Hot glue.

[phantompowers]

I've read that a lot of people use hot glue on fragile connections to firmly secure them and I need a bit of advice.

I haven't got a hot glue gun so will any glue do?  I recently covered a circuit in superglue and it hasn't worked since. Although the glue may or may not have been the problem. I'm worried that some glues may conduct in a smalll way.

I've got a shit load of PVA, is this all right to use?

If it is a small circuit should I keep the glue of other components? i.e. Will resistors or capacitors overheat if they are covered in glue?

I'm making a dub siren at the moment from a circuit bent keychain, in the Get Lofi style, and I don't want to risk pulling the copper traces of the board. I'm already down to 7 sounds as this happened earlier.

Any help would be greatfully received.

[Gordonjcp]

Don't use PVA or superglue.  PVA remains slightly conductive even when it's dry, and superglue gives off really horrible fumes when you try to solder near it.

Also, hot glue is unsuitable for attaching heatsinks to 486DX4-100 processors, as I discovered about ten years ago.

[Bogus Noise]

Some pound shops have glue guns - I found this out a couple of days after paying a few quid at Wilkinsons!

You can get the sounds back on your keychain by following where the tracks would have gone to, and soldering buttons to the appropriate points on the chip/blob. You can test them by shorting pins, some of them will be used for the sound triggers, you just need to add something else to control them with! I assume you'd be mounting it in a case, so you might be doing that with the other buttons anyway?

[phantompowers]

Cheers Gordon,
I was honestly about to leather the whole shebang in that PVA shit before I went to bed, then I remembered about this post!
Thank you.
I'll just be careful not to disturb the connections when I put it 'in situ'.

all the best
Rob

P.S. What is different about hot glue?

[phantompowers]

Cheers for your reply Bogus, but the connection where the button trace tore off was within 1/2 mm of the black blob. I daren't put a soldering iron in that close to make the connection.
It is unfortunate aswell as it is the sound that goes - Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwpukakakakakaoooooooooooooooo! - sort of!

[jamiewoody]

what about rubber cement? i mean the thick borden stuff, not the pro cement that graphic artists used to use for pasteup.

i would think something rubbery and not as absorbant would be best. superglue tends to melt stuff and chemically react, same with testers model airplane glue.