A few weeks ago this topic made me rush out and buy some thermal plastic…
This morning I woke up and couldn’t charge due to a loose wire on my balance lead splitter, so once the coffee was entirely inside me, I decided to do something useful with this plastic.
Now my balance leads wont’ be so fragile. This is only temporary, I’m getting fresh connectors for better solder points later and I’ll do fresh plastic over those for an ultimate balance cable.
Once the plastic is out of the water it will dry quick as you squish it around. Separate what you need and squish it into your wires. It’s sticky like chewing gum and the hotter it is the more caramel like it becomes, so DO NOT use boiling water. Make sure you squeeze out the water bubbles, you don’t want water trapped inside the connector.
A micro torch or heat gun can re soften the skin pretty quickly, or just dip it back in the hot water. I used a micro torch and I was worried about making the plastic bubble, but the rubber skin of the wire started smoking first, so the thermoplastic is pretty good with direct high heat in short bursts. Don’t let the flame touch it, you could do this with a bic lighter at about three inches but it leaves soot in the plastic.
This his how you make a sheet. It works best if you do it in layers, but this is the last of my raw material so no more beads for a second layer. I set my oven to BROIL and put it in the center for about a minute.
Turn the oven off and leave the plastic in for a few more minutes and it will get more caramel like. Peel it off the spoon, flatten it, and squish it back into place. leave it in the oven longer for a more glassy look, but DON’T get it so hot that it bubbles, it will release smoke or vapor that probably isn’t healthy,
I was just wondering why nobody mentioned sugru before. It’s just great, i even use it to attach a power strip under my desk, it holds up like a champ!
I’ve never used Sugru, it’s too expensive. For wires it looks too squishy and stretchy, and if i break a solder point, I can just soak it in hot water and peel this off and start over.
Ha, same here. I have a pack of Sugru but I don’t use it because I keep thinking “naw, it’s too expensive to use on this small problem.” Then I bust out the hot glue gun.
Ultimate balance lead! v1.1The shape of the plug is in the plastic and I left the red wire exposed so I can see which side is pin 1 but it WILL fit backwards for now. I think my issue with balance leads is better suited for 3d printing and hot glue though.
I agree it’s pricey. I picked some up for random projects. After the hot glue in my controller mod broke I used some to keep the battery from rattling. I had a blob left and with my gear in front of me and used every bit on random things I wouldn’t have thought of if I wasn’t sitting there trying not to waste the sugru. I attached a lexan cover over voltage meter hole in my enclosure, sealed the edges around the usb port on my controller, cleaned up the seam a bit on the controller, a drop under some grip tape that wouldn’t stay down, rubberized my gt2b trigger and a couple other things with just one pack.
