Interesting Tidbit For Castle Owners

[cubsfan2009 0]

I recently upgraded my Traxxas Stampede to a Sidewinder brushless setup. My concern was that it would no longer be waterproof as it had been with the stock esc and motor. After some research I discovered that although Castle Creations does not advertise it, the Mamba/Sidewinder esc's are waterproof. Apparently, for liability/warranty reasons, they don't advertise this, but they designed these esc's to go anywhere including water. Castle will tell you this if you call them and ask. Sidewinder is more 'proof' than the Mamba due to the lack of the usb port, but either one is protected internally by a layer of silicon goo. The CMS36 motor is also highly water resistant.

I don't think I'll submerge it to find out, but running in the rain, puddles, and a quick dunk should be no problem. Also explains why they designed their esc's to not need a fan as this would defeat the waterproofness.

Curious if anyone else has heard of this? If I have been misinformed I would like to know before I ruin my esc by not being careful around water.

[mymonsterbeetleisbroken 16]

I recently upgraded my Traxxas Stampede to a Sidewinder brushless setup. My concern was that it would no longer be waterproof as it had been with the stock esc and motor. After some research I discovered that although Castle Creations does not advertise it, the Mamba/Sidewinder esc's are waterproof. Apparently, for liability/warranty reasons, they don't advertise this, but they designed these esc's to go anywhere including water. Castle will tell you this if you call them and ask. Sidewinder is more 'proof' than the Mamba due to the lack of the usb port, but either one is protected internally by a layer of silicon goo. The CMS36 motor is also highly water resistant.

I don't think I'll submerge it to find out, but running in the rain, puddles, and a quick dunk should be no problem. Also explains why they designed their esc's to not need a fan as this would defeat the waterproofness.

Curious if anyone else has heard of this? If I have been misinformed I would like to know before I ruin my esc by not being careful around water.

Never heard of it myself, but worth knowing if it is true

[TA-Mark 195]

They told me the same thing when I was discussing using the Mamba/Sidewinder ESCs as boat controllers with their tech dept. I now have them fitted in my scratch built balsa boats. They get splashed and neither have failed or needed to be dried out to work again.

I have run a few of mine fitted to cars in the rain with no ill effects. Mamba Grasshopper in the rain is such fun Pain to clean though.

[Mud-Plugger 2]

Interesting. If I open up my Mamba Max, there is absolutely no protection against water ingress at all, and on several occasions having got wet, it has died. I would say that it hasn't suffered any permanent damage, as has worked fine after having been dried out and cleaned, and since the last dunking in salt water (see photos), I have now given it a coat of lacquer.

Mud.

[stumpyuk 0]

as a hint , a friend of mine used to repair electronic equipment , if he had a peice of electronic pcb that had got wet he used to re wash it in demineralised water and let it dry out slowly. he says the damage comes from the minerals causing shorts. once clean you could varnish the board for added water protection.

[PaPeRo 30]

Or you could just use a PCB cleaner spray which evaporates very fast so you don't have to wait for it to dry.

[cubsfan2009 0]

Interesting. If I open up my Mamba Max, there is absolutely no protection against water ingress at all, and on several occasions having got wet, it has died. I would say that it hasn't suffered any permanent damage, as has worked fine after having been dried out and cleaned, and since the last dunking in salt water (see photos), I have now given it a coat of lacquer.

Mud.

I've never opened up my Sidewinder Esc, but maybe the info on the internal protection is wrong. I do see from the photo's why the Sidewinder is considered better for moist areas as it looks like the water entered through the usb port. It does sound like either way a little moisture most likely will not cause permanent damage. I also don't run anywhere near saltwater as all the beaches near me are fresh water. Love the Great Lakes beaches.