Best glue for capacitors?

[Axtman]

What is the best glue for adhering large electrolytic capacitors to a PC board in order to prevent vibration from breaking the leads (and solder joints)?

[alexradium]

there is a glue for electronics,i use silicon for mirrors.

[Mick Bailey]

For axial caps I use mainly clear silicone, as per Fender. For radials usually hot-melt. Depends on the proximity to other components, though. You don't want hot-melt softening under heat if its close to a hot component. If using silicone either use the non-acetic acid type, or allow it to fully cure before reassembly.

There are some superb industrial products, but I haven't been able to identify them. Roland uses a pale yellow, super rubbery and extremely tenacious product that I would like to get hold of. It sticks anything to everything.

[jiophone]

Check Out this Instant Plastic Glue
https://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Bond-Fill.../dp/B01GWFFEU2

Regards from
(spam link removed by tboy)

[Axtman]

Jiophone,
Thanks, but the product you recommended (cyanoacrylate) is thick "Krazy/Super Glue". I am looking for a glue that is not permanent, since someone is going to have to change the capacitors years later.

I hear people talk about using hot melt glue, but I have serviced amps where the hot melt glue has come loose and is rattling around in the amp chassis. Hot glue also tends to dry hard and I am looking for a glue that has a bit of a vibration dampening effect.

[Enzo]

No, hard it good. What you don't want is the cap able to move differently from the board it is on. You want board and cap to move as one. If you leave a little flex in things then the cap can bend its leads, even if just a little, and that leads to broken solder or broken leads.

Super glue is not permanent. SUper glue has great tensile strength, they used to show one drop of glue holding a guy by the hard hat. Big 200 pound guy wouldn't pull the glue apart. But what they don't tell you is the stuff has poor shear strength. If that guy wants to pop loose, all he needs to do it twist his hat.

So if I glue two blocks together and want them apart, I don't pull them apart, I whack one on the side and the break free.

Hot melt may break free in some amps, but how about the thousands of amps that didn't happen? NO glue in the world holds 100% of the time. SIlicone unsticks now and then too. I would use either silicone or hot melt myself, and not agonize if I made the right choice.


But I wouldn't use super glue for this either.

[tedmich]

Check Out this Instant Plastic Glue
https://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Bond-Fill.../dp/B01GWFFEU2

Regards from
Jio Phone Official Blog

cute little AI, linking to something with a couple words matched, sig links to crappy Indian cell phone company I guess its better than an instant boner pill link...


I've always used hot melt on caps but I've been using this lately,

makes a very elastomeric shock absorbing silicone cushion, quite soft but sticks well, great at keeping chokes from humming

[Steve A.]

Not needed here but handy to have around...

I've been using "5 Second Fix" for all sorts of things, like to secure speaker mounting screws in a cab to ensure that they don't vibrate lose. (Hey, Egnator used a dab of some sort of glue on these screws and I figured what the heck...) The stuff is great but I wait for it to go on sale for $5.99 or less.

5 Second Fix (5SF) is a liquid bonding agent, a thick liquid which is cured in a few seconds using the UV light on the other end of the dispenser pen.



5 Second Fix - Fix, fill, seal, and repair virtually anything in 5 seconds or less! - As Seen On TV

Cons: Since the UV light must reach the stuff for opaque objects you need to use many thin layers.
• My first project was to repair cracks in the lip of a rubbery plastic trash can. Nope- it did not stick well to that kind of plastic so I went back to using Gorilla brand Clear Repair Tape (highly recommended for assorted repairs!)

Pros: I just used 5SF on a small chip on a guitar as a temporary measure to keep it from getting worse before I can get around to fixing it right.
• I need to do the same on a small ding on my car next to the rear license plate... I will remove the rust that is developing. What is great is that when the time comes to remove the 5 Second Fix it can be easily removed with an Xacto or utility knife.

For many items I would suggest using mainly silicone, but with a few dabs of 5SF to hold it in place until the silicone cures. Of course that would not be necessary with caps that are soldered in place.

I've been using that technique with hot melt glue and silicone with great results: about 2 years ago I added a hardwood threshold to the side door in my garage as there was a 3/4" gap that rats were crawling through. The floor was a smooth finished concrete and I didn't have the equipment to do it the right way but it hasn't budged. What the heck if it comes loose in a few years I'll just glue it down again...

Right now I'm using the same trick to resecure some loose tiles in my shower stall.

Steve Ahola

[Steve A.]

I've always used hot melt on caps but I've been using this lately,
[ATTACH=CONFIG]44496[/ATTACH]
makes a very elastomeric shock absorbing silicone cushion, quite soft but sticks well, great at keeping chokes from humming

So how is "electronic grade silicone" different from the 100% silicone? Just wondering...

Steve A.

P.S. In the mid-80's I rewired my 1965 Pro Reverb with several different mods gleaned from various magazine articles; I used hot melt glue to secure items like a relay to the eyelet board. What a mess — I didn't want my soldering iron to get anywhere near that crap!

[nickb]

So how is "electronic grade silicone" different from the 100% silicone? Just wondering...

Steve A.

P.S. In the mid-80's I rewired my 1965 Pro Reverb with several different mods gleaned from various magazine articles; I used hot melt glue to secure items like a relay to the eyelet board. What a mess — I didn't want my soldering iron to get anywhere near that crap!

It has a neutral ph while curing. And costs 10x the price.

PS: Here's a nice article on curing https://www.intertronics.co.uk/articles/tb008.htm

[rjb]

I've read somewhere on MEF that GE Silicone II is safe for electronics.
Can someone confirm or refute?

-rb

[Gregg]

I read somewhere that some types of silicone may become conductive over the time but I don't know how true is that.

[cjenrick]

i use a hot glue gun, they make a variety of sticks,

it is quick as the glue sets up pretty fast,

i offer a lifetime warranty on all my work so by the time the glue quits again i will be six feet under, only good thing about getting old that life time guarantee,

when an amp is coupled to the speaker cab as in a combo, you will have standing waves rattling the pc board around. good engineers will test for this and bolt down the board accordingly you can tell when they have not engineered for this, the glue will be rattling around the box,

[Leo_Gnardo]

I've read somewhere on MEF that GE Silicone II is safe for electronics.
Can someone confirm or refute?

-rb

No science papers here, but I've been using GE "RTV" Silicones over 40 years with electronics of all sorts. Including circuits that needed 25 kV or more insulation. Rarely a problem. Sometimes it doesn't want to stick, and it is easy to shmear it where you don't want it to go. All in all good stuff, I always keep some on hand.

[rjb]

I read somewhere that some types of silicone may become conductive over the time but I don't know how true is that.

Oh, my. By "safe for electronics", I was referring to non-corrosive cure. I never considered that silicone could become conductive. Are you referring to black silicone sealant that might contain carbon black?

-rb