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Hey gang,

I've started playing around with led's and solder, knowing just enough to be dangerous. I soldered a switch yesterday and to my amazement, it worked, although I probably went a little heavy on my first try. I wanted to strengthen up the contact points to ensure as little movement as possible, and thought greenstuff might be a good idea.

So here's the deal. I was a little bit impulsive and threw greenstuff over my contact points / exposed wire. I kept the lights on for a few hours just to ensure there were no issues / excessive heat from the 9v battery and all seemed well. So my question to you all - Is this safe? Are there more effective methods to strengthen the soldered areas or is it strong enough on it's own?

I may be wrong but a bit of glue from a glue gun should do the trick.

Greenstuff being a resin means it shouldn't be conductive.

For strengthening electrical components it's generally accepted you should use heatshrink (at least where I live) But hot glue gun glue will do the job fine.

Greenstuff isn't conductive (not in the last 11 years of me using it, anyway).

Hot glue works just as well for protecting the joint, as noted. It's waterproof and also non-conductive.

I know that it will turn liquid and heat up to an incredible, burnalicious temperature if you microwave it!

Thanks for the tips!

Well, the switch appears to be working, but now I think the battery is being drained even when it's turned off... May have to try this a couple of times before I get it right.

Conductive things are almost always shiny -- the free outer electrons which make electrical conductivity work are also responsible for good light reflectivity.

Greenstuff: not shiny.