| Nat Eddy |
| Has anyone depotted an epoxy potted transformer? I have a CAL Alpha with the transformer pulled right out, and the leads broken off. Replacements are unobtanium. |
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| SY |
Epoxy is hopeless to remove easily. What you need to do is CAREFULLY chisel it away from near where the wires come out. Once you can expose a few millimeters, new leads can be soldered on.
I just had to do this with some nice UTC transformers- it was a pain, but I've got good connections now. And once the transformers are mounted, no-one can tell without flipping the amp over and removing the bottom plate. |
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| dnsey |
| I agree - but I'd 're-pot' the new terminations afterwards. The leads have a nasty habit of breaking again where the digging out has weakened them, and it's almost impossible to repeat the process sucessfully. |
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| SY |
| I'm sure there's a way to do that, but everything I've tried on my transformer didn't stick well. Two part epoxy, PMMA resin, two part polyurethane, and hard silicone all let go. I suspect the original potting was a filled phenolic, but I don't know for sure. If you have any suggestions, I'd like to try them. |
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| TwoSpoons |
If you heat epoxy enough (90-120 C IIRC) it becomes jelly like, and is easy to chisel away with a screw driver. It goes back to its glass state as it cools. I've done this with some large epoxy potted high voltage transformers that I used to work with.
I found a hot air gun (paint stripper type) is ideal for heating. |
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