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  • Author Author: ntewinkel
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Nail Polish Short-proofing?

ntewinkel

Hi all,

 

I just kind of randomly came across a thread discussing using nail polish to cover electrical connections to avoid shorts, especially for the backs of home made PCBs.

There are commercially available "conformal coatings" you can use, but they are somewhat more pricey, and I guess a fair bit more boring image

 

So I went to the dollar store yesterday and picked me up some of this!

image

 

Only $1.50 (Canadian dollars even!)

I was thinking I might use it on a past or future PCB to coat the back.

 

This is the first time I've ever bought nail polish, which I think explains the conservative colours image

It says "Kozmic Colours", so just imagine the variety available! I thought I'd avoid the sparkly ones though, as I wasn't sure if that might be conductive.

 

Then today I soldered a light resistor onto some wires, and then wished I had remembered to put on some heat shrink tubes. The shrink tubes were aaaalll the way in the workshop and I was being lazy image

Then I realized I could probably use the nail polish for this!

imageimage

 

It looks like it does the trick - as you can see in the pictures, it has fully coated the exposed wires. It's easier than dealing with heat shrink tubing, and can be added as an afterthought. It's not as rugged as heat shrink tubing, but for many of these smaller light-duty cases it's perfect.

 

Next time - red and black!

 

Cheers,

-Nico

 

edit: I just did a quick resistance test, and I can clip the test leads right beside each other on a (coated) pin of the sensor with full resistance.

  • in reply to mcb1

    I've been known to wrap one wire, then with the same piece of tape, join the second wire onto the (taped) first wire, and wrap a couple of layers over both wires.

    I do that sometimes as well image

  • in reply to 14rhb

    thicker and with a retardant

    Resin is a chemical reaction, and the heat helps to set the two parts.

    Retardant is used to slow the process down, so if the temperature is too high, it will help to regulate the process.

    The amount of the activator will also change the process speed, so you can experiment a little.

     

    For one of my set of indicators, it was very cold overnight, so I had to apply a lamp over it to keep it warm overnight and ensure it went off.

     

    Your decorations idea is great, and it lends itself to making a jig, where a hole would hold the led, allow wiring it and then to help expoxy it.

    You could use bluetac or something plyable to place around the wires, and a simple cardboard circle to go around the base to hold the expoxy in while it sets.

     

     

    If you want some very small brushes, go down to your local automotive paint supplier, and see if they have some touch-up brushes.

    imageimage

    Next to a AAA battery.

    I was surprised that Microsoft made such a useful product, that didn't need constant updates and ran reliably for years ....image

     

    Mark

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    after a few times fiddling around trying to get a good picture, the polish already came off due to the clips scratching it

    I suspect any coating that drys hard, will chip of break when moved, so it has limited use.

     

    We had the same sort of issues when trying to seal antenna with RTV and other types of sealant that set.

    In the end an almost grease like substance sorted the issue, and never let moisture in over years.

     

    I suspect a simple layer or two of insulation tape might achieve exactly what you want.

    I've been known to wrap one wire, then with the same piece of tape, join the second wire onto the (taped) first wire, and wrap a couple of layers over both wires.

     

     

    I'm beating that next time you'll go " blast and bother, I forget the heatshrink ... best I redo this" (substitute your own adjectives) image

    Mark

  • in reply to ntewinkel

    >> Smells nice while it is drying too : )

    > I was expecting it to be a lot more toxic smelling, but it didn't really have much of a smell... maybe the solder flux was still numbing my senses image

     

    Ok I smell it today. yikes how did I not notice that last time! Smells like flammable VOCs for sure image

  • in reply to DAB

    Hi DAB,

    >Did you verify the insulation using a multimeter?

    Yes, but only for the basic "does it conduct" case, not anything more fancy.

    image

     

    However, after a few times fiddling around trying to get a good picture, the polish already came off due to the clips scratching it, and then it conducted again! (I can see the shiny wire, so it's not the nail polish conducting)

    I'll add another layer.

     

    -Nico