When it comes to waterproofing products or structures with intensive usage, you have quite a few options on hand. Depending on your use case, you can choose between different solutions that are easily available in the market.
For instance, traditional waterproofing methods such as gaskets let you protect your devices and structures to an extent. While some of these methods are growing outdated, they are still in practice for various applications.
On the other hand, conformal coatings such as parylene stand out in terms of their efficacy for various applications. This especially holds true for their use in modern devices and high-tech structures such as aerospace systems.
But that’s where it gets tricky. Since both traditional and conformal coatings can often be suitable for similar applications, making your selection between them can be a little difficult. With that being said, reaching a decision gets easier when you know key intricacies and differences between both solutions.
To help you make an informed decision of choosing between these materials, here’s how traditional waterproofing differs from conformal waterproofing.
Traditional Methods Like Gaskets Depend on Assembly, Conformal Solutions Like Parylene Are Applied Directly
Traditional waterproofing depends upon manufacturing or assembly processes. By using methods such as gaskets and seals, these solutions usually protect an assembled structure as a whole instead of safeguarding individual components.
This can often put the internal components such as printed circuit boards (PCBs) at risk. If the outer assembly fails for any reason, water or moisture can easily make its way to critical components and damage them.
On the other hand, conformal coatings directly stick to the surface of your substrate to repel water and moisture. In addition to being applied to a device’s outer structure, they can also individually protect each component inside. This makes them an ideal choice for many modern applications. To learn how this process works, you may see more here.
Traditional Methods Don’t Provide Ample Coverage, While Conformal Coatings Minimize Exposure
Due to the reason mentioned above, traditional methods often fail to deliver ideal coverage to electronic, medical, and automotive devices. Apart from falling short of protecting internal components against sudden exposure to water, they also don’t provide them with any safety against moisture that arises out of certain temperature changes.
On the other hand, conformal coatings such as parylene easily adhere to each corner of your devices, components, or structures. As a result, they not only offer ample protection from issues such as water splashes, but also protect the substrate from moisture problems. This makes sure that the respective device remains truly waterproof and doesn’t limit itself to protection against direct splashes.
Traditional Methods Can Damage Your Device, the Right Conformal Coating Causes No Harm
Due to the changes that it needs in a structure to work, conventional waterproofing may often cause forcible design modifications or functional problems. In comparison, the right conformal coatings steer clear of such an issue and make sure that your device’s original design remains in place. This ensures that you don’t have to make any compromises on your original vision.
For instance, when you use parylene conformal coating, you can easily stick to your original product design that doesn’t cause any functional compromises. At the same time, using low-temperature application processes prevents your substrate from damage. This is especially true for medical applications such as implantable devices, where this material doesn’t cause harm to the device while keeping its users safe due to its biocompatibility.
Keeping these reasons in mind, waterproofing your products through conformal coating remains a better choice in several settings. In many settings, it can also be used in combination with traditional methods to establish the reliability and boost the performance of your solutions.
