Question Can you Plastic dip an open frame atx power supply without breaking it?

[reaper89971]

Well i am going to build a computer or pc inside of a fat playstation 2. I can fit a flex atx power supply inside the case but i have to have it be open framed. It will have to sit right above a graphics card very close to it. So i was wondering if i could rubber coat the graphics card and rubber coat the power supply board without braeking it.

So can you plastic dip a power supply like you would a motherboard? Would if work still? Would the rubber act like shielding to my components?

Do any of you know were i could buy shielding instead of the rubber coating if it would not work. Just need some shielding in between components?

Im talking millimeters apart from each other.

 

[Eximo]

Kapton tape on the back of the GPU should be sufficient.

If you want additional protection, a thin sheet of plastic. You can cut it from a food container, or a see plastic folder.

 

[reaper89971]

What would perform better plastic dip or acrylic conformal coating? Could these be used in conjunction?

 

[USAFRet]

So i was wondering if i could rubber coat the graphics card

I can't help but think this will kill the GPU quite quickly.

A THICK coat of insulation.

 

[Eximo]

Conformal coating has application requirements, and I don't know if you could achieve a decent uniformity. Kapton tape is safer. It comes in various thicknesses and really you are just covering the high points on the back of the GPU.

I've seen plastidip hardware before, just seems messy and pointless. I don't know how much protection it offers, it peals off pretty easily.

Kapton tape is used in electronics for this very application, when you have close quarters and two circuits could potentially touch. As long as you can keep the PSU and GPU from rubbing, it should be fine. But if they are going to be in direct contact, then you could maybe make a sheet of plastidip if you have that available to wedge inbetween. Inner tube, I can list off an endless number of insulating things that would be suitable.

 

[reaper89971]

Conformal coating has application requirements, and I don't know if you could achieve a decent uniformity. Kapton tape is safer. It comes in various thicknesses and really you are just covering the high points on the back of the GPU.

I've seen plastidip hardware before, just seems messy and pointless. I don't know how much protection it offers, it peals off pretty easily.

Kapton tape is used in electronics for this very application, when you have close quarters and two circuits could potentially touch. As long as you can keep the PSU and GPU from rubbing, it should be fine. But if they are going to be in direct contact, then you could maybe make a sheet of plastidip if you have that available to wedge inbetween. Inner tube, I can list off an endless number of insulating things that would be suitable.

Thanks for your reply i will look into the tape. And after testing fitment of the of the flex psu into the case, It seems i was wrong and it won't fit. I have a scph 30000 console. The scph10000 is a little bigger so it might fit in there. I have one on order on the way.

But i don't see how tape would outperform coatings. Does the tape come off easily?

 

[reaper89971]

Sorry guys to say again or to repeat the same question. But can you plastic dip a power supply without breaking it? That question specifically was not answered. There is also silicone conformal coating that might be better.

Can you silicone conformal coat a power supply?

I would obviously not coat the heat sinks or connectors. But can you rubber coat a transformer? I would think it would disrupt the magnetic field it generates. What components cannot be rubber coated? How about inductors... can you rubber coat inductors?

 

[SkyNetRising]

But can you rubber coat a transformer?
What components cannot be rubber coated?
How about inductors... can you rubber coat inductors?

Do not open PSU.
Do not coat anything inside PSU.

Those are obviously hazardous ideas - fire hazard, electrical hazard with potentially lethal outcome.

 

[reaper89971]

Do not open PSU.
Do not coat anything inside PSU.

Those are obviously hazardous ideas - fire hazard, electrical hazard with potentially lethal outcome.

Thanks for the advice but still doesn't answer the question. I most likely will open the power supply anyway. I will do it safe as possible. People open power supplies all the time, people fix power supplies that break all the time. Go on Youtube. Do at your own risk would be better to say

Some power supplies come coated most likely with something. Coatings have been around a long time and power supplies have been around a long time im sure people coat power supplies.

 

[reaper89971]

Do not open PSU.
Do not coat anything inside PSU.

Those are obviously hazardous ideas - fire hazard, electrical hazard with potentially lethal outcome.

I got to tell you, if you had seen the things i have done to old atx power supplies and old motherboards and old game consoles you would poop in your pants. I used to be a modder of game consoles and things like that when i was younger.

I have recapped power supplies, I have taken all the rails off a power supply and then re-railed it to my likening basically modding all the cables in the psu to make the cable's shorter. I used to work on old dell double decker psu meaning they had 2 circuit boards connected together. I have recapped motherboards, mod chipped consoles. I have Coated Motherboards with acrylic conformal coating as well as game consoles. I even tried regular spray paint on a psu board. I basically don't like a piece of equipment unless i can take it apart and put it back together. I did it all at my own risk but i had lots of fun doing it. I powered a Dell motherboard using a redundant apple power supply. Had to add all my own rails by drilling holes in the power supply. I have powered game consoles using apple power supplies. I have used atx power supples to power ps4s. I have rigged up power supplies to do all kinds of things there not suppost to do. I attempted upgrading a atari vcs cpu or apu but it didn't work but i got close. I have baked motherboards, washed them off with simple green and water. Tore apart all sorts of laptop power supplies.

Point being i have opened up all kinds of power supplies and im still here safe and sound. taking things apart is in my nature. But as always do at your own risk

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Sorry guys to say again or to repeat the same question. But can you plastic dip a power supply without breaking it? That question specifically was not answered. There is also silicone conformal coating that might be better.

Can you silicone conformal coat a power supply?

I would obviously not coat the heat sinks or connectors. But can you rubber coat a transformer? I would think it would disrupt the magnetic field it generates. What components cannot be rubber coated? How about inductors... can you rubber coat inductors?

The simple answer is NO, not even a little bit. How do you expect to disapate the heat generated by the components now insulated from open air?

 

[reaper89971]

The simple answer is NO, not even a little bit. How do you expect to disapate the heat generated by the components now insulated from open air?

Well i would use a fan or more than 1 fan in my case. What if i only coated the bottom of the board.

I only have to keep it from possibly touching another circuit. I thought conformal coatings would disapate heat still or am i wrong?

If i used something from MG chemicals instead of plastic dip.

All i have to do is keep some circuits from touching one another that are close together. I thought coatings would be better then tape. Plasti dip was just a cheap method. I would most likely use the conformal coatings.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I got to tell you, if you had seen the things i have done to old atx power supplies and old motherboards and old game consoles you would poop in your pants. I used to be a modder of game consoles and things like that when i was younger.

Care to show some photos of some of your previous projects?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[reaper89971]

Care to show some photos of some of your previous projects?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

yeah i would that would be cool but they may be disasters to you though. But you have to remember that i was younger in my teens. I will see if i have some of my old stuff.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

.... I only have to keep it from possibly touching another circuit. I thought conformal coatings would disapate heat still or am i wrong?

You are very wrong. All conformal coatings are insulators of heat. You can have a component glowing red hot and still not feel it through the coating (assuming the coating is properly applied)

All i have to do is keep some circuits from touching one another that are close together. I thought coatings would be better then tape. Plasti dip was just a cheap method. I would most likely use the conformal coatings.

The previous advise to use Kapton tape is the proper way to do this. And, NO it will not peel off when properly applied. It would do you well to listen to those that likely have had far more years of experience than you've been alive.

 

[reaper89971]

You are very wrong. All conformal coatings are insulators of heat. You can have a component glowing red hot and still not feel it through the coating (assuming the coating is properly applied)

The previous advise to use Kapton tape is the proper way to do this. And, NO it will not peel off when properly applied. It would do you well to listen to those that likely have had far more years of experience than you've been alive.

Thanks for your reply i will look into the tape.

 

[USAFRet]

I thought conformal coatings would disapate heat still or am i wrong?

Very wrong.
That would hold the heat IN, not dissipate it.

 

[reaper89971]

Wish there were a place i could just buy some shielding from cause that would work. I could always just put some shielding around the power supply or wrap it with some rubber or something.

Im trying to build an i9 playstation 2 with a decent graphics card.

 

[Misgar]

But can you rubber coat a transformer? I would think it would disrupt the magnetic field it generates.

The rubber will have zero effect on the magnetic field. Transfomer cores are made from iron laminations for 50/60Hz, or ferrite for high freqencies. Rubber is "transparent" to magnetic fields.

I've used small 600 Ohm 1:1 audio isolating transformers where the bobbin was protected by a thin layer of pink Silicone Rubber, probably designed to prevent water ingress into the windings, in humid atmospheres.

I wouldn't apply large amounts of rubber to a mains transformer or a standard computer PSU. Too much risk of overheating, followed by smoke and fire.
https://makerindustry.com/what-is-kapton-tape/

Silicone encapsulants are used in certain circumstances, but generally in circuits which do not generate significant amounts of heat.
https://cht-silicones.com/products/encapsulants/general-silicone-encapsulants