What Type of Hot Glue Can You Use to Cover Electrical Wires

Is Hot Gum OK for Electronics?

By John Papiewski

i Andy Sotiriou/Photodisc/Getty Images

When used with care, the hot glue used by hobbyists and craftspeople is safe for electronic projects. The glue, a plastic resin which typically melts at temperatures ranging from 250 to 380 degrees Fahrenheit, is an electrical insulator, so it does not create devious conducting paths or brusk circuits. For best results, avoid using hot glue on thermally sensitive components or power devices that produce estrus.

Passive Components

Hot glue is OK when used on rugged passive components such as resistors, coils and ceramic capacitors. Electrolytic capacitors, all the same, unremarkably have a sparse plastic wrapper that hot glue may melt and damage, so avoid applying the glue to these components. Metal mounting parts such every bit screws and brackets are usually prophylactic for hot mucilage, although plastic parts may deform or melt from the glue'south heat. Nonconducting parts of excursion boards consist of an epoxy resin; hot glue is safe with this cloth.

Power Components

Power components, including large transistors, integrated circuits and diodes, have metal bodies designed to give off heat during operation. Although hot gum won't harm these components directly, it is inappropriate for these parts. When a transistor becomes hot, it will soften or melt whatever gum applied to it, causing the gum to weaken and interruption. Also, the glue is a thermal insulator; if a glue-covered transistor cannot radiate heat away from itself, information technology may overheat and fail.

High-Frequency Circuits

Circuits which operate at frequencies exceeding 100 kHz are sensitive to changes in the capacitance of components and the circuit boards to which they are connected. Avert applying hot glue to conducting parts of circuit boards, wires or component leads on high-frequency circuits, as it may increment the capacitance of sensitive excursion parts, leading to erratic performance. Hot glue used on other parts of loftier-frequency electronics is OK.

Author Bio

Chicago native John Papiewski has a physics degree and has been writing since 1991. He has contributed to "Foresight Update," a nanotechnology newsletter from the Foresight Institute. He also contributed to the volume, "Nanotechnology: Molecular Speculations on Global Abundance."

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Source: https://itstillworks.com/hot-glue-ok-electronics-19354.html

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