Does cured Epoxy absorb microwaves?
 

I know that microwaves are sometimes used to cure epoxy but does
cured epoxy absorb microwaves? More practically put: can I use
epoxy to glue some parts of a double quad for 2.4GHz?

Kind regards, Eike
--
"The adventurs may be mad, but the adventurer must be sane."
- G. K. Chesterton (1908)

Does cured Epoxy absorb microwaves?
 

Eike Lantzsch, ZP6CGE wrote:
I know that microwaves are sometimes used to cure epoxy but does
cured epoxy absorb microwaves? More practically put: can I use
epoxy to glue some parts of a double quad for 2.4GHz?

Your best source of information here will be the manufacturer.

Next best will be to put a test object (made of things that don't absorb
microwaves) glued with the epoxy in your microwave with a cup of water and
heat it until the water boils. If the test object isn't uncomfortably hot,
the epoxy probably is OK for use in your quad. Microwave ovens here in
the US seem to run around 2.45 GHz, which is fairly close to your working
frequency, so the test will be a fairly good indication.



--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO

Tired old sysadmin

Does cured Epoxy absorb microwaves?
 

"Eike Lantzsch, ZP6CGE" ) writes:
I know that microwaves are sometimes used to cure epoxy but does
cured epoxy absorb microwaves? More practically put: can I use
epoxy to glue some parts of a double quad for 2.4GHz?


Not sure if it is relevant to modern materials, but when I worked for the
National Research Council (Canada) many years ago, I used to make dummy
loads by mixing a powdered ferrite material with the then-available epoxy
cement and pouring a tapered slab of this mix into the waveguide. (These
were used as the flat load at liquid nitrogen temperatures in a Dicke
radiometer at S and X bands.)

.... Martin VE3OAT

Does cured Epoxy absorb microwaves?
 

.....yes, you can, provided you use Araldite slow setting epoxy (the
blue kind).
don't forget that the FR4 board is made of it!
while working at Tadiran, years ago, we found out that the slower the
epoxy cure the better its RF characteristics.
we never found out why- actually we never tried hard enough- but the
fact remains.
on higher frequencies you have to be careful, but Bluetooth thrives on
FR4 (at 2.4GHz)!.
Saandy 4Z5KS

Does cured Epoxy absorb microwaves?
 

.....yes, you can, provided you use Araldite slow setting epoxy (the
blue kind).
don't forget that the FR4 board is made of it!
while working at Tadiran, years ago, we found out that the slower the
epoxy cure the better its RF characteristics.
we never found out why- actually we never tried hard enough- but the
fact remains.
on higher frequencies you have to be careful, but Bluetooth thrives on
FR4 (at 2.4GHz)!.
Saandy 4Z5KS