I have a piece of test equipment that needs to stay underwater for days. Normally I would use or make a waterproof case with a lid and a gasket.
Instead, I’m wondering if I could print a box, pause the print just before the top face, put the device inside and then print the top face over it. No openings, no nothing, and the device works by induction so it doesn’t need to physically connect to anything.
But this would only work if 3D-printed PLA walls are really waterproof. After all, 3D-printed features are kind of a bunch of wires more or less loosely attached to each other, so I wouldn’t be surprised if water could leak through under pressure.
Before I spend any time assessing this myself, has anybody tried printing waterproof enclosures?
How big of equipment? A ziplock freezer bag might do the trick for you, or if you’re fancy, vacuum seal it. I trust that to sous vide meat for days, at elevated temps even.
What is the sensor sensing?
It records temperature and EM radiation. We have a customer that has EMC requirements for underwater equipment 🙂 I mean as long as they pay eh…
The device is maybe 4" x 3" x 3" - possibly longer on the long side - and fairly expensive. The ziplock bag thing may work but it looks sketchy considering the price of the thing.
A vacuum sealer would be more robust and look less janky than a Ziploc bag. You can get a used food saver for cheap!
Just spit balling here. Maybe put your sensor in a ziplock or vacuum seal it and then put that inside your 3D printed box that way you get all the security without the jank look.
How deep? Pressure might be a problem? (I’m curious if this is a documented spec, and which one it is. I’m very curious)
Not very deep. About 3 ft.