Dennis Mulhair Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Hello All, Does anyone know how I can soften/disolve an epoxy resin joint. I need to remove part of a wing that has been joined using epoxy. Also, On the same subject How do I unglue a PVA joint without submerging the job in water for ages? Hope someone can assist. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Lewis 3 Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Epoxy is easy, heat it, epoxy melts (slowly) at about 80C, lat time I removed some I just used a hair dryer on hot but a heat gun would be even better if the surface it is on can take it. You can also heat up a knife and get that between two pieces joined with epoxy to melt it off. Can't help with the pva though. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 Depending on the job it might be better to cut the joint rather than melt it out. Same with PVA. If its a foam wing that's been joined incorrectly then sawing apart might be best and if necessary putting a bit of balsa in to make up for the cut. If you show a photo of the part then maybe more ideas will be forthcoming from other forum members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Philip Lewis 3 said: Epoxy is easy, heat it, epoxy melts (slowly) at about 80C, lat time I removed some I just used a hair dryer on hot but a heat gun would be even better if the surface it is on can take it. You can also heat up a knife and get that between two pieces joined with epoxy to melt it off. Can't help with the pva though. Phil It must depend on the epoxy because we used to pot telemetry systems designed to fit in gas turbines in epoxy and we used to test then at 125 degrees C and the epoxy certainly didn't soften. The electronics was subject to several thousand G during operation as well as high temperatures. There was a way of dissolving the potting compound if we really wanted to see what had failed but most of the component casings dissolved too so it wasn't very effective. I designed the transmitters (a couple of transistors - it was in the 1980s) and we were measuring temperature and stress. Main failures were the connections to the transducers (strain gauges and thermocouples) because of the g forces. I think a mechanical method would be better - saw or drill? Indoor PVA (Titebond) will soften with water - you don't need to submerge it, spraying can work. Acetone dissolves cyano. Edited March 9, 2022 by Geoff S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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