster because it's coated in a hydrophobic substance? Hmmmm...The geek in me wants to get a toy boat, test its performance, then have them coat it then test it again and see if the performance improves by a measurable amount.
Another waterproofing company...HZO by illiteratewithdrawal · 2012-01-12 17:25 · Score: 2

Also with a booth at CES is HZO. It looks like they use a similar technology that allows electronic devices to last a few hours underwater rather than 30 minutes as with Liquipel. For most cases, 30 minutes would be plenty in the case of an accidental drop or splash. Also, Liquipel is available direct to the consumer rather than only offered at the manufacturing level. Would be nice to see a comparison with how technically the two technologies differ.
Yeah, right. Read their site. by Animats · 2012-01-12 17:51 · Score: 2

Their site reads:

If my electronic is accidentally exposed to water after being Liquipelled what do I do?
Do not panic! Please follow the aftercare instructions such as drying the device as much as possible, powering down the unit (if it is not an emergency and you do not need to make a call), removing the battery and battery cover if possible and not restarting until it has dried. Please note not to charge your device for 24 hours until it has dried out.
Most electronics will survive water contact if dried out. After all, one of the last steps in PC board manufacture is a pass through a dishwasher-like device. This "nanocoating" starts to sound like a placebo.
It's lame that phones have connector holes in them at all. With inductive charging, Bluetooth headphones, and WiFi or cellular for everything else, why should there be connectors at all. I'm surprised that Steve Jobs didn't eliminate holes years ago on uglyness grounds.
There are at least three phones on the market designed to survive immersion in water. It's not rocket science.
Re:My Phone Drinks Too Much by HopefulIntern · 2012-01-12 20:50 · Score: 5, Funny

I would be equally worried about spilling any Bud Light into my mouth...