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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Rebuilding the Relay Board

Posted by: RoadGlue May 30 2005, 12:48 AM

Hope you're all having a good weekend! I'm currently rebuilding my relay board (and the rest of the teener!) and have managed to scrape/chip off most of the epoxy from the bottom side of the relay board. Geez, that stuff is like soft obsidian! I've heard that there are certain chemicals that will safely dissolve the epoxy without damaging the board, but couldn't find any information by searching through the archives. Anybody care to share their tricks?

I'd have Teknon supply me with one of his rebuilt boards, but I'm a do-it-myself and learn-it sorta nut. Plus I love soldering. :)

Thanks!

--
Randy

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Posted by: RoadGlue May 30 2005, 12:48 AM

more

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Posted by: RoadGlue May 30 2005, 12:49 AM

last one!

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Posted by: Mueller May 30 2005, 01:09 AM

Hey Randy,

I used Castrol SuperClean to remove the "stuff"

I then cleaned up the pins and contacts with a soft metal brush....I also "tweaked" the pins and opened some of the up a little to compensate for wear....

Posted by: RoadGlue May 30 2005, 01:14 AM

Hi Mike,

Where can one pick up Castrol SuperClean? Google isn't shedding much light on suppliers, but I might just be impatient after working out in the sun all day. :)

Thanks!

Randy

Posted by: Andyrew May 30 2005, 01:15 AM

Ya I took like 20 relays and took a nife and slighly opened up all the prongs and tested the relays... Good one's in one pile... couple bad ones in another...

Took like an hour.. Was a good waste of an hour last year....

Posted by: markb May 30 2005, 01:21 AM

So what do you use to re-seal the bottom? I've got a stack of relay boards at the shop I'd like to start cleaning up.

Posted by: Mueller May 30 2005, 01:29 AM

Wal-Mart, about $6 a gallon, it's a decent degreaser and cleaner, just don't soak aluminum parts in it for too long, and wear gloves

Posted by: redshift May 30 2005, 01:32 AM

I would think West System would work, or you could get some marine epoxy..

M

Posted by: bperry May 30 2005, 02:26 AM

Actually, I removed mine with no solvent. All that was necessary was
some dental picks and a small screwdriver. Its kind of a pain but
with some picks it scraped off pretty easily in a hour or so.
I'm not sure if it helped but I did mine in the
winter in the garage when the temp was in the 40s and the
stuff crumbled away pretty easily. You may want to toss it in the
refrigerator or freezer for a bit.
Given how easy it was without solvent, I'm not sure I'd want
to go that route until most of it was gone. Seems like you'd end up
with a goeey sticky mess that is more work than just scraping it off.

Also, to try your solvents, scrape off a small piece and put it into
the solvent to see if works. I never found a solvent that worked
and eventually gave up and started scraping, which turned out
to be the way to go.

(I've got pics if you want to see it)

--- bill

Posted by: Air_Cooled_Nut May 30 2005, 03:09 AM

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=4940&hl=