With what do you secure LED wires to your model?

brt · Post by **brt** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 3:26 pm

So far I have only lit a d-7. I glued the LED in place and let the wires lay where they were. I am working on the 1/537 refit and trying the Raytheon effect. So far epoxy as well as lepages' ultra gel super glue have failed to hold the led/wire in place. What do I need to use hold the LED and wiring in place to the inside hull? Thanks.

TREKKRIFFIC · Post by **TREKKRIFFIC** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 3:51 pm

You can use a hot glue gun. That glue is hot so you'd want to be careful if the plastic is thin so it don't melt it but it dries quick and holds really well.

brt · Post by **brt** » Wed Aug 03, 2016 10:08 pm

Thanks! I'll give it a shot.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:37 am

Thick CA usually. The wires I use are Teflon coated so with a tug I can usually make them slide if need be.

TREKKRIFFIC · Post by **TREKKRIFFIC** » Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:39 am

Kylwell wrote:Thick CA usually. The wires I use are Teflon coated so with a tug I can usually make them slide if need be.

5-minute epoxy should do the trick too. You just need to wait 5-minutes which can be a hassle sometimes.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Thu Aug 04, 2016 12:37 pm

Yep. Some times even thick CA is too slow for me.

TREKKRIFFIC · Post by **TREKKRIFFIC** » Fri Aug 05, 2016 2:41 pm

Kylwell wrote:Yep. Some times even thick CA is too slow for me.

"
Have you ever tried "Plastic Surgery? I get it at my local ACE hardware. It's thin, glues almost any type of plastic to any other type of plastic, and it dries extremely fast.

brt · Post by **brt** » Fri Aug 05, 2016 7:01 pm

Having fun with the hot glue gun. Thanks again.

Mr. Engineer · Post by **Mr. Engineer** » Fri Aug 05, 2016 10:16 pm

The overseas place where I started work right now, does not even have ACE Hardware. So, yeah, luckily I brought my smaller hot-melts which uses black glue sticks (doubles a lightblock) like there's no tomorrow....

Max Nex · Post by **Max Nex** » Sat Aug 06, 2016 10:34 pm

electrical tape ???

Tchail · Post by **Tchail** » Sat Aug 06, 2016 11:27 pm

Try UV glue!

My understanding is that it bonds almost anything, and dries clear.

But I haven't had the chance to play with it yet.

TREKKRIFFIC · Post by **TREKKRIFFIC** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 11:45 am

Good ol' Elmers white glue works too. Just takes time to dry.

NCC1966 · Post by **NCC1966** » Wed Aug 24, 2016 10:48 am

Personally I have concern about a long run endurance. You may have a quick result with a variety of glues but it can snap off along the time. I think that the best option is the CA to stick it momentarily to the place and then make the real thing with epoxy glue.

TREKKRIFFIC · Post by **TREKKRIFFIC** » Fri Sep 02, 2016 12:32 pm

NCC1966 wrote:Personally I have concern about a long run endurance. You may have a quick result with a variety of glues but it can snap off along the time. I think that the best option is the CA to stick it momentarily to the place and then make the real thing with epoxy glue.

Agreed. Epoxy is the most permanent fixative option I can think of.

Trekmanscott · Post by **Trekmanscott** » Fri Sep 02, 2016 12:40 pm

I have used just about everything, but electrical tape is the quickest and easiest way to secure wires inside a project.

TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan · Sat Sep 03, 2016 6:13 am

Awesome thread! I just came here looking for an answer to this very question. I will go with epoxy putty to make things definitely permanent.

TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan · Thu Oct 06, 2016 12:34 am

Epoxy putty doesn't conduct electricity, does it?

Sloucher · Post by **Sloucher** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 6:40 am

Unless it states that it is conductive on the packaging, I'd say no, it doesn't conduct. A lot of RC modellers encase their ESCs in epoxy so it should be safe.
You could make a blob of it then just test it for conductivity with a battery, some wires and a resistored LED to make doubly sure.

pete1122 · Post by **pete1122** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:31 am

I have found the liquid electric tape works great, it sound strange but it sticks like crazy and dries hard as a rock. I also use it to secure my fiber optics strands on the inside of my models and block light leaks.

TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan · Thu Oct 06, 2016 7:03 pm

I had secured LEDs into the Rebel Transporter model I've been working on with hot glue, and I made the mistake of leaving it in my car for a few hours. The heat had warmed up the hot glue and unseated the LEDs. I had used that glue to secure the LEDs into position. But that was not the least of my problems, because the heat warped the plastic, too. Huge bummer. I think next time I will use epoxy glue to secure LEDs into place, or epoxy putty or something.

pete1122 · Post by **pete1122** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:10 pm

Here are a few pictures of the liquid electrical tape holding in my LED and securing all my fiber optics. The other benefit is the liquid tape blocks out all the light from the fiber optic holes so only the pin point light is shown.

https://s18.postimg.org/f4te6x811/IMG_0174.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/xj3xawkbp/IMG_0173.jpg

brt · Post by **brt** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:31 pm

2 months later the hot glue is holding well. It hasn't been out of the house though and exposed to heat.

jgoldader · Post by **jgoldader** » Fri Oct 07, 2016 5:15 am

pete1122 wrote:Here are a few pictures of the liquid electrical tape holding in my LED and securing all my fiber optics. The other benefit is the liquid tape blocks out all the light from the fiber optic holes so only the pin point light is shown.

https://s18.postimg.org/f4te6x811/IMG_0174.jpg

https://s18.postimg.org/xj3xawkbp/IMG_0173.jpg

How long does the stuff take to get tacky enough to hold? Looks promising, I'm about to try my first fibers. Thanks for the info!

pete1122 · Post by **pete1122** » Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:41 am

It is tacky as soon as you put it down, it dries super quick. I keep finding new ways to use this stuff in my model builds, it's great stuff!

How long does the stuff take to get tacky enough to hold? Looks promising, I'm about to try my first fibers. Thanks for the info![/quote]

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With what do you secure LED wires to your model?

With what do you secure LED wires to your model?

Re: With what do you secure LED wires to your model?