non conductive putty?

[tacobender]

Anyone know of some kind of non conductive putty, something I can put on my pots and mount a Vero board across them. Something strong enough to hold the board but also flexible enough to remove if needed. Anyone here ever use something like this?

[Kipper4]

Hot melt glue?

[GibsonGM]

Hot glue might be good.  How about "JB Weld" epoxy? They have a 2 part epoxy and also an actual putty. I've used it with good results but not sure about conductivity...

[Cozybuilder]

How about the foam with adhesive on both sides usually used to hang pictures?

[blackieNYC]

I've used hot glue a number of times to hold socketed transistors and caps, once they are finally chosen.  Too lazy to remove the sockets sometimes. You can pick the stuff off. Might be perfect. You however will have a much larger portion of your circuit immersed in the glue. I might steal your idea.  Maybe I'll stick an ohmeter in the stuff. Conceivably, a listening test could be in order, for loss of highs or lows.

[MrStab]

+1 on the double-sided foam tape for reliability, only problem being removal can be difficult.

re. hot glue: keep it the hell away from the inside of the pots, particularly that gap under the lugs in the Alpha pots. heat damage is also a potential hazard, though more so with smaller, plasticky pots. i'd suggest glueing to something non-electromechanical if going that route.

you can't beat a good bolt and spacer for reliability, though.

[blackieNYC]

Good point about the glue getting in the pots, but it's not wet and runny so you can avoid that if you are careful.  Hot glue isn't really very hot, especially compared to a soldering iron. I've done a number of unfortunate experiments comparing the two....

[MrStab]

give me hot wax over hot glue on skin any day. just takes so long to cool down! torture!

/deviation

[Vitrolin]

never use potting with sockets. potting will ruin the springs in the sockets

[lapsteelman]

I've had good luck with hot melt glue. I use it all the time, for a strain relief on wires leaving the board, and also on board mounted pots. (which I don't use very often, but I have in the past)

[R.G.]

http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/267/EPD-200767-202767.pdf

Used like this image from Geofex on holding boards for mounting the circuit of a Vox Beatle to the backs of the pots:

[tacobender]

The double sided foam tape would be convenient I've got plenty of that. As long as it molds well to the soldering points, that's why I was thinking putty. Hot glue sounds good too, but I wonder how hard it would be to remove if needed. Maybe I'll just try some kids play putty, pretty sure that's not conductive.

[blackieNYC]

RG's option is good too. Of course. You're not new - why did I even type that? And removable/reusable (low F-bomb count). You'll need an appropriately sized hole on your board. I don't think kids' play putty will do. Won't that turn dry and crumbly? Put some hot glue globs on an old scrap of pc board here and there and see what you think about the removal. Have to admit, at times I have relied on the board being so entangled in my spiders web of wiring that it cannot possibly move. I won't go so far as to recommend it. I've even installed a mount in the enclosure only to find that I can't push the board down enough to make use of it! There. I said it.

[spoitras]

You could try sugru: https://sugru.com/

[R.G.]

One interesting way to do this is the way I did a marine/boating voltmeter: get the circuit working and tested, with wires all attached, then pot it up in a block of casting resin. IF you do this carefully, you can actually imbed stuff partway inside and have the circuit simply be a block of stuff that can be handled, even submerged, without damage. If you're really careful, you can imbed machine-screw nuts and have it easy to mount, and imbed the front panel lettering and such in the front, in my case with the LEDs showing out the front.

Of course, you'd better be really, really sure it works right before potting it. Ask me how I know that.         

[davent]

Cast the circuit in resin? Leevibe at Madbean made a pretty decent stab at that, pedal as work of art!

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=19000.0
dave

[MrStab]

we should have a dare/challenge on the forum where we try to get away with gigging using pedals assembled with ridiculous materials, at the possible expense of our musical reputation. the prize (...for losing) could be a new identity.

[R.G.]

Cast the circuit in resin? Leevibe at Madbean made a pretty decent stab at that, pedal as work of art!

Yep, that's pretty. The crafters have raised resin casting to a high art, and reading crafting forums will turn up some of the tricks. Leevibe seems to have made a stab at having it both ways - casting resin top and exposed circuit board bottom to be able to tinker some of the part values and such.

I was after a more stoic result. I cast the whole mess up by seletively casting clear for the top side, then opaque white for the stuff to be hidden, and cast into the final surface wax cones around each wire leaving the block. When the resin was set, I removed the wax, degreased the holes, and filled the now empty conical holes with non-acetic acid, neutral-setting RTV to strain relieve the wires as they exited the block. I was after WATERPROOF.

Actually, what I should have done was not only filled the cones, but filled up the whole back surface.

I did mounting by predefining "OK to drill here" areas in the corners where I could drill and tap the casting resin. What I should have done was cast in wax-plugged threaded inserts. Sigh. Live and learn.

[tacobender]

I've used hot glue a number of times to hold socketed transistors and caps, once they are finally chosen.  Too lazy to remove the sockets sometimes. You can pick the stuff off. Might be perfect. You however will have a much larger portion of your circuit immersed in the glue. I might steal your idea.  Maybe I'll stick an ohmeter in the stuff. Conceivably, a listening test could be in order, for loss of highs or lows.

....please post your results if you try this, I'd be interested to see what you find!