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Removal of Toshiba yellow "epoxy"

TM86

TM86

Supporting Member
Jul 6, 2014
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Payson, AZ
Recapping a Cobra 135XLR, one of the 1000 uFd caps was leaking. On the main board are bodge parts held in place with some yellow glue or epoxy, which I'm assuming is factory by how clean the radio is otherwise. Of course, it's covering some leads I need to get at to finish the job.

If anyone else has dealt with this, can I just use a heat gun to warm the epoxy up and make it pliable enough to remove? Or is there another method that you've found that works better?
 

I removed some using a acetone. It's been a long time since I did it, but I think I used a soft brush, dipped it in the acetone and brushed it over the glue globs which softened it, then used a long needle nose plier to peel it off. I'd say Low_Boy's method using the heat gun is a lot safer.
 
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I hate trying to remove the glue, I just went through removing wax to get to something which I hate removing as well.
 
Last edited:
I first learned about that glue several years ago when my old Uniden scanner stopped working. It destroyed the leads under one of the crystals and ate into some of the IC terminals. I tried my best to repair the damage, but it kept coming up with new issues, so I salvaged what few clean parts remained for my bins. Since then I’ve been going through all my collection. My Cobra 19 and 19 + series were particularly bad. The worst part about it for me is the stiff and sore neck that sometimes occurs. It’s a reminder for me to look up and rotate my head around once in awhile. The task of replacing caps is nothing compared to glue removal, but it’s something that should be done in the process.
 
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sunbulls said:
I first learned about that glue several years ago when my old Uniden scanner stopped working. It destroyed the leads under one of the crystals and ate into some of the IC terminals. I tried my best to repair the damage, but it kept coming up with new issues, so I salvaged what few clean parts remained for my bins. Since then I’ve been going through all my collection. My Cobra 19 and 19 + series were particularly bad. The worst part about it for me is the stiff and sore neck that sometimes occurs. It’s a reminder for me to look up and rotate my head around once in awhile. The task of replacing caps is nothing compared to glue removal, but it’s something that should be done in the process.
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The stuff I'm looking at isn't the corrosive crap, that's on the top side of the board and I've been scraping that off. This stuff is more like a hard plastic lump.

Thanks to Low_Boy's link above I've now got some solvent on the way that should work on both types. I also ordered a heat gun, just in case. Needed one for shrink tubing anyways.
 
Heat gun came first, so I tried it. It worked very well, the yellow stuff peeled right off. Unfortunately it also melted the insulation right off a bodge wire and I had to replace that. But, mission accomplished. Now I can finish this beast and maybe even get it on the air again.

Thanks, everyone!
 
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