The Kelly method of waterproofing controller! (Funny)

So as some people know, Kelly has as set of eBike specific controllers (KLS-S). I've been looking at them, as well as other controllers to get a specific set of features. Anyways, I was going through the options that Kelly offers for these models, and one of the options was waterproofing. Awesome I thought, I figured they would seal all the joints and connectors with a silicone sealent, like RTV or something.... Nope.

Kelly Waterproofing is .... "We will fill the controller with silica gel to get waterproof. The material is V-0 rating for silica gel"

Now, far be it from me to be an expert on waterproofing something, but silica gel is a dessicant. It's essentially meant to prevent moisture in the air from condensing onto things, by trapping it before it has the chance to condense. It isn't meant to be used to waterproof anything, it isn't meant for anything beyond humidity in the air.

I thought this was funny, in a sad sorta way, thought I'd share.

http://kellycontroller.com/kls-optional-waterproof-p-1351.html?osCsid=4oku95jloejukhqserr9a8qq04

It got me thinking though, has anyone ever sealed their controller and then filled it with a non conductive fluid, like mineral oil or PDMS (silicone transformer oil), for both cooling and ingress protection?

I'm sure they're just confusing silica/silicon with silicone, like almost everybody seems to do. I'm tired of being irritated by it, so I simply translate on the fly.

I expect there's a translation failure, and they actually mean filling it with silicone based epoxy or similar, or just plain silicone. If it's silicone, unfortunately it's hygroscopic so it might collect and build up moisture inside over time and corrode things.


Auraslip filled one with mineral oil, IIRC. I don't remember for sure, but I think it had problems with leakage via the wires, though, just like problems people have had with oil-filled hubs, where the oil creeps up via surface tension on teh conductors inside the insulation and eventually flows out of the enclosure.

Others have filled them with thermally conductive epoxy.

Some manufacturers pot their controllers that way too. Ultramotor (A2B, Stromer) did that with the in-motor controller. Bafang did with some of the BBSxx series. Currie did it with at least some of the Izip/etc stuff.

Meanwell pots their HLG series of PSUs with some form of epoxy for outdoor rated applications.