Removing a Road Angel mount from leather dash

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KevinF

Active Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2012
Messages
83
Location
Hungerford
Car
E saloon
As above-

One of the gotchas on a E300 I bought.

It's not a suction mount as the seller claimed but is glued....to a leather dash. Any wisdom about how I remove it without leaving a scar - of even whether I can remove it without leaving a scar.

Google suggests veg oil in a dam to contain the glue - allegedly softens the glue so mount can be removed.

Advice much appreciated. (Buy with more care next time not especially welcome!)
 
Update of OS/X overnight and now photos will not work so I am unable to provide a shot of it insitu. While I work out how to resolve this issu-ette, the offender is this (from commercial advert). It fixes to the dash by an adhesive pad. I have tried gently levering it off, but it is stuck like a limpet and will not budge - at least with the level of force I was prepared to deploy. It feels to me as if the glue needs to be softened somehow, lest it takes with it a layer of leather. I have tried the application of heat from a hair dryer - but to no effect. Road Angel could offer no advice on how to remove it.....
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Accepted way to remove that tape is to 'saw' it off with dental floss or similar and then deal with the residue which should then be more compliant with some heat to get the worst off and then you're down to dealing with the sticky stuff using a solvent, WD40 works if you have nothing else but you will have to then clean that off!

If your dash really is leather you're probably knackered getting it properly clean but it's probably just Artico...vinyl to you and me and will clean up OK.
 
Heat from a hair drier should soften the glue and allow you tease the mount of. I would blow heat down onto the mount and heat it rather than from the side and chance softening the glue that hold the dash covering. Getting the residue off the dash will be the time consuming part and patience will be the key.
 
If your dash really is leather you're probably knackered getting it properly clean but it's probably just Artico...vinyl to you and me and will clean up OK.
My thoughts exactly.
 
Hi, if its been super glued to leather damage will occur, you could test the dash covering in an area hidden away from view so you can see its composition and attack accordingly.
 
I'd put money on it being 3M VHB tape which is designed to stay stuck in hot environments and it's unlikely you could get enough heat on the tape itself with the mount attached without doing some serious damage to the surrounding areas...hence why it needs sawing off first so you can apply direct heat and then roll it off from the edges.
 
I inherited one with the CL, but it had been taken off the dash already.

All that's left is a circular patch which looks like there was a sucker mount there. Annoying at first, but now got used to it - it's very close to the 'screen and the wiring is well-hidden.

Can I ask where they put the switch on your? I have an on/off jobbie mounted into the lighting switch but don't know if that's the culprit - if I press it, it emits a fearsome noise!

Are you sure yours isn't sucker-mounted?

Stuart
 
...If your dash really is leather you're probably knackered getting it properly clean but it's probably just Artico...vinyl to you and me and will clean up OK.

That's a good point. I'd assumed that it is leather but having looked closely this afternoon and given it an exploratory sniff, it may indeed be synthetic. Will try the floss technique tomorrow and see. If the worst happens, it really is leather, and it leaves a mark, I can always stick a flat sucker-mount disk in its place, which would be somewhat less obtrusive than the Road Angel UFO.

Road Angel. Who uses them anyway? Aren't camera databases available for most satnav platforms? I seem to remember there is even a shareware database.
 
Well, I must express my gratitude to those who encouraged a floss and solvent approach to this problem. Did it today and the dash is indeed vinyl (damn clever these Germans - it fooled me it was leather). Sawing with floss removed the mount and left me with a ring of glue and backing paper which fairly quickly succumbed to Vodka. Required a bit of finger nail action to remove the last few bits, but it has now gone - leaving not a trace of the Road Angel mount.

Chuffed? To bits I am!

Thanks to all.
 
Vodka got the sticky bits off?
Must have been too drunk to care and just let go.
 
Well, I must express my gratitude to those who encouraged a floss and solvent approach to this problem. Did it today and the dash is indeed vinyl (damn clever these Germans - it fooled me it was leather). Sawing with floss removed the mount and left me with a ring of glue and backing paper which fairly quickly succumbed to Vodka. Required a bit of finger nail action to remove the last few bits, but it has now gone - leaving not a trace of the Road Angel mount.

Chuffed? To bits I am!

Thanks to all.

More than welcome matey, glad it worked out well :)
 
Ill try gin instead. Lidl's finest. Have similar issue with a square pad of white adhesive from something from previous owner.
 
Soaked a pad of cotton wool in vodka and left it in place for five mins. Then a refresh of vodka for a few mins more. Rub with a cotton towel to detach most, then finger nail for the stubborn bits. Not a trace left. I imagine gin would work just as well. However, I like gin and can't see the pint of vodka, hence my choice of spirit....
 

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