Do you rinse them thoroughly? I’ve had the same remote for 5 years and it hasn’t failed. But I submerge it fully in freshwater after every use and rise it thoroughly.
There are two versions of how the waterproofing was done on these:
Early ones used a softer RTV potting compound, water leaks up the interface between the RTV and the battery wires and eats the PCBA.
Newer ones use a rigid black potting epoxy which is better.
When I bought my replacement (with a 50% off coupon for the failed one) I immediately took it apart and painted the innards with epoxy. Anywhere the black potting looked thin, or around any wires, I added more epoxy.
My replacement has been running solidly for a year. Mix of fresh and salt water, mostly fresh.
I wonder with these fully potted remotes if you could submerge them in oil/ corrosion X in a vacuum pot, and then vacuum then release to get the oil into any cracks or crevasses. If you did that every few months it would probably last for ever.
Of course, I dipped in fresh water after each session
I don’t know what the failure was, but when I opened one of the remotes to measure battery voltage, it was normal.
So something in the inner circle
Unfortunately I won’t continue with all these solutions of adding epoxy or dipping in corossion
It doesn’t make sense, I’ll switch to Mayatech
What is most disappointing is the poor support of Flipsky
Potted remotes fail by design (over time), better build a remote with a fully waterproof case. Or buy one, there are some commercial fully waterproof remotes available, but they are expensive.
To be fair all the remotes fail over time. I seen Lift, Fliteboard failures. I think its just the nature of the environment. What would provide better longevity is a waterproof design and then also pot the remote.
True but exposing (potted) electronics to salt water is the worst option. Poting and waterproofing is a way to go but makes it harder to repair.
Foam pot cheap HW is anotoer option (Bremote), but also hard to repair (at least it is cost effective).
I built a remote with a waterproff case. I did have some water ingress in the beginning but once you know how to properly waterproof it (epoxy coat on the inside, nitrile rubber seal with silicone grease between body and lid), it holds really well.
Not easy to launch a commercial product with a waterproof case @ an affordable price, I guess that‘s why there isn‘t any available.
Thanks for the feedback. What I don’t understand is how the design is allowing to go full throttle when the spring breaks. By design this could be the other way around and would be way better from a H&S perspective.
Remotes are hard. For every remote I send out for the Boogie I do an air pressure test as well as a vacuum test.
For the pressure test I hang the remote in a transparent cylinder half full of water. Then pressurise to about 30psi for a few minutes, release the pressure quickly and invert the cylinder and look for any bubbles coming out of the remote.
If it passes the pressure test, then I put it in a vacuum pot with a clear lid and pull a vacuum and again watch for bubbles coming out of the remote.
After I figured out these tests I found out that it is also how you do pressure tests for watches after a battery replacement.
We have also added a humidity sensor inside the remote so can monitor and catch slow, microscopic leaks before they become a failure at out at sea.