Are hot melt glue sticks corrosive or are there electronics grade hot melt glue sticks available?

 

Are hot melt glue sticks corrosive PCBs or are there electronics grade hot melt glue sticks available?

I wouldn't hesitate to use my plain, generic hot melt glue on a PCB. But I'm not sending a man to the moon with my PCB. I really don't think there's an issue but perhaps we'll both learn differently when someone else chimes in.

 

Danged if I can remember where or why, but I have seen it used on a circuit board. I have used it on speakers before.

 

Ooh! I'll have a couple of warranty repairs if this be the case.... I've been using it for years.. Bog standard glue.

NOTE!! Don't use it on the circuit tracks, or if you do be careful.. As it cools it shrinks and pulls the tracks with it...

 

I have always wondered but have never asked or tried it, if hot melt glue is a good preservative for circuit boards against dust and contamination also possibly not waterproof but splashproof or condensation against water or other fluids.

 

In 40 years of putting carpentry grade hot melt glued on wiring and circuit boards I have not noticed signs of corrosion.

It can be useful in damping vibration, thermally coupling components to one-another and insulating against the elements.

Careful, an LED assembly that I insulated with hot melt glue saw the glue melt during use. Its not right for everything.

 

It is impervious to water but don't know whether you can count on it to make a water tight seal. It may require an as-yet unidentified primer.

It may be better than RTV but probably not in applications in which flexing or staying attached with extreme variations in temperature. You may have noticed that there are various types of hot melt glue that are readily available, and then there is the hard white stuff used to hold heavy parts onto commercial PC boards which I have not seen in hardware stores.

 

Application will be harder than painting on conformal coating. And always remember any warm device will melt/soften it.

 

I wonder if clear acrylic spray lacquer in an aerosol can would work to protect a circuit board.
Obviously you would have cover up any delicate or moving components (presets etc.) beforehand.
Has anyone tried spray lacquer?

 

That is basically what the conformal coating I bought from MG Chemicals years ago is. Of course, there are other versions. In answer to whether it works, yes -- at least in a relatively kind climate like Ohio's.

 

An old thread on the subject!
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/conformal-coating-and-its-alternative.71427/
Max.