Warning: Carpenters' Glue is Electrically Conductive!!

[king88mob]

I was gluing down my solders after having (FINALLY) successfully hacked a PS controller (3rd try is the charm) and i covered two different solders with the same gob of glue. Guess what, when i ground either of the wires, they BOTH become active!

Just a little FYI.

[AlanS17]

You sure it's totally dry?

[king88mob]

You know, i hadn't eve thought of that.  

We shall see what happens tomorrow. Worse comes to worse, i'll take an exacto knife and cut the glue.

[Frostillicus]

And why are you using carpenter's glue?

[Valence]

I realize that you probably had the carpenters glue sitting there so you used it but it is really the wrong way to go. You can use tape. but the proper way to do it is with a glue gun. You can pick those up for 3 dollars at the  supermarket.  Carpenters glue will probably not stick on the pcd for very long. Especially if it is ever flexed at all. The glue will probably stay conductive until it is translucent.

[Amra]

I agree with Valance, Ive used a Hot Glue Gun on hundreds of occasions to seperate electrical connections (when heat shrink just wont do) and would recommend that before I recommend anything else.

[1UP]

Hot glue is the way to go.  Your carpenter's glue is probably water-based, which means it will conduct electricity until it has dried.  Hot glue has no moisture in it to begin with--it's basically melted plastic.  Also, it gets hard as soon as it cools, which is just a minute or two, so you can start using whatever you've glued right away...

[grafixmonkey]

If you're buying something to use to insulate the solder points on PCBs, then "Insulating Varnish" or "Liquid Electric Tape" would be the way to go.    If you're trying to glue some wires down that you think might pop off, hot glue is the way to go.  I also suggest gluing your new wires sideways along the edge of the PCB if you can - it adds a lot of strength because the glue loops from the underside of the pcb, around the wire, and back to the top side.  (and when wires get pulled, they pull at the side-glued spot and not near the solder contact.)

[armad1ll0]

Here's a big tip.

bring all of you wires together before you solder them down. Zip tie them to the board at one point and leave it loose enough to pull it to the solder point. Solder them all down. Pull them tight so that there are no loose wires off the board then tighten down the zip tie so that they don't move around.

Additionally you can use hot glue but I sometimes like to bag them up in anti-static bags that I keep around from PC projects. This is only if that PCB is going to do a bunch of moving around.

[1UP]

Here's a big tip.

bring all of you wires together before you solder them down. Zip tie them to the board at one point and leave it loose enough to pull it to the solder point. Solder them all down. Pull them tight so that there are no loose wires off the board then tighten down the zip tie so that they don't move around.

Additionally you can use hot glue but I sometimes like to bag them up in anti-static bags that I keep around from PC projects. This is only if that PCB is going to do a bunch of moving around.

There's another problem with this--aren't anti static bags also electrically conductive??  I believe they conduct and dissipate the static, rather than containing it, that's kind of the whole point to using them.  Same thing with anti-static pads, made from conductive foam...

PCBs really shoudn't be moving around anyway, you should always screw them down somewhere.

[SNAAAKE]

use elmars glue(carpenter's glue).
pour some and it will be all dry overnight.
hot glue is good and all but sometimes hot glue is too hot and the solder joints come off when you pour hot glue right on the connection.
but elmars glue works for me.
make sure its completly dry.

I have a question for everyone.
is there any kind of spray adhesive type glue that I can use to secure solder joints?
or other stuff like stain or something
(looking for an easier way)

[AlanS17]

Well if you leave a hot glue gun to heat up for an hour then it will probably get too hot. If you let it heat up for just a couple minutes that would probably be just right. How glue is the method of choice for board manufacturers, though. I've worked for more than one.

[pointdablame]

If you're having problems with the hot glue being TOO hot, then look into low temp foam glue. It's hot glue meant to adhere to styrofoam and the like and has a lower melting point. My father and I model trains and have used it many MANY times. It is just as strong as normal hot glue, and works the exact same way.

[grafixmonkey]

How did you get hot glue hot enough to melt solder?  
Are you sure it wasn't just a cold joint, and was loose anyway?  Maybe you're using a really low temp solder?  I've never seen that before, even soldering those little tiny resistors on an old Athlon processor to unlock it.  I hot glued wires down there too, solder stayed solid no problems.

[AlanS17]

I don't think he's refering to the solder itself. I think he's talking about the metal traces on the board lifting up. (At least I think so...)

[grafixmonkey]

is there any kind of spray adhesive type glue that I can use to secure solder joints?
or other stuff like stain or something
(looking for an easier way)

Liquid electrical tape is nice, it dries into a rubber-cement-like material.  It's 'paint-on' though not spray.  Not sure why you want a spray-on adhesive, but if you're just going for something that will set really quickly and not be a lot of mess, there's a glue you can buy that has a companion spray-bottle that sets the glue instantly.  In my opinion the best way to glue something to something else.  

People use it to build model airplanes, where a piece of wood has to be held in precisely the right position while the glue sets, and clamps aren't an option.  You dab a little drop of glue between two somethings, hold them together, and spritz it with the setting agent, and it's dry before you can even let go.  Not sure about conductivity, but it's a pretty good guess that it would not conduct.

[SNAAAKE]

How did you get hot glue hot enough to melt solder?  

Very easy...
first heat the glue gun then pour some on the solder joint !
(okay sorry..got carried away)

actually when I pour hot glue right over solder joints,sometimes I get cold solder joint.
stoped using hot glue because elmars glue working great for me.
the waiting sucks though..overnight.

thanks for the other advice .