Voltage Regulator Dead?

[Mogman]

If it is a hard resin, I use MEK to dissolve potted electronics, the regulator I have seemed to be somewhat pliable, I have not tried to dissolve it yet.
I was thinking it may be silicone based but if that were the case the alcohol you are using would have no effect, so I would think the MEK would work.

 

[Tanabi]

If it is a hard resin, I use MEK to dissolve potted electronics, the regulator I have seemed to be somewhat pliable, I have not tried to dissolve it yet.
I was thinking it may be silicone based but if that were the case the alcohol you are using would have no effect, so I would think the MEK would work.

The outermost layer might be silicon ... it may be my imagination that it was softer the second day. It could simply be the wetness of the alcohol made it a little easier for my knife to pry around the edges. The inner stuff (the cement grit stuff) is definitely impacted by alchohol though. I'll look into MEK, thanks!

 

[Mogman]

One word of caution, the MEK will likely dissolve more than the potting compound, the plastic sleeves around electrolytic capacitors that have the polarity and component values are one example, so I pay close attention as it dissolves of any component values, part number etc.
Of course this is not an issue with a module that has documentation but most of the time the potting compound is also protecting proprietary information, this of course makes it a more rewarding endeavor.