Conformal Coating VS Resin Potting, how to choose a PCB coating material

A question that has often been asked is “Which is better to protect my PCB, a coating or a resin?” Like any good engineering answer, it depends… on the degree of environmental protection required. The first thing to consider is often the design of any housing within which the PCB will be enclosed. If an assembly is enclosed in a housing which is designed to be the primary environmental protection, then a conformal coating is often used to provide a back-up to the primary protection provided by the housing. Where the housing is not suitable or capable of providing primary protection of the assembly from its operating environment, then most times a resin might be a better choice. The next question should then be “What is a coating and a resin?”