Hi
I am thinking of buying a Lynxmotion A4WD3 for use as an inspection robot for culverts and smaller pipes. Some of these culverts and pipes contain water, so the robot will sometimes be either partial or completely submerged in water. The inspections will be fairly short, so the robot will not be submerged for more than 15 minutes at a time. The water depth will only be 0.3m at most.
According to the page of the robot, it is only water and dust resistant. Do any of you have any experience with completely submerging it in water?
I was thinking of the sealing the inside seams with a marine grade sealer like 3M 4200 and maybe replace the oil seals if necessary.
Kind regards
Lukas Holgersen
Hi Lukas,
The A4WD3 chassis is indeed designed with some water and dust resistance in mind. The top and bottom G10 plates are sealed with O-rings, and the aluminum lid is marine grade. Each motor output shaft also includes an oil seal to help prevent water ingress.
That said, the joints between the aluminum front/back panels and the side plates are metal-to-metal contact and not sealed by default. This is where water would most likely start seeping in if the robot is fully submerged.
If you’re planning to submerge the rover, even for short durations, it would be critical to add sealing compound (like 3M 4200 as you mentioned) at these joints during assembly. While we haven’t officially tested the platform for full submersion, we’ve seen customers increase water resistance significantly with careful sealing and possibly adding additional gaskets or vent plugs to help manage internal pressure changes.
Keep in mind, the motors and electronics inside are not IP-rated for underwater use, so this type of modification would fall outside of the standard use case and warranty coverage.
All the best,
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