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It's a shower proof seal for a toothbrush, literally just need an o-ring, you know like the one that keeps the water in the pipes. The parent said the old one h

It's a shower proof seal for a toothbrush, literally just need an o-ring, you know like the one that keeps the water in the pipes. The parent said the old one had a replaceable battery and worked for 10 years, seems like they had already solved the water ingress issue.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago
Yes, but you never used those old style electric toothbrushes in the shower right? An O-ring would just confer water resistance, not water proofness. You couldn’t really submerge it and expect it to continue working. There is a huge difference between hermetic sealing an an O ring or a gasket.
- aldebran 5y ago
  I washed my old toothbrush. It gathers toothpaste gunk if not properly washed. It worked just fine for a decade. The motor finally gave up. No way is this new tooth brush going to last me 10 years. And people making excuses - do you know that kids electric tooth brushes have replaceable batteries? Shouldn’t that be a bigger problem? Here’s the kicker - kids electric tooth brushes don’t have replaceable brush heads. Yeah - this is nothing but planned obsolescence.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    Kids toothbrushes aren’t designed to be used in the shower.
- cywick 5y ago
  As a child, I had a $20 plastic submarine that was powered by AA batteries. It could sit at the bottom of a pool for days on end, without water ever getting into the battery compartment of the engine module (which was sealed with a rubber o-ring). I bet there are hundreds of counter-examples to your claim that water-proofing with an o-ring is an engineering challenge of the utmost difficulty.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  > An O-ring would just confer water resistance, not water proofness. The comment you replied to explicitly said: > > an o-ring, you know like the one that keeps the water in the pipes. > You couldn’t really submerge it and expect it to continue working. There is a huge difference between hermetic sealing an an O ring or a gasket. No, there isn't. O-rings and gaskets are exactly what one uses to make stuff waterproof.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

Yes, but you never used those old style electric toothbrushes in the shower right? An O-ring would just confer water resistance, not water proofness. You couldn’t really submerge it and expect it to continue working. There is a huge difference between hermetic sealing an an O ring or a gasket.

aldebran 5y ago
I washed my old toothbrush. It gathers toothpaste gunk if not properly washed. It worked just fine for a decade. The motor finally gave up. No way is this new tooth brush going to last me 10 years. And people making excuses - do you know that kids electric tooth brushes have replaceable batteries? Shouldn’t that be a bigger problem? Here’s the kicker - kids electric tooth brushes don’t have replaceable brush heads. Yeah - this is nothing but planned obsolescence.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  Kids toothbrushes aren’t designed to be used in the shower.
cywick 5y ago
As a child, I had a $20 plastic submarine that was powered by AA batteries. It could sit at the bottom of a pool for days on end, without water ever getting into the battery compartment of the engine module (which was sealed with a rubber o-ring). I bet there are hundreds of counter-examples to your claim that water-proofing with an o-ring is an engineering challenge of the utmost difficulty.
CRConrad 5y ago
> An O-ring would just confer water resistance, not water proofness. The comment you replied to explicitly said: > > an o-ring, you know like the one that keeps the water in the pipes. > You couldn’t really submerge it and expect it to continue working. There is a huge difference between hermetic sealing an an O ring or a gasket. No, there isn't. O-rings and gaskets are exactly what one uses to make stuff waterproof.