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I want a glue to stick aluminium to plastic. One of the plastic feet of my Macbook Pro keeps falling off. The body is aluminium and the foot is plastic. I have tried gluing it back on with cyanoacrylate glue (aka superglue) and it falls off a few weeks later. The MBP gets hot, and the feet are obviously subject to friction. I feel what it really needs is some glue that will set as rubber (so it's flexible) and yet be strong and bond to both surfaces.

Any ideas what kind of glue would work best? Nothing in the DIY store I visited immediately seemed suitable.

I realise I could probably get Apple to fix this at some expense, but I'm actually after some glue.

Tester101
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abligh
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3 Answers3

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some glue that will set as rubber

That would be something like Sugru

Sugru is mouldable glue. Stick it, shape it and it will turn into rubber.

I don't know whether it will adhere well to aluminium and whatever polymer Apple use for "plastic" feet. However they do say:

Sugru sticks permanently to lots of stuff like ceramics, glass, metal, wood, and most plastics and fabrics.

(my emphasis)

The MBP gets hot

According to Sugru:

it'll stay strong and securely bonded anywhere from the freezer to a steamy hot shower

Might be worth trying.

RedGrittyBrick
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    I would recommend the OP roughens up the aluminium, increasing the chances that the Sugru sticks to the laptop body. – gstorto Apr 10 '16 at 02:03
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I would look for a general-use Epoxy rather than glue. Looks like Amazon UK sells both J-B Weld and Gorilla-brand epoxy.

Superglue works best when binding two perfectly matching surfaces, that is to say, without any gaps. Most Epoxy's are thicker and bind well to uneven surfaces.

Make sure you clean the foot and socket extremely well, as any film of grease or dirt can negatively impact the glue-up.

ench
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    Most epoxies don't bond well to plastic. Make sure you get one that specifically says it will. – Hank Mar 10 '16 at 15:50
  • I have the JB-Weld PlasticWeld and I would say its adhesion to plastics is worse than cyanoacrylate (the one the OP tried). I would not recommend using this glue for this purpose. – gstorto Apr 10 '16 at 01:55
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I have a variety of glues in my shop, but for this, due to the heat, I would use a good quality of double sided tape. That's what is on the OE part.

Aluminum can be glued to if you scuff-sand the gluing area (to provide rigid "tooth", microscopic peaks and canyons for the glue to mechanically engage) ... But rubber and rubbery plastics are always hard to adhere. Sticky tape doesn't rely on tooth.

If I was using a glue, my general go-to is West System epoxy with collodial silica filler for flexibility. But the heat would concern me. And the rubber.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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