Just...get...in...ther---oh, shit
July 19, 2005 6:27 PM   Subscribe

So, I might've broken my mp3 player. Can anyone recommend a good glue for use on a circuit board?

Yeah, so the DC IN port on my Archos Studio 20 started getting hard to use, and instead of being careful, I just shoved the plug in there and broke it.

I took it apart, and it looks like all I'll need to do is reconnect the three outs from the AC IN thing to the circuit board. However, as you can tell by my utter lack of technical lingo, there is no chance I can solder this in there. Any chance that there is a glue that would work in this situation?
posted by graventy to Technology (5 answers total)
 
I doubt glue will work. Having someone solder a new jack back in sounds like the right thing to do. I would help, but I live far away.
posted by rajbot at 7:01 PM on July 19, 2005


The glue that works in this situation is called Solder.

As a kid, I once tried to assemble an electronic kit project using a metallic glue called Cold Solder. I was most upset when it totally failed to work :)

You need to find somebody to solder the thing back in for you.
posted by flabdablet at 7:03 PM on July 19, 2005


There is a silver ink pen I think it is called
CircuitWorks for repairing traces on c,boards
posted by hortense at 9:25 PM on July 19, 2005


Can anyone recommend a good glue for use on a circuit board?

See, I read this question as "Can anyone recommend a good use for a circuit borad?"...and was about to suggest pulling off any chips that might cause a snag, cutting it down to size, and using it for a totally geeked-out keychain.

*sigh*
posted by thanotopsis at 10:36 PM on July 19, 2005


There is such as thing as conductive ink pens, you could use one of those, wait until the ink dries, then swamp the area in superglue to give it some strength (the ink will not be a strong glue - it is conductive because of silver flakes in the ink). Likewise, if you can mix copper or silver dust with epoxy, you can make a conductive glue, but I really REALLY suggest you DON'T do any of this - it precludes anyone ever being able to make a proper repair. If your soldering iron skills are not up to it, get a friend to do it.

Note also that the abovementioned conductive inks and glues will probably cost you more than a cheap ($8) soldering iron at radioshack, so I recommending buying a soldering iron if you don't already have one, and practicing a little on scraps of wire and circuitboards from busted old tech junk, then fix the mp3 player properly.

You will be glad in your life ahead you acquired the skill - it will come in handy much more often than just this once.
Or just get a friend to do it :)

Lastly, the conductivity of the inks and glues is nowhere near that of a solder joint. Since the Archos power jack takes a little under 3 watts of power (peak), that might be enough to cause problems as areas of high resistance through the ink/glue may get hot, and start to cause problems with the join.

Also, "conductive epoxy" often refers to thermal conductivity, not electrical, so don't make that mistake either :)
posted by -harlequin- at 2:59 PM on July 20, 2005


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