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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.

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  • Hi Nico!

     

    Nice quick solution : )  Smells nice while it is drying too : )

    For higher power/mains systems it may be risky, as I understand it contains flammable stuff? I'm no chemist though : ) Maybe it is non-flammable when dry, since so many people stick it on their nails : )

    Good to see this idea for providing insulation. I wonder what other fast-drying paint-on coatings are easily available too.

  • in reply to shabaz

    > 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

     

    >For higher power/mains systems it may be risky

     

    Right, personally I'd avoid it for anything other than the low voltage USB or lower projects, as it seems to be a kind of soft coating (judging by the many chips and scrapes the ladies get on them).

     

    > it contains flammable stuff? I'm no chemist though : ) Maybe it is non-flammable when dry, since so many people stick it on their nails : )

    I'm pretty sure the fumes the wet stuff gives off will burn. I might have to test flammability of the dry stuff, now that you brought it up, and it has nothing to do with my pyromaniac issues image

    But yes, it's not often we see smokers have their nail coatings catch on fire image  You'd think that would be a great incentive to stop, but then again the danger factor might be another incentive for them to start. image

     

    > I wonder what other fast-drying paint-on coatings are easily available too.

     

    Good question. It's amazing actually how often inexpensive easy-to-find everyday items can come in handy for our projects!

    This stuff comes to mind: Plasti DipRegistered Liquid | Canadian Tire

    It's a thick rubberized coating sort of thing. It's $25, but that's a huge amount of it.

     

    -Nico

  • 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

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