Liquid Electrical Tape

[lboucher]

Hi All

So i made my own custom boards on protoboard.
I have been meaning to conformally coat them.
Was going to add on some conformal coating spray to my next mouser order.

Today i was in advanced auto and saw a can of brush on electrical tape for 1/3 the price.

Is this a good deal, I can only assume it would work just as good.

Thanks
Lucas

[will3ishere]

dont know about using it for circuit boards. But when i tried it on wiring in the automotive field it took forever to dry, and just ended up using electrical tape. But at the dealership time is money. :-|

[lboucher]

Ya time means nothing to me, how did it work once it dried?

[dirknerkle]

I use the stuff on the bottoms of my SSRs. It takes about 15 minutes to dry enough to touch it, and after 24 hours, it's almost like the bottom of the board has been shrinkwrapped with a rubber layer. The boards work fine, of course, and if you need to replace a component, you have to peel off enough of the coating to get to the copper layer, unsolder and replace the part and then just paint over the area again.

It's a good product but sticky as all-get-out! You don't want to get it on your clothes or in your eyes, but it's thick enough so it's not going to splatter.

I buy the white stuff because you can write on it with a marking pen afterward if you need to. Well, I guess you can write on the black stuff too, but it's impossible to read!

[Sharkey]

This looks like cool stuff! I might have to see where I can get some of it locally. Sadly enough, the big home-hardware stores ate up our local family ran stores, which where better.

[crazylightlady]

I've used it with bad results, might be good if the temps stay low, but it gets hot in TX, (or anywhere in garage/attic storage in summer), and have had coated splices fail. Shrink heat tubing after soldering the splice is about the only thing that's somewhat cheap and works without fail.

[dirknerkle]

I imagine that when it gets really hot, the stuff might not hold up very well.

Sharkey: you can find "liquid tape" in the electrical area in a Home Depot or Lowe's. About $7 for a small can, that goes a long way. It's worth buying one just to test whether it works for you or not. Just be careful -- it is super sticky and can be a little messy to use.

[Wayne J]

It does not like the cold either. I used it on some custom strings and it cracked when messed with.

[dmcole]

I use silicone caulk for outdoor connection insulation; while it's not as cheap as acrylic caulk, it is cheaper than liquid electrical tape. It's pretty humid here near the Pacific Ocean and I had a devil of a time getting liquid electrical tape to cure.

YMMV.

\dmc

[lboucher]

Well, i have tried this on protoboard now.
Seems to be working ok, a little thin, so 2 coats are needed.
I am not to worried about heat, hope it doesn't crack in the cold.
Live and learn, its better than nothing.