jumper wire tack-down

[Winfield Hill]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

Thanks,
- Win

whill_at_picovolt-dot-com

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

Spot (wand) UV-cured epoxy would be my choice if money isn't tight.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[John Larkin]

Spot (wand) UV-cured epoxy would be my choice if money isn't tight.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

We use a Norland UV gun (used, ebay, $100 or so) and Loctite
UV-curable epoxy. You could use a glue gun, but that tends to leave
annoying little strings of glue.

John

 

[Barry Lennox]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

Loctite "Blak-Tak" (IIRC) was pretty good, but not so cheap.

Hot-melt glue ! Cheap but a bit sleazy

Barry Lennox

 

[Walter Harley]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

I use cyanoacrylate glue. Not instant, but a lot less than 5 minutes. Any
reason why this would be bad?


(You shoulda seen me trying to explain to my wife, aka assembly technician,
why it was called blue-wiring even though the wire I gave her was yellow.)

 

[John Woodgate]

I read in sci.electronics.design that Winfield Hill

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

A clear acrylic 'varnish', which replaced 'Distrene' (polystyrene
dissolved in trichlorethylene) when that was banned. But I can't
remember the name of the acrylic stuff. It dries very quickly.

 

[John Crighton]

Loctite "Blak-Tak" (IIRC) was pretty good, but not so cheap.

Hot-melt glue ! Cheap but a bit sleazy

Barry Lennox

Hello Barry and all,
I think the Loctite stuff was called Tak Pak. It is
very good. Just hold the wire in place, apply a tiny
dob of thick resin type liquid and instantly solidify
it with the puff spray activator.

I just looked it up. Here it is here.
http://www.hmcelectronics.com/cgi-bin/scripts/pd/4675-0016/031004-2039_4675-0015/4675-0015
I notice in the description they say to apply the
accelerator first then the adhesive. Must be
slightly different to stuff I used years ago.
Your right it is very expensive!
I should have been more frugal with my free sample.
Regards,
John Crighton
Sydney

 

[j.b. miller]

Nail polish works very well.Comes in different colours so you can tell who
or when a jumper was done...

Jay

 

[Leon Heller]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

I've used a form of cyanoacrylate-based glue made specifically for this
purpose, available from Farnell and RS. It's cured with a little acetone
and sets immediately. The only problem with it is that it's practically
impossible to remove, so you need to make sure you've got the connection
correct before using it. It's transparent so can look quite neat.

I've just found some in the Rapid Electronics catalogue, called
'Rite-Lok'. It's very expensive. A solvent is available for it.

Leon

 

[Leon Heller]

I use cyanoacrylate glue. Not instant, but a lot less than 5 minutes. Any
reason why this would be bad?


(You shoulda seen me trying to explain to my wife, aka assembly technician,
why it was called blue-wiring even though the wire I gave her was yellow.)

I've always used blue wire-wrap wire, but I've never heard the term
'blue-wiring'. Wasn't all w-w wire blue, at one time?

Leon

 

[Richard Henry]

yellow.)

I've always used blue wire-wrap wire, but I've never heard the term
'blue-wiring'. Wasn't all w-w wire blue, at one time?

No.

 

[kansas_ray]

Nail polish works very well.Comes in different colours so you can tell who
or when a jumper was done...

Jay

That's a keeper!

Thanks,
Ray

 

[Keith R. Williams]

We hate to see jumpers on a clean PCB, but if
one is necessary we want it as neat as possible.
We'd also like the task to be quick and easy,
no standing there holding things in place for
5 minutes! What do yo'all like to use for
your wire tack-downs?

I thought we agreed that we never made misteaks on PCBs. That
said, I've *seen* (not I, mind you ;-) crazy glue and RTV used
for such.

 

[Winfield Hill]

Keith R. Williams wrote...

I thought we agreed that we never made misteaks on PCBs. ...

Right. Everybody makes mistakes. The first IBM PC that I
purchased in 1982 had a half dozen jumpers tacked on the
motherboard. They had already been in production for some
time, but...

Thanks,
- Win

whill_at_picovolt-dot-com

 

[Keith R. Williams]

Keith R. Williams wrote...

Right. Everybody makes mistakes. The first IBM PC that I
purchased in 1982 had a half dozen jumpers tacked on the
motherboard. They had already been in production for some
time, but...

Some IBM mainframe cards had so many "overflows" that there was a
special retainer (looked like plastic window screen) that fit on
the back of the card-holder to keep the "overflow" wires out of
the way. Sometimes the wires were actually "overflows". ;-)

The one that got me was a card in the first PDP-11 I had (working
for IBM, this was a little strange in other ways too). A 74XX
leg was bent out of a socket and a wire, resistor, and capacitor
attached to the flying leg. ...seems they had a reset problem.

 

[John Larkin]

I thought we agreed that we never made misteaks on PCBs. That
said, I've *seen* (not I, mind you ;-) crazy glue and RTV used
for such.

No, some of us assume there will be mistooks, so accept that
prototypes will be full of them, and some of us try sincerely to have
no mistaks on the first shot. We, the latter, use a lot less wire.

John

 

[Joe Legris]

Keith R. Williams wrote...



Right. Everybody makes mistakes. The first IBM PC that I
purchased in 1982 had a half dozen jumpers tacked on the
motherboard. They had already been in production for some
time, but...

Thanks,
- Win

whill_at_picovolt-dot-com

Those were not mistakes, they were carefully crafted delay lines. Back
then it was the only way to get asynchronous logic to work

 

[Andy Peters]

I've always used blue wire-wrap wire, but I've never heard the term
'blue-wiring'. Wasn't all w-w wire blue, at one time?

Funny -- I've always heard it referred to the jumpers as "white wires,"
no matter what the color.

Oh, yeah: we hold 'em down with Loctite Tak-Pak.

--a

 

[Roger Gt]

Funny -- I've always heard it referred to the jumpers as "white wires,"
no matter what the color.

Oh, yeah: we hold 'em down with Loctite Tak-Pak.

We have always called them "Green wires" and used green www, and green
varnish to secure them in place. (Nail polish) Made them a little less
noticeable! Then someone bought boards with red solder masks!

 

[red rover]

Loc-tite Tak-Pak with accelerator is what
is used at my work (factory and labs). I
expect they must like it or they would've
switched. Cheap enough that it is often
part of a standard tool box for lab techs.

Steve