[Joe Garfield]

I received a power transformer that has the bottom few E-I laminations hanging down. The corners will get clamped when installed, but the legs of the 'E' will still hang down. Can anyone suggest an appropriate adhesive?

The laminations/transformer have been dipped in varnish. One thought was to use Red Insulating Varnish, but then I realized it's meant more for coatings where a thin layer can evaporate and cure. I don't know how well it will cure when clamped between laminations. So second thought was a high temp epoxy.

I can't post a pic, but if you look at the one below you can imagine the bottom lamination separating and hanging down a little.

Any thoughts?

Thank you

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Since nobody answered...Usually some kind of potting mixture is used, but your pic doesn't look like that at all.

Potting mixture is a big mess and don't plan on ever removing it. The point is usually to seal stuff like transformer windings from moisture and also in heavy vibration scenarios potting mixture can be used to make a solid block of everything on a board. It's great until some small piece needs to be replaced.

 

[tomb]

Epoxy is fine, but try to use something without metal in it. Even some CA glue, preferably a gel, will do a good job. Keep in mind that with the metal laminations (even varnished), it will take a good day or two for CA clue to fully cure.

I've used both on transformer laminations - not on a wide scale - but to lock down the edges of a top or bottom lamination that's popped up. You might just try the regular stuff, first, instead of a high-temp glue. High temp epoxies tend to have some metal in them, like JB Weld. I think that might be bad for a transformer and interfere with the magnetic flux.

The CA gel is thick enough to not cause a mess, but thin enough to fully soak into the space between the laminations.

Just a suggestion ...