Episode 38 - Waterproof Your Thumbdrive [Discussion]

[travislopes]

Got five minutes? You can make any USB Thumbdrive waterproof with epoxy and a popsicle stick! Your USB Flash Drive need never fear the washing machine again if you waterproof it… if you’ve got ten minutes and a popsicle stick, you can do this!

[bman]

Wasen't sure if I was going to watch this episode.

hmm,...

[travislopes]

I had a thumb drive that was bare (had no case on it.) I ran it thru the wash several times and had no problem using it. No epoxy at all.

[kronos6948]

Patrick, if you read this, apology accepted. It's all good. We know you've got the new baby, as well as being the guy giving Martin Sargent a run for his money with the amount of facetime on Rev3. So, it's expected to be a bit absent-minded about things. Plus, once Dave comes back from being "on assignment", you'll be getting (hopefully) some well deserved time to yourself.

[windwaker]

Thank god! This is the most useless systm episode ever!

Then again, I'll never do 95% of the stuff on this show (wireless internet on a truck? what?), so it doesn't matter. But now I can use my thumb drive on my underwater computer!

[patbuzz86]

Having seen many a thumbdrive go through a washing machine, it isn't the water that kills it (provided it is air dried completely before use). The problem lies in the static electricity produced inside of the dryer that kills thumbdrives.

[computoman]

To Systm:
Funny I have found as many linux drivers as I need. One good way to see what equipment you have on linux is to boot with a distro such as dsl linux, knoppix, most any "live" up to date distro, then go to the command line and type without the quotes "dmesg | less" and then you can scroll back and forth to see what hardware was detected. There are tons of websites with free drivers. Thall shalt use a search engine. There are also quite a few LUGs (linux user groups who could provide the expertise you need. Let us know what drivers you need and we can get them for you. I run only linux at home and work. I have scanners, webcams, and printers all working with linux. We run linux on all kinds of thin clients, ppc macs, and intel/amd boxes from 386 to p4's. MSXP and MSVista will not run on all those platforms. MSVista certainly was not that driver friendly. Please do not disdain linux, grasshopper.

I know that with a new child, it consumes your life. It is admirable that you help your better half with the baby. A lot of fathers should be as caring as you are. Of course most dad's are. My baby is going on 28, but she takes care of herself now.

Epoxying a usb drive would have been an excellant daily tutorial. I hope eventually that time management and getting more fresh air will make things easier for you.

Ciao....

[scienceking]

I know this goes without saying for most people here, but I just thought it should be noted that epoxy is a pretty good thermal insulator and should NOT be used on devices that dissipate any significant amount of power. Even thumbdrives are pushing it as they can pull up to a watt of heat which I'm not certain a brick of insulator can dissipate in quite an optimal steady-state fashion, but the electronics in thumbdrives are basic and quite resilient. So basically, do the math or try this out on new types of devices with a fire extinguisher handy or expecting to lose the device because it will systematically overheat and there will be no way to save it from its epoxy prison. This is also another good reason to keep the epoxy layer as thin as possible.

One alternative to this would be to get an aluminum enclosure similar to the original device size and use thermal paste to bond(or just submerge, which is less optimal but will work) your device to it. Then epoxy as seen only around the openings/ports. This might be a better idea, for say, a waterproof 2.5" HDD enclosure(these can use up to 10W, do not for love of goodness enclose a 10W heater in insulator!).

[mustard168]

To Systm:
Funny I have found as many linux drivers as I need. One good way to see what equipment you have on linux is to boot with a distro such as dsl linux, knoppix, most any "live" up to date distro, then go to the command line and type without the quotes "dmesg | less" and then you can scroll back and forth to see what hardware was detected. There are tons of websites with free drivers. Thall shalt use a search engine. There are also quite a few LUGs (linux user groups who could provide the expertise you need. Let us know what drivers you need and we can get them for you. I run only linux at home and work. I have scanners, webcams, and printers all working with linux. We run linux on all kinds of thin clients, ppc macs, and intel/amd boxes from 386 to p4's. MSXP and MSVista will not run on all those platforms. MSVista certainly was not that driver friendly. Please do not disdain linux, grasshopper.

I know that with a new child, it consumes your life. It is admirable that you help your better half with the baby. A lot of fathers should be as caring as you are. Of course most dad's are. My baby is going on 28, but she takes care of herself now.

Epoxying a usb drive would have been an excellant daily tutorial. I hope eventually that time management and getting more fresh air will make things easier for you.

Ciao....




ok first off, it's cool because, unless you have almost unlimited time to do the research, its is kinda hard to get drivers. Secondly Patrick never said he was going to do linux (and shouldn't have because it was a bios issue anyway) and it was a tekzilla not systm issue in the first place. Thirdly i believe linux should be summed up in a diffrent eppisode because of all the aspects. and lastly ty for giving me a few resources for linux support. (thats real helpfull) + the extra g searches on that subject will help me with linux in general. ty and ty patrick (I've worn a kilt) norton for giving us programing in-wich WE enjoy.

[mustard168]

oops i mean't drivers for linux although thankfully support for various perefrials on the linux os are becomming more and more proficient. thank god because it used to be a freaking nightmare for me.

[kickarse]

Please, PLEASE, don't use epoxy as the first layer. Epoxy can eat the substrate of the USB drive.

Instead use a liquid electrical tape. The once dry the stuff is water proof and pretty resistant to abuse. You can also dip the USB drive in the liquid a couple times to create layers. Better yet don't take off the enclosure and dip the whole thing in, except for the USB connector itself.

[scienceking]

First, good point before, I hadn't thought about that. I don't think it would be a problem most of the time, but its worth noting.

Better yet don't take off the enclosure and dip the whole thing in, except for the USB connector itself.

I can't agree with this, as the side of the USB connector itself where it gets soldered to the PCB is not watertight by any means and often has seams and holes. So even if you decided to leave the enclosure on, you'd have to take it off to seal the USB connector from the inside.

[kickarse]

First, good point before, I hadn't thought about that. I don't think it would be a problem most of the time, but its worth noting.

Better safe then sorry. We had these issues with motherboards and using the incorrect sealant for doing peltier cooling. Epoxy has the same type of chemicals as the sealant used for gaskets. It would eat away at the electronics and the board.


I can't agree with this, as the side of the USB connector itself where it gets soldered to the PCB is not watertight by any means and often has seams and holes. So even if you decided to leave the enclosure on, you'd have to take it off to seal the USB connector from the inside.

True. I figured higher end ones would do this ;)

[lordbyron]

If/when I have important data on my thumb drive I make sure I don't leave it in my pocket.

[marc57]

Patrick, Your doing great with Systm considering all you've got going on with the baby and all(I raised four so I know what your going through). Hang in there, It does get better! :)

[lordbyron]

Yea I have 2 myself!

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg42/brianranieri/IMG_4625.jpg

[tangerine]

TY PNORT for crossing over to Rev3.
I admire your vision & I loved this episode of system.


Knowing there are others out there that did not need the apoxy
..is kinda strange.

I am having an issue
getting the embed for this show
to work on my site.

It just appears to load without gratification.
Therefore, I have the direct link below the vid.
Just wanted you all to know
I am not sure why it will not play.

[paulius]

Great idea, guys.

I'm enjoying all of the Systm expisodes but I really wish that they'll get longer and slightly better produced. As a real geek, I don't quite like the idea of Revision3 going towards TV-esque and less tech-related shows. Systm is the only show left which I can watch with pride and not feel as if my brain is saying "I'm out of here, bye".

Anyhow, here's my attempt as epoxying a USB stick:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2280410050_c637043c33.jpg
Direct link to Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pauliusg/2280410050/

Yeah I know that this is probably going to eat up my USB drive, but this is an old 64MB drive (laugh if you will, but my primary USB drive is only 32MB... It's enough for me). We'll see how long it'll last.

[titaniumlizzard]

Another problem with epoxy aside from the heat and cool fumes: It contracts during the curing process. This doesn't bother most household things but electronics can be finicky and, well, a pain in the ass. As the epoxy cures it can fracture the leads of components or snap them right off their solder points.

Better Idea: Conformal Coating (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformal_coating). Conformal Coating was developed specifically for the electronics industry as a means of Water, Chemical, and Dustproofing electronics. Buy a can of it for $15 and spray it on outside. No mess, and it won't kill anything.

Free tip for Patrick: You'd be better off abusing sleeping pills than epoxy.

-Lizzy out

[triple110]

Nitpicking 101-

There is a danger of damaging the electrical components of the USB device, however unlikely, because of the petroleum based aspect of the epoxy. A better selection for complete waterproofing is to use a marine epoxy that is waterproof up to X number of feet. Since you are using an epoxy you can still reuse the case by simply pouring the epoxy into the case and pressing the case back together and having it squeeze out the edges.

/nitpicking

[kickarse]

I suggest people read this before proceeding with the epoxy resin route...

http://www.dhs.ca.gov/OHB/HESIS/epoxy.htm

A better solution (as I said earlier) Liquid Electrical Tape (usually Starbrite brand)

http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/gb-brushon-liquid-electrical-tape-p-75261.html?ref=42

[vahnx]

This was a good episode. I rarely watch Systm, but it caught my eye as it kept appearing on the front page. I always empty my pockets when I get home so I'm safe from the washing machine ;)

[shadore]

It was a fun episode =) It was funny watching Patrick almost glue his hand to the thumb drive =P Anyhow, I keep my thumb drive in my work laptop bag, away from the washing machine ;)

[ascendeddaniel]

This was an enjoyable episode because it was self contained and the explanation was pretty smooth. It would have been a bit better if they included footage of some of the tests, specifically the ones with the washer.

I hope Systm keeps up the good work. It's much better to focus on a series of somewhat specialized projects well and in detail than to try to cover projects that will appeal to everyone every week. I think this model, combined with input from the forums on what projects to look at, will make Systm very effective and more worthwhile.

[will_stutler]

thats cool i never thought to do that