Week of 2/20/12

This week was aimed at waterproofing the servomotor to be used in the marker dropper mechanism as well as waterproofing the kill switch. We had two non working servos at our disposal to conduct waterproofing tests on so we tested a combination of methods on each. The servos are waterproof but only to a certain extent. Full submersion to the depths that are required for the competition are not plausible for the servo alone. We took the servos apart and filled the electronics section with a high viscosity mineral oil. We then filled the front gear reduction compartment with a silicon grease. The servo was then reassembled with an O-ring around the output shaft with added silicon grease. Screwing on the servo horn allowed for the O-ring to compress and form a water tight seal. The exterior was then cleaned and all of the seems were touched up with duco cement and the wires extruding out the rear of the servo were coated with plasti dip. The kill switch followed a similar method of waterproofing. The wires and terminals were dipped in plasti dip and the front seems were touched up with duco cement. The duco cement provides a clear barrier to inhibit water from entering. The kill switch was then mounted to a mounting plate with a rubber boot recovered from last years group to protect the front of the switch from water entry.