Hot Glue & How to remove it.

gimpod
gimpod Posts: 1,793
edited May 2011 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Originally Quoted by heiney9

"I'm just not that excited about wrestling with pulling the super glued inductors off the PCB."
I'm sure H9 meant Hot Glue and not super glue.

I've been getting some questions and comment's like above on how to remove Hot Glue from the inductors on the SDA crossovers lately and my usual answer has been to provide a link Use rubbing alcohol to remove hot glue from nearly anything along with a disclaimer that I have not tried it but it should work.

Well curiosity got the better of me so I thought I'd give it a try. I grabbed a spare set of crossovers and binding post plates from my parts stash to try this on and let me tell you this works great! It took me about 20 mins to do one crossover but you have to keep in mind that I have the manual dexterity of a 2 year old so it should only take you maybe 5 mins.

All you need is Q-tips, Rubbing Alcohol, a pair of hemostats or tweezers (something to grab hold of the hot glue with) and maybe an X-acto knife or something to gently pry with.

Step One: Get your Q-Tip soaked in alcohol and rub it around edges of the glob of hot glue, don't be afraid to use to much alcohol you want to keep it wet. The wetter the better.

Step Two: Now take your hemostats/tweezers and grab hold of the hot glue (you may have to use an X-acto knife or something like it to pry it up off the board so you can grab hold of it) and start pulling up wetting with alcohol as you go, it wont take much and then all of a sudden that glob of hot glue will just pop right off all in one piece (most of the time). Note: if you decide to remove it from the top of the inductors (L1 & L2) just be careful not to scrape off any of the schlack off the wire.

Step Three: Your Done!


Here are some pictures and links to high res versions to prove it.

hot-glue-1sm.jpg

High Res Version


hot-glue-2sm.jpg

High Res Version

Hope this helps.
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Post edited by gimpod on
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Comments

  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited May 2011
    Thanks!
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited May 2011
    gimpod wrote: »
    Note: if you decide to remove it [hot glue]from the top of the inductors (L1 & L2) just be careful not to scrape off any of the schlack off the wire.


    A blob of hot glue was applied to the top of the medium size inductors (L1 and L2) for vibration damping. A bead (or two) of hot glue should also be applied to the opposite sides of L1 and L2.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,576
    edited May 2011
    I just used needlenosed pliers when I did my XO came right off. No Alcohol needed same with the binding post. Just peeled like an orange.
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  • gimpod
    gimpod Posts: 1,793
    edited May 2011
    This post was mainly aimed at those who bought or are thinking of buying my new boards and want to remove the updated caps and parts from the old boards. Because everybody went hot glue happy when they updated there crossovers, it was the only way to hold the new bigger caps down on the original boards. Even if your not getting or planing on getting my boards this is still a very good way to get old and new hot glue off.
    DarqueKnight wrote: »
    A blob of hot glue was applied to the top of the medium size inductors (L1 and L2) for vibration damping. A bead (or two) of hot glue should also be applied to the opposite sides of L1 and L2.
    I'm aware of that and should have stated that, but I would still remove that 20+ year old yellowed crap and replace it with new. But like the **** I am I was assuming everyone knew that. :redface:
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    I just used needlenosed pliers when I did my XO came right off. No Alcohol needed same with the binding post. Just peeled like an orange.

    I've got three pairs of SDA 1C crossovers now, On my first set that I modded and are using, the hot glue on the little round inductors were all broken lose and practically fell off, not the case for L1 & L2 and the binding post plates it was still stuck on pretty good and I ended up prying it off in little pieces. On this pair it was also still stuck on pretty good. The alcohol just makes it a WHOLE lot easier and works just as well on fresh hot glue also.
    “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ~ Mark Twain
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited May 2011
    For those looking to remove super glue, it's a cyanoacrylate based adhesive. Acetone takes it off. Takes a little bit to work it's magic though. Watch it around plastic parts since acetone can dissolve those parts too. Then again, cyanoacrylates can dissolve the parts as well so it's rarely seen used in electronics and usually only with wire wraps and other prototyping methods to secure things like sockets and mounting hardware.
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,339
    edited May 2011
    Good info Tony!

    Hot glue removal is tedious. Alcohol looks to be good solvent for that nasty stuff.
    Carl

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  • JimAckley
    JimAckley Posts: 1,138
    edited May 2011
    Nice writeup! This would've saved me a little time when doing my LSi crossovers. Definitely bookmarking this for the sake of my lack of memory :tongue:
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited May 2011
    I've always used needlenose pliers or the tip of a small screwdriver as a prybar. I don't think you really need to get this deep on hot glue removal but for the recent xover modifier or newcomer, I'm sure this is nice to know.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,755
    edited May 2011
    I have always just used pliers...

    On Def Tech crossovers they almost use like a rubberized glue - it peels off like tape...
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited May 2011
    Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »
    I have always just used pliers...

    On Def Tech crossovers they almost use like a rubberized glue - it peels off like tape...

    That would be rubber cement.
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  • byfthalone
    byfthalone Posts: 345
    edited May 2011
    so why the glue in the first place? lord...does that make me sound stupid?
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited May 2011
    To prevent damage while shipping and also for sound quality, passive components don't like resonances.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,197
    edited May 2011
    gimpod wrote: »
    I'm sure H9 meant Hot Glue and not super glue.

    You're right I didn't mean the brand "Super Glue", I was using "super" as an adjective. :smile:

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,842
    edited May 2011
    heiney9 wrote: »
    You're right I didn't mean the brand "Super Glue", I was using "super" as an adjective. :smile:

    H9

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