Waterproofing a USB flash drive

[troop231]

Thought I'd share this with the forum. I was tired of the bulky plastic housings that surround USB flash drives, especially when port space is limited when the two USB ports are side by side on the MacBook Pro.

What I did was remove the plastic housing, and coated the pc board, chips, and area around the connector with epoxy. I also took a black Sharpie marker to the top of the led that flashes (before applying the epoxy), now it isn't as annoying bright.

It works beautifully, and now I have more room to plug in another USB device.

Pics:

 

[iAppl3Fan]

Nice! So how will you protect the circuit board from normal wear and tear (e.g., in pocket etc.)

 

[troop231]

Nice! So how will you protect the circuit board from normal wear and tear (e.g., in pocket etc.)

What do you mean? All of it is coated in epoxy.

 

[iAppl3Fan]

What do you mean? All of it is coated in epoxy.

touche. Is there an epoxy you would recommend?

 

[troop231]

touche. Is there an epoxy you would recommend?

Any 30 minute epoxy such as this: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXPT46&P=ML

Do not try to use those quick set 2 or 5 minute epoxies you set at hardware stores.

I did the whole thing in one evening, one coat on each side is plenty.

 

[pastrychef]

This is very cool! Nice work!

One question... Do you sacrifice any rigidity? Thanks.

 

[troop231]

This is very cool! Nice work!

One question... Do you sacrifice any rigidity? Thanks.

Thanks! And rigidity is actually improved with epoxy. Much more rigid and durable than the cheap, bulky plastic housings these things come in.

 

[pastrychef]

Awesome! I'm gonna give it a try myself.

 

[troop231]

Awesome! I'm gonna give it a try myself.

Sweet, post back with pics!

 

[Astroboy907]

Reminds me of this that I saw a couple years back. Wanted to try it but the lost all my flash drives

 

[troop231]

Reminds me of this that I saw a couple years back. Wanted to try it but the lost all my flash drives

That's pretty cool! And that stinks

 

[scbond]

Why not just get a slim USB flash drive, such as a Kingston DataTraveler, in the first place?!

 

[MaulRx]

Why not just get a slim USB flash drive, such as a Kingston DataTraveler, in the first place?!

I second this. They(SE9) are by far the best flash drives if you need to carry them around a lot and don't need a ton of space and super fast speeds. I have a 16GB on my car keys and it's been through a rough life including a trip through the wash and it's still going strong; more then I can say for the keyless entry on the same keyring.

You can get the 16gb for 9.99 from newegg.

 

[troop231]

Why not just get a slim USB flash drive, such as a Kingston DataTraveler, in the first place?!

I second this. They(SE9) are by far the best flash drives if you need to carry them around a lot and don't need a ton of space and super fast speeds..

There's your problem. Mine is 64GB, and USB 3.0, while now being slim and virtually indestructable..