Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

[Pentium4]

I'm wondering if you guys have an effective way. I usually just use pliers and my thumb nail to do what I can...

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

A heat gun set to low to accompany those pliers.

[TELVM]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

Exactly why do they poor that messy glue on some PSU components? Electronic noise? Vibration?

[mariushm]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

Vibrations and to hold them in place when they go on the line to be flow soldered

See how they move a bit when solder goes under:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-uJ05k9Yl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quLlGHKemRs

And you have to keep in mind some of the manufacturers simply move the boards around on a big line with lots of employees simply taking a psu off the line, putting several parts on the board then putting the boards back on the line. A bunch of women take care of a part of the parts, so taking out, putting back, putting the board on the desk in front of them, all these can cause parts to pop out, if the leads are pre-cut.
For example see Gigabyte's factory tour, from about 5:30 in the video below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vWrEmpRX_Q

The motherboards have more mass than a power supply board, so it vibrates less when going over the rollers and the liquid solder so the solder doesn't push the board around and won't make the parts get out of the holes as easily.

later edit: another gigabyte factory tour vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdGW1xE6d_k where you can see in more detail the quality control process and stuff that's not in the previous video.

even later edit: oh, sometimes (rare cases) glue is also used as a mark for the human part placers to know to put parts there. same model but for asian market may not have an inductor, the european miodel may have it. It's easier to just put a drop of glue with an automatic machine than to re-train the women placing parts on board (or to do two separate batches)

[TELVM]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

Very interesting videos, thanks . That high-speed chip-placer is worth seeing .

Apart from the mess, one problem I see with the glue is that some components can end literally jacketed in glue, and that's not good for cooling.

[Behemot]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

Think that Enermax or who started using plastic forms some time ago to keep all components on their places. You can re-use the forms so you save money in long-term for the glue.

I personaly use pliers and also this:


Bet you know that from dentist's Very handy thing for perforing mount-holes full of solder and many other things! Suggest getting one

[Pentium4]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

Thanks for all the replies!

[momaka]

Re: Most effective way to get rid of all the glue in PSU's?

A heat gun set to low to accompany those pliers.

I only have a paint stripping heat gun, but I will definitely try that next time.
I usually don't remove the glue, unless it's that tan/brown glue that goes conductive. I've noticed that some variants are more aggressive than others. For example, the type that Bestec uses usually not only becomes conductive but also corrodes component leads and PCB traces. The tan/brown glue in the PSUs of those HP DC5000 SFF computers I'm working on is even worse - besides corroding component leads, it also strips the paint off of capacitor sleeves.

I personaly use pliers and also this:
Bet you know that from dentist's

If I was a power supply, I would despise coming in for repair in your "office".