Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Wire glue

yobbo II - 23-4-2023 at 10:41

Can anyone comment on this product. What is microcarbon exactly.

Wireglue.us is a link to the product


Yob

Rainwater - 24-4-2023 at 01:39

Its conductive carbon particles mixed with a binder.
https://asset.re-in.de/add/160267/c1/-/en/000588328SD00/SI_B...

Very easy to make at home.
The carbon source requires experimentation to increase conductivity
If its grounded like black powder, it works better

I use polyvinyl alcohol and pyrolysis'ed oak leaves to make mine.
It's a resistive material, great for print-in-place pullup resistors between 10k-250k(pre-2000 game controllers),
low thermal stability,
Low tensile strength.
Can be flexable but cracks
Great for electroforming paint

Have used it as an electric match when mixed with a small amount of solid oxidizer

Safe for kids to use, washes out of cloths most the time.
Not ment for high heat or current applications

Johanson - 24-4-2023 at 19:25

"Can anyone comment?"

My comment: It just looks like more gimmicky "wire glue". Just simply learn how to solder. All the "wire glues" out there are problematic - nickel powder, graphite powder, silver - etc etc. If you practice soldering correctly using the proper amount of heat, use flux, use a pair of "helping hands" so you can firmly hold things together, a good soldering joint will last forever

unionised - 24-4-2023 at 23:47

Quote: Originally posted by Johanson  
"Can anyone comment?"

My comment: It just looks like more gimmicky "wire glue". Just simply learn how to solder. All the "wire glues" out there are problematic - nickel powder, graphite powder, silver - etc etc. If you practice soldering correctly using the proper amount of heat, use flux, use a pair of "helping hands" so you can firmly hold things together, a good soldering joint will last forever

I knowhow to solder. I have access to silver solder and aluminium solder. At a pinch I have used indium and tin.

But I have also used wire glue because I know that you can't solder everything.
Some things will not stand the heat. And a joint that "will last forever"is a liability in some cases when you want to be able to disconnect things easily.

Maybe the OP understands that better than Johanson.

The stuff works.
The resistivity is a bit high.

Johanson - 25-4-2023 at 06:32

Unionized,
1. The heat? use a proper heat sink when soldering
2. Disconnect functionality? that's what a mechanical connector is for
3. High resistivity? yes, and it also varies all over the place which is almost as bad

Granted, the OP didn't state what he/she was considering it for. There's many different applications. I'm commenting from the standpoint of building batteries, which is a mechanically-demanding enterprise. "Plastic solder" is a bad idea for a host of reasons. The binder breaks down, expands and contracts - moving the particles around, there must be 10 reasons why it's a bad idea. You may be thinking of an entirely different application, however.

yobbo II - 27-4-2023 at 10:18


Thanks for replys.

I had never heard of the stuff before. I have used silver conductive paint before. It comes in a very small bottle. Used for repairing windshield heaters (the lines on the back window of your car).
I thought the 'micro carbon' was some new fangled graphene product or something like that.

Posted in the wrong area too!

Yob

unionised - 27-4-2023 at 11:36

Quote: Originally posted by Johanson  
Unionized,
1. The heat? use a proper heat sink when soldering
2. Disconnect functionality? that's what a mechanical connector is for
3. High resistivity? yes, and it also varies all over the place which is almost as bad

Granted, the OP didn't state what he/she was considering it for. There's many different applications. I'm commenting from the standpoint of building batteries, which is a mechanically-demanding enterprise. "Plastic solder" is a bad idea for a host of reasons. The binder breaks down, expands and contracts - moving the particles around, there must be 10 reasons why it's a bad idea. You may be thinking of an entirely different application, however.


Thanks for your insight.
I was making connections to a crystal of potassium sodium tartrate in order to experiment with the piezoelectric effects.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_sodium_tartrate

Are you able to show me what use I could have made of a heatsink or what commercial solder alloy I could have used on a material which melts at about 75C?