Possible to waterproof a Flux?

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gnat

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21
Cracked out my Flux after a few years of idleness. We got some snow yesterday and my oldest had a blast running his Traxxas Stampede 4x4 through the snow. It was deep enough that (especially with a bad front shock) that it had some trouble and I was wishing I could bring the Savage out for us to play with.

Is there anything I can do to waterproof the Savage enough for it to safely play in the snow and rain? I'm not looking to submerge it or anything, just project it from water and snow getting thrown up under the body and falling back into the chassis.

For what it's worth, I have already replaced the receiver with one that is supposed to be waterproof.
 
What esc do you have?
A very dirty one:ROFLMAO:

I don't see anything on it that identifies it and I don't know where my manuals are off the top of my head. I see "Blur" on one side and "Flux HP" on another (I'm vaguely sure that I have the basic Savage Flux and not the HP variant though...). The truck is 6 or so years old now if memory serves.
 
(I'm vaguely sure that I have the basic Savage Flux and not the HP variant though...).
Well... I say that and then notice a tiny sticker on the nose of the body that says Savage Flux HP. Yes I am apparently "one of those people" :rolleyes::D
 
Mine was the version that had the rebranded castle mamba monster v1 in it (F360C I believe). That particular esc is not waterproofed at all. I took mine out of the case, cleaned the board the best I could with some electronics cleaner, then coated it in a couple coats of thick conformal coating from cowrc.com.
https://www.cowrc.com/Cow-Formal-Silicone-Conformal-Coating-p126851156

I couldn't get the heat sink off, so I ran the coating up to the edge of it and the base of the main capacitors. Then I ended up replacing it with a MMX anyway because it was just too jittery for me.

This was mine:
Flux Blur: https://www.hpiracing.com/en/part/100684

When you go there, you see the one it was replaced with, ELC-6S which was replaced with the ELH-6S. I think those are hobbywing variations.

ELC-6S: https://www.hpiracing.com/en/part/113126
ELH-6S: https://www.hpiracing.com/en/part/120021

This is what the F360C looks like on the bottom inside the case:
2019-0213-HPI%20Blur%20F360C-Coating01.jpg
 
Yeah the Blur you link to looks like mine. I believe the programmer I got for it was CastleLink.
 
Plastidip and/or corrosionX. Coat servo case in plastidip to try and seal it where top and bottom parts meet. You need to be able to remove circuit boards and dip in corrosionX. I have no experience in using them but just what I picked up. Snow is the worst I have found, rain less so, for getting insides wet. Always best get it dry quickly by bringing indoors, hand/forced air drying and not leaving it cold in an outside store room.
 
Geez, forgot entirely about the servo.

You can try to seal it externally, but that rarely works well in the long run. It will work better on a e-savage since the output shaft points at the ground and snow/water won't sit around the output shaft and seep it's way into the servo easily.

If you really want to run in snow a lot, get a waterproof esc and servo. That's the best route to take.
 
Waterproof claims are not always clearly defined, and mostly are splash proof. Servos tend to use o-ring to seal casing halves, not sure about the top where it rotates. Escs are generally potted. Receivers tend to rely on placing inside a waterproof receiver box, some use a balloon which is simple/cost effective.
 
If you really want to run in snow a lot, get a waterproof esc and servo. That's the best route to take.
This is the route I ended up going with. Forgot the original servo died on me and had a Savox digital installed, but it wasn't a WP model. Being happy with the one I have I went with another Savox and for an unused take off ELH-6S that should be here today.

Put some oil in the shocks for the first time in it's life and found the top bolts looking like this:eek:
16124931874736459132803664549530.jpg

Luckily I had some M3x40 bolts that were just long enough to act as replacements. This truck continues to impress me with how well it takes abuse. The rest of the suspension still looks fine!
 
Waterproof claims are not always clearly defined, and mostly are splash proof.
Yeah splash proof is really all I'm concerned about so I can run in less than perfect conditions.

I also have a 3D printer and am contemplating how to add some more shielding (and redesign the battery boxes) to further reduce build up in non-ideal locations.
 
If the receiver box isn't sealed, I usually just use a balloon for the receiver and ziptie the neck around the wires. The servo's I buy have o-rings on the output drive and case halves. If the fitment of the servo wire isn't very good, I'll take the bottom off and put some RTV around the wire, then put it back together.

On my nitro's, I put the receiver battery pack in a balloon as well.
 

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