Best Epoxy for PCB Repairs

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
Good afternoon,
Long time, no see. So I have a question about epoxies for repairing modern PCB boards. I get the odd board with heat damage to the point where I have to scrape down to get the carbon damage out of it. What is left is maybe a deep pit or sometimes right through the board so I want to know what is the best epoxy for this type of repair. I have tried a few but found that they remain soft or hard to fasten tracks to. Which leads to the next question. What is the best method for fasting existing or hand-made traces back to the board once the epoxy is set. I know there are elaborate kits out there for way too much money. Hoping someone has a tried and true method that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars. Thankyou in advance.
Lots of new names/faces on here since I was here last. Good to see.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
Have you tried Bondo? (Auto-Body-filler), for heavy current conductors that have burnt through the board, I have used Dry-Wick (de-soldering braid) to replace a trace.
The other thing is Bondo sets hard but accepts adhesives well.
You can even lay the trace before the filler sets to create a bond.
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
@MaxHeadRoom , very creative. I like it. Good to see you are still on here. never even thought of Bondo. Have you tried glazing putty as it is similar but sets up faster? Just a thought. No mixing that way.
 

Thread Starter

bwilliams60

Joined Nov 18, 2012
1,442
How are you mixing that in such small quantities though. That would be like a tablespoon of bondo and a drop of hardener. I will have to experiment with that. Such a shame to buy a quart of that for small jobs. It would go bad before i would use it all.
 

bassbindevil

Joined Jan 23, 2014
824
I've just used 5 minute epoxy. If I was going to use Bondo, it would be the marine flavour, which is reinforced with fiberglass and less prone to absorbing moisture.
 
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