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Vintage threads from the first ten years

G10 boards for amp circuit boards

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5/22/2000 10:03 PM
chuck	G10 boards for amp circuit boards are the G10 epoxy boards from mcmaster.com the ones to get. ive never bought a plain board before and am looking just to get raw boards w/ no holes that can handle a hot tube amp. also, i was going to use epoxy glue in some places to secure stuff. do i need to use any special epoxy glue (heat problems/electical?) or any will work fine and stick. THANKS, chuck

5/23/2000 12:07 AM

Hi Chuck,
I recently bought G10 boards from mcmaster.com,in black,white,and blue no less.This is excellent quality stuff,on par with the boards I got from Hoffman.The only thing to remember is cutting 1/8" thick fiberglass/epoxy board down to size can be a pain in the ass!I used a new fine tooth blade in my table saw,purchased from Eagle hardware,the $8 cheap job,and it woked fine.I taped my board up with masking tape before cutting,to protect the finish of the board and to lay out the markings.I also use a center punch on every hole to be drilled in the board,this will prevent the drill bit from wandering,cuz this stuff is tough!

The board is rated to 285 degrees F,so no problems with heat.As for the epoxy,I don't use it,but I don't think there will be any problems.Take a look at a few Dumble pics for examples of the uses of epoxy.

5/23/2000 12:26 AM
KS	Hello All What page is this on and /or what are the part numbers . I can't find this stuff on their online catalogue. Do they sell the turrets as well? Thanks KS

5/23/2000 1:47 AM
DaveK	Do a search for Garolite,you'll get 2 pages,it's on page 2.It's a .pdf document, 3092.pdf to be exact.

5/23/2000 3:27 AM

Epoxy Glue?

I wouldn't use epoxy glue anywhere inside an amp, unless it was to fix something that broke!

If you want to hold components in place, use silicone rubber instead. If you shoudl use epoxy glue, it would be a mess to try and remove it later, while silicone rubber can be dealt with more easily.

I have seen pictures of a few potted Dumbles, and that looks to me like silicone rubber, not epoxy.

Gil

5/23/2000 4:57 AM
DaveK	Who needs solder when you can just twist the leads and epoxy them! The two Dumbles I have seen in person had black epoxy covering several square inches of board,hard as a rock!No way I was going to trace that circuit out,so I guess it worked as intended. DaveK

5/23/2000 12:44 PM

Re: Epoxy Glue removal

I recently did some forensic engineering on a circuit board that had been gooped in epoxy. The owner needed it repaired quickly and asked my help. It wasn't an effect board, but that's not important here.

The common epoxy potting goos deteriorate at soldering iron temperatures. If you use a replaceable tip iron like the Radio Shack threaded-in ones, and substitute a stainless steel #8 machine screw with the head ground away to a chisel point, it will plow up furrows of epoxy goop a little at a time. Did not seem to harm the PCB material.

I got the relevant section de-gooped, debugged and fixed. Slow work, but he's back on the air now.

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