ElectricGod said:
Potting is good for manufacturers and at best a mixed bag for everybody else.
While potting does improve water resistance and thermal conduction it also means the controller is NOT repairable. Mosfets and capacitors are the 2 BIG failure points in any controller. It is highly likely that controllers will suffer failures in these components. Potting prevents repairs of any kind.
Please NEVER make potting mandatory! The moment you do, like Mobipus (Who pots everything), lots of people like me who can fix just about anything will never buy from you. You want the largest market share you can get. Please keep potting a requested optional item.
There's other ways to protect from water incursion:
1. Use conformal to protect the electronics from water incursion. The controller boards already have this on them. My LCD modules did not. I added it. Conformal leaves the electronics still accessible for repairs if needed. You can do this yourself. Conformal can be found on ebay for $15. Also, coat the board in any electronic device...mp3 player, BT speaker, whatever in conformal. Let it cure. Immerse it in water while it's operating. If you coated everything, the device will still work.
2. Seal the controller shell with silicon caulk. This alone will take care of 99% of water incursion issues.
The heat dispersion effects of potting are known. IT does help in this regard. It cures into a plastic like material. it can help with hot spots inside the controller shell. The biggest hot spots are the mosfets and large electrolytic caps. These are also the 2 BIG items that fail the most often in controllers! The mosfets can be helped by adding more aluminum to the outside of the shell. The large caps can be helped by using low ESR, high grade caps. Most people won't be running these controllers at their limits, so heat dispersion won't really be an issue.
People requesting conformal:
1. Expect when your controller dies, that you will be buying a new one instead of replacing a $4 mosfet or cap.
2. Expect that your controller will be impervious to water incursion.
3. Expect that the hot spot components will run somewhat cooler.
If anybody wants the opinion of someone who has been repairing electronics since the late 1980's, don't EVER use potting. This is the number one reason why I can't fix stuff when it dies!
all i see is blablabla....and a bit of blablabla.....
the same shit as always.
99% of customers dont replace anything by himself.
if this means you will never be a customer -> great. go to your PV displayless shit controller.
if a controller dont die because of water liek adaptto, lots of problems are solved and no need for a repair.
nucular offers free repair when controller dies. so what? nobody said something when adaptto had his time.
someone who name himself as electricgod has allready enough problems.
so you are a cap and mosfet replacer. is this whats your determination?
because you ALLLLWAAYYSSS KNOW ALLLLLLL BETTER but why didnt you build a controller and make it "right"?
ya huh? its something different then replacing fets.
there is not a single competitor outside yet in this size, power and price range. Some idiots waiting about adaptto to overstart the journey of bad ass lazy support. Some ppl want it now and not in 1-3 months and the ppl who buyed are very happy with it. a few bugs still there but this controller beats them all.
i dont know how many controllers are sold but
a: i didnt read about a dead one or
b: someone who overheatet it in real world using.
now the optional potting makes it not rainproof....NO...you could use it U N D E R W A T E R .....its waterproof.
what else do you need? the option to replace fets?.....really?