Deep6 Waterproofing
Assembly
DISCLAIMER
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Table of Contents
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Parts List
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UPDATE: New kits will be sent with 3x Tubes of Thermal Silicone as the build has changed to add simplicity and improved reliability
Significant Build Update Coming
The guide will be updated as soon as possible, but to explain it we’re now including additional thermal silicone to apply to both sides of FC/ESC before sticking the aluminum tape/thermal tape combo on. The thermal silicone will be squeezed flat by the aluminum taking the place of trapped air inside the waterproof envelope. If there is no air inside then there is nowhere for water to leak and your components are totally sealed. Thermal silicone transmits heat much more effectively than the trapped air inside did. Now heat can get to the outer aluminum to radiate to the air better and keep electronics cooler.
If the FC/ESC are sealed at the board level, then we don’t need to rely on the outer rubber gasket to keep water out. If we remove one ring of black rubber we save weight. Leave one ring of rubber to act as strain relief for the wires, that’s important if you like to crash.
So the new build is faster, easier, simpler, more reliable, and more efficient at keeping your electronics cool.
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Camera
Needed:
The camera is the hardest part as there are many kinds with slightly different cases/shapes/lenses.
Remove sticker or housing from rear of camera board. Coat the camera board and case all around with thermal glue to seal them. Coat the entire back and sides where the board and case meet.
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A printed lens gasket is included to seal the lens to the case. It may not fit on some cameras but some have not leaked without any help. You can use thermal glue to seal the lens also.
Fill the camera connectors with dielectric grease before inserting plug then cover them with spare rubber to prevent the grease from leaking out
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Carefully paint the very edge of the lense. Conformal is preferred for this as it is more fluid. This is to seal the lens as water can leak in and condense on the inner lens and obscure vision. If this happens you just have let it dry. Nail polish can substitute if conformal is unavailable.
Some camera lenses leak more than others, we can only try to prevent it.
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Use scissors to cut roll of rubber to lengths: 6.25”(155mm), 7.5”(190mm), and 8”(205mm)
8”(205mm) for ESC
7.5”(190mm) for FC, 6.25” for Air Unit version FC
6.25”(155mm) for analog VTX, Air Unit needs 17” total, Vista needs 12” total
Then cut strips from each length, they are pre-cut into 4 but scissors allow you to cut clean strips since the rubber tends to stick back together
Each component only needs ~2.5 of the strips, so there are leftovers. Perfect length is not needed, rubber lengths can by lined up end to end if not long enough
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Electronic Speed Controller
Parts Needed:
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Soldered ESC ready to waterproof, removed from frame for easier waterproofing after test flying
ESC/FC wire harness length is critical! Less than ~7cm is probably not enough
Make sure your motor wires are long enough whether using racewire or not, a few extra cm is better than too short. The wires need to extend outside the waterproofing before bending so they are longer than you think.
If your ESC has a motor pad far out like this one, solder it at an angle so it comes in to the center
Seal XT60/capacitor legs with heatshrink and conformal coat
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*May be unnecessary* Not proven but better safe than sunk if you can be bothered
Seal around solder joints with conformal or nail polish to prevent water from leaking in along the inside of the wires, this might only happen if submerged at 2+ feet for 3+ hours. Which will NOT happen in any normal circumstance
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How to waterproof small wire bundles. Detailed text on next page.
Make sure wires aren’t twisted so rubber can get between all of them
Roll out small ball of rubber into a strip and wrap around wire harness
Slip band of large heatshrink on
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These 2 slides cover the same as the previous but with text
Use heat gun or lighter to shrink
Lick fingers/dip in water and pinch the hot heat shrink flat to ensure good seal around all the wires inside, when hot the rubber flows around the tiny wires more easily
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Tear off small sections from strip of rubber
Roll them out into a line and wrap them around every wire to ensure a seal
You can take your time this way to save weight, or just fold the strip around the wires as a group and press it in, depends on the motor pad spacing on your ESC, some ESCs have very close together pads and it is easier to press the rubber around 3 or 6 wires at a time in that case
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Continue until all wires are sealed on every side, pull up capacitor wires (if you have them) to stick rubber between power and capacitor wires
The next step will add a full seal around the perimeter that will double up these wire seals. Wires leaving the waterproofing are the most vulnerable part of this. Take your time
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Remove blue backing from one side of the ESC sleeve. Tweezers can help remove the backing.
Remove brown backing from strip of rubber, leave the white backing on
Line that strip around the outside of ESC sleeve so there is a little amount of overlap where ends meet, then peel off white backing
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Carefully center the ESC above the sleeve and stick it down
Remove brown backing from another strip of rubber and run it around on top
then remove white backing
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1 2
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Remove blue backing from other ESC sleeve and carefully center it on the TPU nubs before pressing it down in the center
Starting from the center, press on top and bottom so there is little to no air gaps inside, you want the chips on the board to be clearly outlined for best heat dissipation.
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Once the aluminum is pressed tightly all around the board, move outward and press on top and bottom where the wires are soldered. Next, firmly press the outer rubber strips so they compress and take up any space inside and spread out to form an effective seal.
Use a tweezers or your fingers to press any rubber that oozes out into place, taking extra care around the power wires. The power wires move when plugging in a battery so a good seal all around even when sharply pulled up or down is critical.
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Flight Controller
Parts Needed:
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Use scissors or side snips to cut off the set of FC mounts you don’t need depending on if your FC is 20mm or 30mm
Be careful not to cut through the top, leaving a mm or two protruding won’t be a problem
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Remove brown backing from strip of rubber, leave the white backing on
Run strip around the outside of the top
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Wires can be routed over the top of the FC since it has the clear top, think about where your components will be when assembled and make sure you have enough wire length. A little extra wire so you can fit everything together is a good idea. Planning ahead is crucial
Waterproof seal any groups of tiny wires (small heatshrink) just like the ESC/FC harness (large heatshrink) using the same method as page 8
Make sure you seal the small wires where they will match up with the main outer gasket
Insert USB extension
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Test fit FC in the top sleeve by pressing the FC onto the alignment nubs, we like to have the USB come out the right side
Remove white backing from rubber and fit FC onto alignment nubs
Run another strip of rubber on top just like we did on the ESC
These pictures show a too short ESC/FC wire harness cable to show you can route wires out any side you need to even if it doesn’t look as clean
Use best judgement here, if you double up 2 bundles of wires leaving the waterproofing from the same spot, add rubber between them to complete the seal
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Remove blue backing from FC bottom sleeve
Center it as best you can, lock the outer TPU nubs
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Starting from the center, press on top and bottom so there is little to no air gaps inside, you want the chips on the board to be clearly outlined for best heat dissipation.
Once the aluminum is pressed tightly all around the board, move outward and press on top and bottom where the wires are soldered and the USB extension. Next, firmly press the outer rubber strips so they compress and take up any space inside and spread out to form an effective seal.
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Video Transmitter
Parts Needed:
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Peel blue backing from one side of VTX sleeve
Remove brown backing from strip of rubber and run around edge
Remove white backing from strip of rubber
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1 2 3
Wrap small amount of rubber around antenna cable where it passes through the outer gasket, this ensures a good seal.
Stick VTX down
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Insert VTX plug if applicable
Remove brown backing from a 2nd rubber strip and layer it on top of the 1st, then remove white backing
Remove blue backing from other VTX sleeve and center it, lock outer TPU nubs
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Starting from the center, press on top and bottom so there is little to no air gaps inside, you want the chips on the board to be clearly outlined for best heat dissipation.
Once the aluminum is pressed tightly all around the board, move outward and firmly press the outer rubber strips so they compress and take up any space inside and spread out to form an effective seal.
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Receiver
Parts Needed:
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Press small amount of rubber in one end of heatshrink
Wrap wires in rubber
Slip RX into heatshrink and shrink it
Antenna wire(s) can come out the same side or not, up to you
If using 2.4GHz, you will need long antennas to act as a snorkel as 2.4GHz does not penetrate through water like 900MHz can
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Same process works on a GPS if you want to use one
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Final Assembly
Press ESC all the way down on the standoffs, tweezers make this easy. Push the center of the ESC to make it sit as low as possible. Capacitor can be trapped under the back for mounting
Mount Antenna on the bottom if using 900mhz
Press VTX down on rear 4 standoffs, the front sits on the ESC and keep the back level
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Press 2 long printed standoffs on front of ESC
Press 2 short printed standoffs on front of VTX
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Receiver fits under the VTX, can use a little rubber to stick it down if you want
XT60 mount goes on top if using
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Fit top plate by pressing front into camera protecting tabs before pressing the back down like a hinge
2nd picture shows how battery straps and float adaptor goes on, open spot in back
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Tuck balance lead in carbon slot
Velcro float straps go in after battery is strapped down
Strap float on top. Looks silly, but works. Doesn’t affect flight performance. Leave it off when there’s no water around.
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Before Touching Water
Plug up USB port with a little blob of rubber to protect the connection pins from corrosion.
Seal anything like racewire and LEDs with conformal or nail polish or spare rubber.
Protecting any exposed electrical points becomes very important if you plan to touch salt water. If you do fly in salt water put dielectric grease in the XT60 plug.
We sell a kit to waterproof batteries, but it is really only needed in salt water.
Protect battery balance plug with dielectric grease, seal it in rubber, or oil the pins. The pins can corrode a bit after prolonged water contact.
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TIPS
Put airmode on a switch. With airmode off you can skip across the water and dip a prop in without spinning out due to airmode reacting to the drag.
A long range VTX antenna will stick out of the water like a snorkel so you have video underwater. If you hit the water and the antenna goes under, you will lose video until the antenna gets above water again. Don’t panic. You may get telemetry lost warning, telemetry is sent at a much lower power.
There’s no reason to disarm over/in water unless you want to belly flop because it’s fun. The top float means you never have to roll over and take off, you can’t flip upside down. But you need to remove the float to swap batteries.
ND filters can be waterproofed by running a thin strip of spare rubber around the edge of the lens and sticking them on. Just like how camera butter filters work.
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Water Testing
You will dunk your quad in a controlled environment to make sure you built it correctly before flying somewhere you can’t get it back. In the sink, in a bucket, anything you have big enough to just submerge the quad.
Plug it in, fly a little to warm the electronics up if you can, then dunk and shake it around in ~4 inches of water. Check your video underwater, make sure your camera is working right.
Wait 10 minutes. You will see condensation in the FC clear top if it leaked. If the ESC leaked you will typically see a motor acting up or the current sensor reading high at idle. If the camera leaked you’ll see it in the goggles.
Take it easy, you don’t want to risk your machine before you trust it. Try flying a pond before floating down a river over a waterfall or filming surfers in a storm.
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Failed Water Testing?
Not a problem. Use a scissors/side snips/hobby knife to carefully cut open the rubber gasket and fix the issue, whether you missed some little wires or didn’t press the rubber sealed enough, mistakes happen. You can reuse the same waterproofing parts until it works.
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After Touching Water
Anything that goes in water has more maintenance. That’s life.
Run a full pack after touching water with plenty of full throttle punchouts to heat the motors up and clear water from the bearings. Letting water sit in the bearings will cause the grease to run out and your new motors will sound rough and grindy.
Regularly check your screws and props. If something comes loose in the water you’re in trouble.
If you flew in salt water, wash the quad thoroughly with fresh water as soon as possible. And then do the after water flight with lots of punchouts.
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