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Removing epoxy from circuit boards


petejt

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The circuit board is covered in clear epoxy resin, I guess to help keep it waterproof. There's only so much I can take of picking off millimetre by millimetre with my fingers, so I am asking for advice of more efficient methods.


Thanks.

 

 

I've been building PWB's for 20 years. Most consumer electronic circuit boards are waterproof and solvent proof being made from fiberglass & heat cured epoxy resin. Any extra epoxy is there to prevent people from removing components intact plus prevent the circuit's electronic components from being identified and nothing more. Rarely is it done for mechanical reasons.

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The only real use for covering stuff totally in epoxy I can think of is RF applications. They can start to have issues even if a component leg bends slightly or if the temperature drifts. Encasing them in epoxy can prevent all that.

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nah, i'm not naming names, but...




i think cameron still does it. don't know for sure because i've never seen a gutshot of a cameron.

 

Not all of his amps were gooped, I have seen 3-4 and not all of them were covered.

 

Due to some people on forums and Mark being the favorite of many I would have thought about gooping as well, nothing is safe in this crowd.

 

I am also not referring to anyone that posted in this thread to be clear. :)

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Thanks all for the storys. I would imagine that if you cover your circuits with epoxy AND refuse to fix them in a timely manner (at a fair price), you could run into some 'issues' with your customers.

 

Speaking of...

 

 

Has anyone seen Zinky guts on TGP?

 

I need to find a pic or four. Looks like frosty the snowman pleasured himself all over the inside. I think I remember Andy Fuchs mentioning that the silicone cawlk he used was even a conductor of electricity!

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Haha, I bitched about the overuse of that stuff maybe week ago (also about Bruno amps) and got TGP's corksniffers piling up on me defending the build quality of those amps. Guess they didn't like about me saying that their precious boutique amps look very amateurishly built. :facepalm:

 

guitars2061.jpg

Bruno%20Super%20100%20-%201.jpg

 

I think Zinky used hot glue whereas Bruno used some sort of caulk. I also "like" how Bruno, not only covers the parts messily with that stuff, also uses tape to block the safety vents of the electrolytic caps. (If they ever fail, this increases a chance they make a big mess). ...Now who was it that bitched about Madison using tape inside their amps? Never seen that in Madison gut shots but I've seen plenty of it inside Brunos. :facepalm:

 

Just for reference, this is how that stuff is supposed to be used: Sparcely. It only needs to stop components from vibrating and moving so one or two carefully placed drops is enough.

chadguts.jpg

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I believe that legendary "frosty the snowman" amp was a DIY job. Somesort of Dumble or Two Rock clone. Doug was the one who commented that bathtub caulk is conductive.

 

It still looked way better built than the Zinky or the Bruno amps in the above pics.

 

Edit: Here it is, with best comments added... :lol:

S5000548.jpg

 

What the hell is all that white goo? Looks like Frosty was self-servicing himself in that amp ;-)

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