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Waterproofing small electronic device on motorcycle

Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Asked by kokobill on January 29, 2021

Not sure if this belongs to https://electronics.stackexchange.com/ but since it includes motorcycle operating temperatures, here goes.
I have recently installed a quickshifter controller on my motorcycle. This device consists of a small electronic controller unit, a sensor connected to it and an ignition cutoff cable also connected to it.
It seems that there are plenty of places to install this control unit but I decided to keep it close to the sensor and cutoff cables.

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So (and since the bike has limited space under it’s fairings) I ended up placing the control unit on the bike side right at the end of the fairing. This helps me diagnose issues through a small led on the device and also keeps it a little further away from high cylinder temperatures though still it receives quite some heat.

The issue here is that it seems a little exposed to rain and washing waters. Since the small (sensor) connector on the device cannot be modified and is not waterproofed by design I would like to know if there is a way waterproofing it.

Solutions I have thought include special contacts waterproofing grease (which will probably get softened by temperatures and drip off), balloons (which I know from experience quickly gets dried up in heat and shatters), condoms (similar behavior) some type of plasticine type rubber in which I could enclose the connector, heat shrinking sleeve to seal on the connector and maybe a simple rubber cover.

Are there any other solutions and/or someone knows of a heat resistant waterproofing grease?

3 Answers

Locate it somewhere else, like close to the battery, where it will be out of the elements like driven rain etc

That connector is not designed for use in "wet" environments and if they had expected such use they would have used a different connector.

You may find that giving the terminals a quick spray with a light silicon grease and finding a small rubber cap that will fit over the white plastic surround might be sufficient. But I would be looking to avoid the wet areas in the first place.

Answered by Solar Mike on January 29, 2021

You might also consider a small plastic storage bag with a press-to-close seal. Here's an example (image sourced from Google Images):

enter image description here

If the switch-in-the-bag is carefully mounted so the bag is not rubbing on or being poked or stressed by anything, the bag will provide significant (although not permanent) moisture protection for the switch.

Answered by DavidSupportsMonica on January 29, 2021

Make a pigtail with a waterproof connector. Attach the pigtail to the device and encapsulate the entire assembly, with the waterproof connector sticking out, in some resin

Answered by Martin on January 29, 2021

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