How to Make a Ridiculously Cheap Analog Pressure Sensor

Step 3 Step 3 (optional)

Step 3 (optional):

At this point your new analog pressure sensor is all ready to use.  However, I like to put a nice covering on it to protect it from wear and tear and a little electrical insulation might be needed depending on what you are going to use this for.

My preferred method of covering the sensor is to use Plasti Dip or equivalent liquid plastic coating.  If using Plasti Dip, dip once slowly and hang the sensor to dry.  Wait 20 minutes and do this again.  That should give a nice thick coat on the sensor.  The Plasti Dip will stiffen the sensor quite a bit, so don't put too much on if you want it to stay extra squishy.  In this case, one coat is probably enough.  Play with it to get it to your liking for your particular usage.

Alternatively, you can just wrap it in electrical tape or equivalent, but I’ve found that tends to not hold up well over the long haul.  It also carries the potential bad side effect of the adhesive on the tape causing the foam to not be able to re-expand over time and thus ruin the pressure sensor.  Plasti Dip doesn’t seem to have this problem in the sensors I’ve made.

I've also tried using a little bit of visqueen cut and wrapped over the pressure sensor and sealed around it.  This worked pretty well.  And of course, you could just not put any covering on it at all if you aren't worried about electric shock in the usage you are using these for.