flashgun modifications

[gindling]

I remember in the book Images Below about cave photography there was a section about weatherproofing flashguns. After taking off the cover of the gun they sprayed something onto the circuitboard being careful NOT to spray a certain component. If anyone has this book or has done this before can tell me what the spray was (silicone?) and what component NOT to spray was. I no longer have my copy. Thanks.

Also, has anyone ever tried tooldipping a flashgun, not the controls on the back or the lens of course, but the body? For dust, moisture, and general cave trauma protection? These are Sunpack 333 and Vivitar 3700 flashguns.

[LukeM]

I'd imagine they were referring to something like silicone conformal coating which is a common thing to use for protecting electrical components. I have no idea which component they would have had you not coat.

I also can't help with the tooldipping question but I'd be very interested to hear about it if you do some experimenting.

[NZcaver]

I've never tried this with any of my flashguns, but in the past I've had reasonable success waterproofing the boards of FRS radios with Scotchgard spray. See this old topic.