Ok, so I thought I had a foolproof setup, but apparently not. I believe my problem to be the sealant I’m using that goes between the mast clamp and the aluminum tube/motor/everything else. I dumped tons on both sides of the “firewall” and it appears that water might be leaking through because the 5200 doesn’t bond to the silicon wires. Any advice on alternative sealants?
I’m also thinking it would be good to have the connectors flush rather than the wires dangling out so I could quickly plug and unplug the motor. But will I get into heating/melting issues?
If you didn’t coat the print, it’s definitely that! I over-extruded the first mount I ever made and then depth tested them and found that there is no way a std extrusion printer will seal 100%.
An easy way to test is to fill the tube with water, seal you lips against it and blow. You’ll see the leaks straight away!
Weird. I thought if you sanded them down it would help seal. But I guess that sounds foolish thinking about it now! haha. Well these are being coated with the XTC-3D! Take no chances!
Other solution is to make a silicon mold of your parts and cast urethane… parts 100% waterproof. But you have to deal with shrinkage if you have o-ring grooves… a couple %
for the silicon mold and a few more for the urethane…
3D prints in most cases leak much more than you think. Add water pressure and it compounds the issue more. Sealant will fix it.
If you are using orings for any part then i would think they are the main cause for leak. The 3D texture will make For a poor seal and an over snug or too loose oring will also draw in water believe it or not. Waterpoorfing is a real pain in the butt.
Yeah man. Glad you’re beyond that stage Chris! I printed all new parts and I’ve painted them in the XTC3D epoxy. So now I feel a lot better about rebuilding everything.
Hey Tyler, not sure if you are doing double shaft seals, each seal with a different OD and packing them with marine grease, but you could be getting water in through your seal, any vibration in the shaft and they leak.