Waterproof my circuit

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello,

I am working on a project to monitor water levels in a funnel. I am concerned that the sensitive electronic bits will come into contact with water. I'm also interested in protecting them from dust.

The funnel feeds water and sediment into a system for building a delta. (Curious? Check out Tulane Sediment Dynamics Lab at http://www.tulane.edu/~kmstraub/research.html)

I saw a forum topic on conformal coating, but I'm not sure if this is the right thing for my project. Once I apply the conformal coating, can I make alterations to my design? If not, is there a temporary/intermediate solution for waterproofing? We are only at the very beginning of our project, but want to test it bit by bit.

Later on I'll have a different sensor that will be placed directly in the flow path of water and sediment. I would probably need a different solution to that, right?

Thanks for any help!

2

the simplest way might be using watertight sensors and long wires.

Problem with sealed boxes is (on the long term) the power supply.

interesting research (the Dutch love to play with water :wink:

3

https://www.google.com/search?q=arduino+waterproof+case&rlz=1C1GPCK_enUS504US504&espv=2&biw=1364&bih=657&tbm=isch&imgil=bpqGLjVTQzqf3M%253A%253B5jcVDRNsIQ3AWM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fladyada.net%25252Fmake%25252Fgpsshield%25252Fenclosure.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=bpqGLjVTQzqf3M%253A%252C5jcVDRNsIQ3AWM%252C_&usg=__tqcRaQTt9M_7aJQ4H6Zi2Q352J8%3D&dpr=1.25&ved=0CE0Qyjc&ei=4_YlVObRAZevoQT_qYDwCA#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=0MXJ0o8cOEuvQM%253A%3BqF0Zyj5-8cN_KM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.seeedstudio.com%252Fwiki%252Fimages%252Fthumb%252F9%252F9f%252FSeeeduino_Stalker_-_Waterproof_Solar_Kit.jpg%252F600px-Seeeduino_Stalker_-_Waterproof_Solar_Kit.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.seeedstudio.com%252Fwiki%252FSeeeduino_Stalker_-_Waterproof_Solar_Kit%3B600%3B450

4

You're not the first person asking questions about this type of thing; user "gravelbar" was here a few years back with the same type of project. He hasn't been around for a few years but if you contact him directly he might be conducive to helping out a fellow Arduino user.

5

In reading about conformal coatings, you can get a spray can, treat your board, then make alterations, and re-treat. the solder/desolder will just burn off the coating for the repairs.