Let's talk about appropriate solvents/lubes/etc.

Do you wonder “what is the appropriate goop to use in this repair?” Let’s talk about it. First things first:

  • petroleum based products risk degrading plastic and should not be used
  • WD-40 is a petroleum based solvent and is not a good lubricant in any situation
  • Plastic on plastic interfaces (e.g., microswitches in a joystick) can be lubricated with white lithium grease spray
  • Rosin-containing (amber colored) “no-clean” flux liquid is good for solder rework but HOLY FUCK it is hard to clean up even with IPA
  • Hot glue is NEVER THE RIGHT CHOICE. Use kapton tape to hold wires and for the love of god if you are doing a mod that adds a port through the case, use a compatible 2 part epoxy or a 3d printed bracket (or hell, a spacer made of paper) to friction fit it, because that glue is going to give way, it’s just a matter of when.

Your turn - share your hard earned lessons regarding the right and wrong goops to use in different repair situations.

al177,
  • Super Lube 21030 grease is safe on any plastic and almost any sort of rubber
  • Use no-clean paste flux and don’t go crazy cleaning it off. Whenever you look at a mixed smd and through hole board and see flux around the through hole joints, that’s no-clean. It’s safe to leave there, and arguably provides more protection than cleaning it off. There are different flavors of rosin flux, some of which will eat traces if not cleaned. And unless you’re doing BGA and have a water bath, do not use water soluble flux.
  • I keep a hot glue stick by my soldering station for holding down blue wire. It sets fast and unlike CA can be easily removed from solder mask with a bit of isopropyl. When I need to tack down a wire, I shave off a thin slice and use a hot air pencil to melt it over the wire and onto the board. If it’s being stubborn, clean then preheat the surrounding PCB with hot air before putting down the glue. You can even get Kynar precoated in hot glue especially for this purpose.
DarthBueller,

Okay, hot glue in this limited case is okay. When YouTubers specify it for ports and switches and other force bearing use cases, it makes me want to shout.

DarthBueller,

Ooh, another one I learned the hard way: 99% isopropyl alcohol isn’t compatible with the text printed on the NES front-loader/toaster cart door. It smears out the red lettering and makes a mess (I think I also had the same issue retrobriting the cart door - the peroxide also acted like a solvent for the red ink used in the lettering on the cart door).

kadu,
@kadu@lemmy.world avatar

Isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) is fantastic for cleaning electronics.

It’s also going to degrade most rubbers, some plastics, and absolutely ruin any LCD if it manages to get in-between the layers of the panel (and it does manage to do so very often).

So do not go the Reddit route of drowning your stuff in isopropyl - apply it to a cotton bud or similar and apply on the components you wish to clean directly.

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