Make an awesome case-less flash drive, Did I mention that it's water proof?

Learn how to use some commonly available materials that you probably have around the house to make an awesome case-less flash drive.

Step 1: Gather materials

You will first gather your materials that you will need to make the flash drive,

You will need tape,

String,

Epoxy,

Two cups,

A small DISPOSABLE paint brush,

A plate,

And a tooth pick.

A dremel can also come in handy.

Comments

[carlo$]

very nice, it think clear caulking will work too. no need for it to be water proof.

[sub4chaser]

I think it is a cool. At my local BestBuy they have this super water proof drive that i think is also the same idea but this seems cheaper! The one I saw was $60.00 for 4GB

[totos]

for me, a 2GB waterproof flash drive cost about $12 ( $11 for the flash drive and $1 for the superglue.)

[LeviMc]

but superglue will wash off in water

[totos]

Why do you think so?

[LeviMc]

well I know because I have put superglue on other things that will go into water, the glue will eventualy wear off. And the super glue that i use says on the back of the package that it is not recommended for use in wet locations, but your superglue may be diff. I know that you can buy waterproof superglue from automotive stores but its almost twice as much as regular super glue in my town anyways

[XOIIO]

Step 11, relay instead of really

[One.]

 painting it in epoxy will slowly kill your usb over time, the chemicals will dissolve the solder connections and make it unusable and unfixable.

[gmgfarrand]

No it won't.
I have drives that have been epoxied since 2003 that still work normal.
EPOXY is harmless to a flash drive.

[xxxxmikewoxxxx]

will it really?! how do you know this? because i really want to do this to my flash drives. but i dont want to mess them up. can you supply a source?

[One.]

it happened to me! instead of epoxy why don't you try some silicone sealant or something else clear

[xxxxmikewoxxxx]

really?! that sucks! i mean how could you tell i mean could you see that it dissolved the soldered connection? and i should use the normal everyday silicone in the tube? have you tried this? ill probably go with the silicone. also. what about acrylic? im sure they make acrylic resin that will harden when dry

[waffleman]

Sfeine:
You said you couldnt find a word, so heres a free one.
Instead of setter, catalyst. Hope it helps!
-Waffleman

[wetnap]

Its better if you place the entire thing back in the case it came in, essentially expoxy it into its case, its a far stronger solid unit. I suggest epoxy putty would also be an option, you can mold it into any shape as well for a bonus, but an underlyinglayer of liquid epoxy is probably a good idea for water seal.

[zilcho]

Why wouldnt it still work if you just left it in water without epoxy?

[nutsandbolts_64]

Look away! It's bold! lol, nice one!

[mitchell931993]

omg is that file "im still alive" the song from portal? or is it theparamore one. wait or is it evanecense? anyway yeah

[junits15]

i think its just to say the flash drive is "still alive"  although the thought about the portal credits song went through my head also :)

[cornflaker]

Or just a word document :P

[louwhopley]

ha ha ha... which document reader are you using? mine is struggling to read, never mind singing...? :P

[sharlston]

what usb is that? i have one just like that from computer active

great ible

keep it up

[junits15]

cool

[albylovesscience]

sweet now i can realy call my flash drive heavy duty thanks ohh and uhura is proud of you

[albylovesscience]

woohps forgot to post the picture

[Crazy_Bot]

Hay GR8 project vary helpful i want to add some thing with the annoying drop of glue you can put some thread in it to have a hanger for your rest or what ever else

[cornflaker]

Did you also water-proof the connector, and extension somehow? Because unless you are using VERY clean (as in distilled) water then that should be shorting...

[mitchell931993]

(removed by author or community request)

[whatsisface]

That is the single worst piece of physics I have ever read.

[grimgroper]

haha good one

[cornflaker]

Uh... NO. You might want to look these things up before you make yourself look stupid :P Water itself does not conduct electricity, its all the impurities and salts dissolved into it that make it conduct electricity.

[vestie]

Yeah, that's right. Chemistry class For The Win!

[totos]

no! if you water-proof it, it wouldn't connect with teh computer because the contacts will be sealed. The interference and resistance of water is too small for the signal to be disrupted (unless the water is VERY salty). I would not suggest to keep it in the water for a long time, though.

[cornflaker]

rofl thats not what I meant, you CAN get water proof connectors you know lol I meant something like soldering the 4 contacts onto some kind of waterproof connector with 4 pins (or whatever said connector uses) and then water proofing the soldered joints, and doing the same to an extension cord... Well something along the lines of that you see what i mean now? I know that if you seal the connectors it wont work lol It would be a pretty bad sealing job if it did

[totos]

It will work well without the waterproof connector. The main reason why you would want to waterproof the flashdrive is that the circuits in the circuit boards corrode under water and get trashed. The USB connector is too big to be trashed by corrosion.

[cornflaker]

We are talking about actually using it under water aren't we? Flash drives are pretty delicate pieces of electronics, and while they can be dipped in water many times and last for years - corrosion isn't really a problem unless you are using salty water, using them under water howeveris a different story. You definitely need to waterproof the circuitry of the flash drive, and I know its only 5v but you should still use special waterproof connectors when using this thing completely submerged under water.

[totos]

the corrosion is faster if there is some voltage on the contacts that are submerged in water. And as the micro-curcuits are extremely thin, they will degrade to zero in no time. But teh connectors are thick enough to resist corrosion for some amount of time.

[Shadow13!]

In Popular Science I read about this knew process that will bond a water-proof mixture to surfaces but it is thin enough that even if you coat an entire flash drive it will still work. Here is a link to the company. http://www.p2ilabs.com/

[gmgfarrand]

I've been doing this since flash drives hit the market. Usually the first thing I do is open the case, and fill it with epoxy, close it up, wipe off the excess, and call it a day. The only exception to that is the large capacity flash drives of mine that have 10 year warranties (16GB - 32GB) They wold me it would void it. :(

[jongscx]

Did they also tell you that all they do with that 10 yr warranty is replace your drive... and not actually recover your data?

[gmgfarrand]

Yeah, been there more than once... I recently had a client's PC that had defective front USB ports FRY my 32GB Flash.... Good times.