I'm restoring an Apple IIe motherboard. I had to replace a socket that was all messed up. The back side has some scratches near the socket so I put a little Kapton tape to prevent the solder from bridging over to the scratched, exposed copper.

Well, when I pulled the tape off, it brought off a bunch of solder mask! I didn't realize it was that fragile since I've done this many times in the past. I guess that old board has seen better days.

Anyway, do any of you have any suggestions on what to put down over this to repair the exposed copper? There seems to be tons of suggestions out there but I'd like something that was (preferably) green. The color isn't as important as the quality, however.

Is there some kind of epoxy I could use or something?

Thanks for any suggestions.

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Cat; the other white meat.

You can buy uv curable solder mask paint from eBay very cheaply. Paint some of that on and expose it to a decent amount of UV. One point of note though, this stuff kinda gets everywhere unless you are quite careful.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will give that a try.

I'm a little surprised it was flaking off that easily. I've never seen tape take off solder mask. But then again, Kapton tape is pretty good stuff. I've seen that stuff stuck on computers for decades.

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Cat; the other white meat.

It sounds as if all the soldering is completed already -- is that right? If so, why wouldn't you just leave the traces as they are? Bare copper is perfectly alright, I'd say. Or maybe you want protection against the possibility of battery leakage in future.

-- Jeff

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In 1988 my 65C02 got six new registers and 44 new full-speed instructions!
https://laughtonelectronics.com/Arcana/ ... mmary.html

I believe the soldering should be done. I might have to replace another socket or two but that's about it (haven't even powered the board yet).

So, no real reason other than preventing bare copper from "flapping in the breeze" as Dave would say. I found a tube on eBay for $1.28 with free shipping. Should have it next month from China. lol

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Cat; the other white meat.

I thought you needed to solder again and get it hot. If you don't, how about fingernail polish. It comes in a bazillion colors, it dries fast, and is tough. It makes good touch-up paint for lots of things. I didn't mention it earlier because I'm not sure it would stand up to the heat of soldering.

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http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Hmm. That's an interesting idea. My wife probably already has the color I need. lol

I was thinking it might be conductive and I would hate to accidentally paint two points and create a short.

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Cat; the other white meat.

If it doesn't have metal flakes, it won't conduct. Whether or not the lacquer would give adequate insulation between flakes in ones that do have it, is something I don't know.

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Your wife does her nails in PC Board Green?

Well, she has literally dozens of colors. She shares with my granddaughter too. So I bet there are several greens in there. lol

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Cat; the other white meat.

My wife doesn't use nail polish. However, I've been seen (and felt self-conscious about it) looking over the nail polish selections in the local drug store, for touch-up paint for my bicycle. It's the first place I might go for touch-up paint for plenty of other things too!

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

Not me. That wouldn't bother me at all. In fact, I routinely go into one of those beauty supply stores full of teenage girls and young women so that I can get large bottles of H2O2 for retro-brighting. I get funny looks in there but I don't care. I have Commodores and Apples to retro-bright. lol

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Cat; the other white meat.

I have a gallon jug of 35% food-grade H2O2 in the refrigerator, but I never thought of using it for electronics. The stuff you get in the drug store is usually 3% and has toxic stabilizers in it so you don't have to keep it in the fridge.

_________________
http://WilsonMinesCo.com/ lots of 6502 resources
The "second front page" is http://wilsonminesco.com/links.html .
What's an additional VIA among friends, anyhow?

I buy the Salon Care stuff that is much stronger than 3%. However, I've found that even the 3% stuff works well too. Just takes a little longer exposure to UV.

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Cat; the other white meat.