Might be a silly question, but here goes. I built a home-made signaling device. Actually I modified some already built items, but anyway, I want to protect the wires and delicate electronics board from vibration and getting bumped around. If I use regular old glue from a glue gun, and pretty much apply it all over the board and wiring, would that hurt anything? Is there a better way to "seal" and protect everything? My fear is that at some point a wire might get snagged and puled away from the board, or vibration might cause a short.

Thanks!

Your hot glue application should do it. Stay away from epoxy.

Best,

Tim

Just be VERY certain your solder connections are strong before you hot glue, and that should keep you safe.

Tim...can you say why epoxy is not good for this application? I would have used a 2-part resin solution from a craft store; the sort that you use to encase insects, flowers, etc. I would have made a mold big enough to take the electronics, and then poured in the clear mixture. Not only would it protect it, but would look cool too!

Why is this not good?

Thanks,

Mick H

Hi Mick,

Epoxy is too good. Want to upgrade the program in that programmable chip? NOT with it coated in epoxy! LOL You will destroy it getting the epoxy off.

Some epoxies (commercial grade) will get hot when solidifying. It expands as well, and could pluck a thin wire from a solder point. Your craft store solution would not have this problem, however.

Best,

Tim

Apart from not being able to repair the board afterward, the problem with encasing everything in epoxy is that some of your electronics might not be able to lose heat fast enough and burn out. Then the whole thing is useless.

A well built board should be pretty vibration resistant, and all you should need to do is mount it well, perhaps with rubber washers and make sure that any leads have strain relief. I've used hot glue to stick wires down, and that works alright. I'd put the whole thing in a decent enclosure.

DUH! I should have mentioned not to cover voltage regulators or anything needing to dissipate heat. Thanks for bringing that up Stuart.

Best,

Tim

Some great advice, as I never thought about heat dissipation!

Thanks!

Heat dissipation is very important. A friend of mine built a special tone generator device and did not want anyone to see what parts he used. He dipped in epoxy and formed a beautiful-looking cube. Only the wires that connected to the speaker and the battery were exposed. It worked a few times, and then died.