Possible PCB track repair material - "slug tape".

[G6Tanuki]

Visiting a gardening-obsessed friend recently, I saw that she had bands of shiny copper tape round some of her flowerpots.

"It repels slugs" she told me.

Now I'm sceptical about the ability of a bit of copper to banish malevolent molluscs from your Hostas but looking at a bit of this tape - it's self-adhesive - it occurred to me that it could potentially be of use for repairing broken PCB tracks.

You can easily cut it with a craft-knife/scalpel/scissors, and it's thin enough that a sharp pointed tool can push through it to mnake component holes.

Not sure about how well the adhesive will stand up to soldering... but even so, 'stick on copper strips' seem likely to be of use in several radio/electronics-related applications.

Anyone tried it?

[RogerEvans]

I used it a couple of times to make a continuous ground plane around an area of 'Manhattan style' 3D wiring on stripboard, trying to make fast square pulses for oscilloscope transient adjustment. It certainly survived soldering at several points on the edges but this was a postage stamp sized rectangle, not a narrow strip so there was plenty of adhesive area not soldered to.

Certainly worth a try for PCB track repair.

Regards,

Roger

[Steve_Bell]

I've used copper foil for stained glass work, which I used to do a while ago. Example here: https://tempsfordstainedglass.co.uk/...r-foil-7-32-4/

I've used it for slug repellent, not PCB track repair. Its adhesive is very tenacious, as described in the link. It's also meant to be soldered in stained glass work and the adhesive seems to hold up OK, although it is strongly reinforced by solder during construction.

Whether, or not, it repels slugs is another question.

[deswradio]

I think this stuff has been around for ages. I vaguely recall getting hold of some of this copper tape as a "free gift" with an edition of Practical Wireless or Electronics many decades ago. I used some of it to make a simple morse practice oscillator on a piece of paxolin board. I wouldn't be surprised if the remainder of the tape is still at the bottom of one of the cardboard boxes in my workshop... It worked pretty well - the adhesive was good and it survived (just) the drilling for component leads.

[Electronpusher0]

I keep a reel of slug repellent tape for when I need a ground plane.
I understand it repels slugs by giving them a mild electric shock, the slugs mucus acts as an electrolyte and as the slug crosses onto the tape galvanic action creates a potential difference.

Now if we could harness slugs to generate electricity.....

Peter

[kellys_eye]

I keep a roll of it for screening purposes.

[Goldie99]

I used some of it 30+ years ago, wiring a doll's house for one of my daughters. Most hobby shops used to carry it then, and probably still do if you can find one.

[trh01uk]

Originally Posted by Goldie99

I used some of it 30+ years ago, wiring a doll's house for one of my daughters. Most hobby shops used to carry it then, and probably still do if you can find one.

I've just bought some from a seller on Ebay - there was plenty of choice of seller and width of tape.

I'm going to use it to make good the joints in a screening can made out of double-side PCB material, so will be soldering to the tape and PCB.


Richard

[duncanlowe]

I have used something similar, in anger, for a PCB repair. A dry joint on a relay meant that the relay didn't switch when it should, so the motor it was controlling took way too much current. Control board track vanished. Could have been done with a piece of wire I suppose, except the copper track formed an edge connector. So I needed to replace the trace.

The likes of RS sell it for screening / bonding. But I reckon the slug tape must be very similar.