SB001 Pilot Pro – Conformal Coating Issue

Date Released: Feb 15th, 2024

Subject: Conformal Coating Failure

Effectivity: Immediate

Required Action:  Return Pilot Pro or accept risk

INTRODUCTION

Recently we had a Pilot Pro fail during testing by a Freefly team member, and he returned the unit for repair. Upon investigation the Freefly team discovered that the conformal coating (a water resistant protective coating used on the circuit boards) had failed and was chipping off the boards.  Our investigation revealed that the conformal coating was not to spec, and would leave the PCBA’s inside Pilot Pro less protected from rain / moisture than we designed for. 

BACKGROUND

• Pilot Pro is designed to be robust and weather resistant. 
• Freefly relies on conformal coating for many of our products to help increase the robustness and reliability of sensitive PCBA’s
• We investigated and determined this issue only impacted around 20 units (you are one of the impacted customers)
• Unless the Pilot Pro was subjected to heavy moisture / rain this would not cause any issue with safe operation

DISCUSSION

There are a few potential root causes we are investigating:

• Conformal coating material went bad
• Conformal Coating was improperly applied
• There was a reaction between some contaminant on the PCBA and the coating which impacted its adhesion to the circuit boards

RECOMMENDATION

At this time we recommend you send your Pilot Pro back to Freefly for a complimentary checkup. We will determine if your unit is impacted and if it is, we will fix the issue. Contact Freefly Support by clicking the button below or emailing support@freeflysystems.com to get a Return Authorization started for this checkup.  

This inspection is completely optional and up to user discretion. There are safety mechanisms built into Pilot Pro that will alert the user to a variety of failures that could happen due to water ingress with sub par conformal coating. 

Thank you for your time and let us know if you have any questions.