Richard Ellis

WATERPROOFING

The use of dielectric oil to protect electronic circuit boards, connectors and motors is a long established practice in the electronics industry. This preventive action is recommended for r/c boats and especially for r/c boats used in salt water. The non conducting (dielectric) oil coats the board and seals out water and other corrosive chemicals. Last year I found out that salty moist air near the shore deposited on my receiver board and put my boat out of commision. It is especially important to coat servo and powerline connectors with protective oils.
The Aerotrend Company of Ansonia, CT markets such an oil. It is called AEROPLATE . While it is not inexpensive, a small amount will last a long time. Their instructions for receivers are to remove the board from the plastic case and dip the board in a dish of AEROPLATE for five seconds, then remove the crystal and let the board drain back into the dish for 15 minutes. For servos, remove the bottom cover which will reveal the servo circuit board. Then dip the servo into the dish of AEROPLATE to make sure the circuit board is submerged; then let it drain for 15 minutes.
There are a few warnings that Aerotrend quoted about AREOPLATE . Firstly, do not use it on LCD displays. I believe any oil that gets behind the screen will stain the LCD display. Secondly, the oil does not work in soapy water, in fact, washing with soapy water is how to remove AEROPLATE from components.
If you do get your electronics wet, you generally can save them by gentle drying under a desk lamp. If salt water is involved you need to wash that off the circuitry first with fresh water, then drain the fresh water and gentle drying. If the simple drying does not work, then coat with AEROPLATE as a further action to bring the electronics back to life.
If the water has been on the board for some time, a close inspection may reveal corrosion on the printed circuit. You can try to remove the corrosion by brushing the area with AEROPLATE ; it does work to dissolve the rust, but of course, if the corrosion is too extensive, then it is too late. Finally, after cleaning the electronics, you should coat them with the oil. The coating should be repeated before each season of sailing.
Aerotrend also sells other hobby equipment. They have a web site, and they can be contacted by email, to find retail sources for their products.