Build Your Own Clone Message Board

How do you get the glue to set well enough to hold a naked LED in place? Whenever I try it, it cools down, seems to be in place, but then pops off at any light touch. It doesn't seem to bond to the metal of the enclosure.

Is there a trick I'm missing?

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

I hot glue some stuff from time to time, mostly PCB's that are already somewhat tethered to pots, or transistors that might fall out of sockets with enough shock.

When it comes to LED's, I really hate to have one come loose, so my preferred approach is a dab of 2-part JB-Weld. If you want something slightly more un-doable, how about a strong household glue like Gorilla, Goop, or some-such?

Basically I'm trying to talk you out of hot glue.


Also- not all hot glues are alike: I got an old-fashioned gun & bag of sticks at a yard sale, and it's easily 2X stronger than the little hobby one I bought at a craft store.

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EricBarao.com | Facebook Artist Page

OTRFX Website | OTRFX on Facebook
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Yeah, I agree with PPG. If you’re not using a bezel and the LED is not mounted to the pcb, you gotta weld that sucker or something.

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Yeah, I've noticed this, but found a simple solution.
The problem is that the hot glue cools as soon as it touches an enclosure as it functions as a big heat sink. This stops it from adhering.
Warming the enclosure surface by rubbing the glue gun tip around a bit (or a soldering iron), then applying the glue will give you a superior bond.

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"Spud knows tone"

codtone.com

Guitarmageddon/Ben is right. I work using hot glue with metals quite a bit in my daily work. Hot glue and metal are not exactly friends to begin with, so the hot glue wants to pop off anyway. But if you heat up the metal first, the glue will definitely stick better. Otherwise its sort of the hot glue version of a cold solder joint.

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"What you say is not enough, its what you try to do. "

Cool, I was wondering if it might be the cold metal. How hot does it need to get? Soldering iron hot, or would it be enough to put it on the heating vent to warm for a few minutes?

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Putting it in front of the heater vent probably would not get it hot enough to make much difference. And I personally would be a little afraid of holding a soldering iron tip to an aluminum enclosure for very long.
Before dispensing any glue, I just work the tip of the glue gun around the area where I want the glue to stick for a minute. Once its hot, I pull the trigger and dispense the glue. It definitely makes it adhere better than just applying the hot glue to a cold enclosure.

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"What you say is not enough, its what you try to do. "