Interesting uses for glue gun in electronics? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 10:44:33 am
content: Hi there,Do you have any interesting uses for hot glue/glue gun in mind (related to electronics)?Definitely including hobby electronics and all kind of uses, whether useful or ill advised.

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:14:02 am
content: Yup I use it :- to keep loose wires neatly stuck.Place a bit of glue on the surface wait a moment till it becomes a bit more thick.then take the wires press them neatly ordered in the glue without touching the glue and another blob of hotglue on top.It is pretty fixed though so this is the absolute last step after testing everything works.- to mechanically support some components or structures, sometimes glue large capacitors together, yeah I know there is special white silicon blabla stuff for it at $30 a tube, this is cheap wayJust remember this only works when the products does not get hot during operation- glue the pcb to the bottom of a plastick cabinet when there is no room for screws and nice mechanical solutions.

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:35:51 am
content: Quote from: Kjelt on June 06, 2017, 11:14:02 amAwesome! And you're right about the components needing not to heat up.When you need to take some off, it seems that alcohol helps to "unstick" it from a surface. If something is covered in it (e.g. a wire or a component somewhat encapsulated in the glue) then of course it's more difficult, and it seems that a hair drier helps in that case (or perhaps a heat gun set at minimum values), because as soon as it gets somewhat warm (not completely melted, just starting to melt a bit) it gets very easy to take off from a surface.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:42:54 am
content: As stress relief for those diy probe/hooks and etc ...Created this photos while ago ->HERE

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:47:09 am
content: Quote from: BravoV on June 06, 2017, 11:42:54 amAwesome! As it is flexible, I think it makes a very decent stress relief. It doesn't always look great, but functionality should be more important.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 11:59:50 am
content: Quote from: kalel on June 06, 2017, 11:47:09 amAesthetically , you can make it "looks" better, its just I'm lazy.- Use a hot air station to sort of flow the glue to make them seamless and smooth out the surface, although these need some practices before hand. Sort of like this diy 9V battery clip made from salvaged dead 9V battery.- Wrapped it with "transparent" hot shrink tube, then heat the tube evenly, the glue inside will melt and spread evenly with when the tube is shrinking squeezing out the air, and this will create a nice solidly feel join. Again, need practice on few victims.

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 12:09:36 pm
content: That does look quite decent (but again, I still believe functionality is most important in electronics).They sell the hot glue sticks in all kinds of flavors these days (colors), although that might affect other characteristics. Maybe those colors would be interesting aesthetically (but sometimes the transparency of standard sticks might be needed).Edit: P.S. funny, I also have a salvaged 9v clip made from a dead battery, attached to another dead battery with some connectors, used as a LED tester. Glue gun and hot glue are also used as support in my case, but not shaped to look nicely at all. Still, it works.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 12:12:21 pm
content: As stress relief and plug covers use black also have 3 glue guns for the colors

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2017, 12:14:47 pm
content: Quote from: jonovid on June 06, 2017, 12:12:21 pmThat black is awesome! Other than cables, might be almost invisible when working with black plastic enclosures. I wonder if there's a way to make it somewhat cylindrical around a cable. E.g. to place something over the cable as a kind of mold and fill it in with the hot glue as a mold. But then, it might be difficult to remove the "mold" even if there was something good for that purpose.You also make a good point... more colors need more glue guns, as it's not very easy to change the color stick at a whim.

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 04:40:53 am
content: Here's a little contribution:The yellow part is not yellow in reality (or perhaps it is and it's my brain that interprets the light wrong? who knows), the LED is quite red, but since that part is brighter somehow it gets converted into yellow in the image.Anyway, the "bubbles" would normally not be a desired thing, they are throughout the entire thing and actually look really nice in reality, just difficult to focus on.

author: P90
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 05:08:09 am
content: those colour glue sticks are neat, I haven't seen those before...

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 05:33:43 am
content: Last week I received a couple pro cd players I had modded some time ago for non-profit community radio station. Remote control to the DJ/newscaster studio console. (desks I think the Limeys call it)I was going to go back to a perf board under a screw.Then I just read this moments ago, so we now have a hot snot thread.Normally to avoid warranty issues, I mounted my remote start perf board on a convenient ground screw and ran some of my decades old wire-wrap wire out a convenient hole. Using iso-optilators.When, just out of warranty, as typical, I just took in another one. I had gotten lazy, and hot snotted the chip to the chassis instead. It had come loose.In 50 years or repairing, I always clean the surface to be applied to for adhesives, and was surprised at the strength of hot snot after checking the mount. This one failed a year and some change.Youtubers like barneclesnerdgasm brought this to my attention a few months ago about using glue gun to mount stuff around his desk, etc, the low temp kind, and using a hair drier to remove at convenience.Only this week I was pondering the reliability and safety of hot snot.I mount some possibly critical to gravity stuff, and ask what do you for hot snot glue gun stuff.I have stuff from 3m or similar brands to dollar store rods. can't tell which is which, so will toss it all and buy what this thread will boil down to.This could froth up to diielectric to ESD, put it on the right corner of your speaker and dampen resonances and more? (last part just kidding, but send me a royalty:))

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 06:16:58 am
content: Personally, I use the cheap sticks (but haven't used them in any mission critical stuff!). I really can't tell much about the quality of any of them because they usually don't write any composition details or such. I just don't know how to compare them.I haven't noticed a huge variation in how well they stick and how strong they are, but then again I haven't done any comparison testing either.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 07:58:19 am
content: Another interesting long term (years) characteristic of this hot snot glue from another forum fellow (Rufus), read carefully this particular ->POSTand subsequently the ->Proofs, quite interesting imo.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 08:58:14 am
content: Quote from: kalel on June 07, 2017, 04:40:53 amclear hot glue will work as a light pipe but the light range is poor.molding hot glue in a mold like DIY DMM molded plugs is promising you can even buff and polish hot glue too.dremel engraving black plastic knobs then adding white hot glue granules in to the engraving befor useing the Hot-air rework gun on it.hot glue guns are cheap so why not get 2 or 3 of them if your useing more then one glue color at a time.

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 09:26:05 am
content: QuoteYou're right about multiple ones, that's a good idea/important point. I have a 7 mm one and an 11 mm one. Sometimes I just want a really small and accurate amount and quick drying (e.g. to hold a component on the board or whatever it is on before soldering), I think the 7 mm one has an advantage for that sometimes.As for light conductivity, it diffuses the light which can be a good thing for light ornaments. A lot of light will be lost of course as you mentioned, also depending on the thickness, but as long as you have some molds to use with it, you can get interesting LED covers. It looks great in low light.

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2017, 06:19:32 pm
content: I have used it to improve insulation under stripboard handling highish voltages particularly outside BUT its hell to get off again if you need to make a repair and it smells horrible when hit with a sodering iron!I now use the pucker expensive spray on conformal coating.

author: kalel
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 08, 2017, 12:42:19 am
content: Quote from: fourtytwo42 on June 07, 2017, 06:19:32 pmI don't know how easy it is to get off a board, but I would try alcohol (unless there's something that alcohol could damage, sensitive paint and such) and if that doesn't work, then some heat from a hair drier or perhaps a heat gun set at a low temperature. Alcohol really helps with removing it from smooth surfaces, but a board with component leads and such holding the glue might provide more resistance. The heating method means you just need to heat it up to a certain point (not melt it completely) and then it gets easier to remove mechanically. Is it ever easy enough? I don't know - I consider it a removable glue but sometimes it gets difficult, especially without trying something like above to make it easier. The glue is not expensive, but your time might be if it takes too much of it.