Best way to fix broken cases (shells)?

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Fisher
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Best way to fix broken cases (shells)?

Post by Fisher »

Hi, I know that the best of the best way to fix a broken case (or should I say shell?) is to replace it, but what about the pirate ones wich are pretty different?
In this case, I finally could get a cartridge that's virtually equal to the one I had as a kid:
First time I saw it I tought it glowed in the dark!! :-)
First time I saw it I tought it glowed in the dark!! :-)
I tried to use some old notebook nuts and screws, carefully heating the plastic and making the nut go inside. But it only lasted a few days.
Superglue also didn't last long, in fact, it lasted even less than the nuts.
So, taking advice from an old member of this forum, Drakon, I decided to moderately try his methd in this case:
Not exactly like Drakon used to do, but close!<br />Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing...
Not exactly like Drakon used to do, but close!
Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing...
I added a generous amount of hotglue on the top, a little on the sides and in the middle.
I think there's some advantages of the easiness of removing it for maintenance, since hot glue seems to get out easily with isopropanol in case of necessity.

My doubts are:
1- How reliable is it?
It's working fine for a week of plugging and unplugging the cartridge, but I have no idea how long it will last.

2- If I use the same hotglue to keep the case closed, would it make too difficult to disassemble, in case of any neeeded maintenance in the future?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Tried to make some things clearer.
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krzysiobal
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Re: Best way to fix broken cases (shells)?

Post by krzysiobal »

Yes, hot glue is good solution, but I never glue the PCB to the shell. Rather I glue some plastic parts to the shell that will help keep firmly the PCB inside shell place but with ability to remove it. (I like using old DC jacks sause they have cubic shape).

If the clips that hold both part of shell are broken, I just use transparent tape to keep both sides together.

Also, I recomment black hot glue instead of transparent - it is much harder and glues tighter. Dont forget to clean inside of cart with some alcohol to remove dust & dirt.
lidnariq
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Re: Best way to fix broken cases (shells)?

Post by lidnariq »

Low-temperature hot glue isn't particularly good at adhering to things other than itself, but it is excellently flexible.

The shell is almost certainly polystyrene or maybe ABS. An appropriate tape may sometimes help. I've recently tried using (very) hot air to reflow thermoplastics together: results have been mixed.
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