JohnAbercrombie
Paddler
I've used Aquaseal for gluing drysuit gaskets. It works well; I've never had a failure.
All the gasket work I've done has been at home, in my basement shop.
I generally leave the Aquaseal to cure overnight.
I've been thinking about my repair kit for kayak camping. It seemed to me that a quick-setting contact-type cement would be much easier for a 'field' repair.
Using some clean auto tube rubber, I did a few quick tests.
The rubber was washed well with detergent, cleaned with acetone, and sanded with 80 and 150 grit sandpaper, and wiped again with acetone.
The glues I tested:
Barge Cement - the recommendation of the salesman at Industrial Plastics in Victoria
Lepage 'Heavy Duty' Contact Cement - I use this (solvent-type) glue for gluing foam padding in kayaks; it works well.
Pliobond 25 - another product I found at Industrial Plastics.
Even when I store it in the freezer, I find that an opened tube of Aquaseal doesn't survive well. I was too cheap to open up a fresh tube of Aquaseal for this test. I know it works. (BTW, the Cotol catalyst/accelerator for Aquaseal is very liable to evaporate from the tiny and expensive bottle; I don't have any of that here.)
Shop temperature was 15C.
The instructions for each glue were followed exactly.
Barge Cement: Single coat on each surface, allowed to dry for 20 minutes
Lepage Contact Cement: Single coat on each surface, allowed to dry for 20 minutes
Pliobond: Two coats on each surface, each allowed to dry, then a 3rd coat allowed to dry till tacky.
The Barge Cement and Lepage Contact cement were similar consistency - thick, honey-like clear liquids.
The Pliobond is a milky liquid, with a less-viscous creamy consistency.
I spread the glues with the brushes included in the container (Lepage,Pliobond) or a 'Popsicle' stick (Barge Cement).
Results:
Barge cement is the clear winner. After 10 minutes, it completely bonded the rubber samples together; they couldn't be separated without a lot of force and small bits of the surface rubber were pulled away with the adhesive. This would definitely be a 'ready to use' bond after 10 minutes.
Pliobond 25 The Pliobond separated with some difficulty after 10 minutes, but re-attached when the rubber pieces were pressed together again. With increasing time (1 hour and 24 hours) it was more difficult to pull the pieces apart, but the adhesive was still not completely cured - there was still a strong solvent smell. This would be an adequate repair for a gasket, but the bottle of liquid would not be convenient in a repair kit.
Lepage Contact Cement- this was completely ineffective. It seemed to be bonding the rubber pieces, but they could be pulled apart easily, leaving a clean rubber surface.
Removal: Could an old gasket be removed and a fresh surface provided for a future repair?
There's not telling how these glue bonds will behave in a year from now, but after 24 hours:
Again Barge Cement was the winner. With heat (careful use of heat gun, or clothes iron with a cloth) the rubber pieces could be separated. The glue residue could be removed with acetone, or more easily with contact cement thinner/cleaner followed by acetone.
The Pliobond separated easily with heat, and with difficulty when cold. The residue was tougher to remove than with the Barge cement, but contact cement thinner and acetone did the job.
So, the Barge Cement tube goes into my repair kit along with the spare gaskets and the pieces of old gasket for patching purposes.
All the gasket work I've done has been at home, in my basement shop.
I generally leave the Aquaseal to cure overnight.
I've been thinking about my repair kit for kayak camping. It seemed to me that a quick-setting contact-type cement would be much easier for a 'field' repair.
Using some clean auto tube rubber, I did a few quick tests.
The rubber was washed well with detergent, cleaned with acetone, and sanded with 80 and 150 grit sandpaper, and wiped again with acetone.
The glues I tested:
Barge Cement - the recommendation of the salesman at Industrial Plastics in Victoria
Lepage 'Heavy Duty' Contact Cement - I use this (solvent-type) glue for gluing foam padding in kayaks; it works well.
Pliobond 25 - another product I found at Industrial Plastics.
Even when I store it in the freezer, I find that an opened tube of Aquaseal doesn't survive well. I was too cheap to open up a fresh tube of Aquaseal for this test. I know it works. (BTW, the Cotol catalyst/accelerator for Aquaseal is very liable to evaporate from the tiny and expensive bottle; I don't have any of that here.)
Shop temperature was 15C.
The instructions for each glue were followed exactly.
Barge Cement: Single coat on each surface, allowed to dry for 20 minutes
Lepage Contact Cement: Single coat on each surface, allowed to dry for 20 minutes
Pliobond: Two coats on each surface, each allowed to dry, then a 3rd coat allowed to dry till tacky.
The Barge Cement and Lepage Contact cement were similar consistency - thick, honey-like clear liquids.
The Pliobond is a milky liquid, with a less-viscous creamy consistency.
I spread the glues with the brushes included in the container (Lepage,Pliobond) or a 'Popsicle' stick (Barge Cement).
Results:
Barge cement is the clear winner. After 10 minutes, it completely bonded the rubber samples together; they couldn't be separated without a lot of force and small bits of the surface rubber were pulled away with the adhesive. This would definitely be a 'ready to use' bond after 10 minutes.
Pliobond 25 The Pliobond separated with some difficulty after 10 minutes, but re-attached when the rubber pieces were pressed together again. With increasing time (1 hour and 24 hours) it was more difficult to pull the pieces apart, but the adhesive was still not completely cured - there was still a strong solvent smell. This would be an adequate repair for a gasket, but the bottle of liquid would not be convenient in a repair kit.
Lepage Contact Cement- this was completely ineffective. It seemed to be bonding the rubber pieces, but they could be pulled apart easily, leaving a clean rubber surface.
Removal: Could an old gasket be removed and a fresh surface provided for a future repair?
There's not telling how these glue bonds will behave in a year from now, but after 24 hours:
Again Barge Cement was the winner. With heat (careful use of heat gun, or clothes iron with a cloth) the rubber pieces could be separated. The glue residue could be removed with acetone, or more easily with contact cement thinner/cleaner followed by acetone.
The Pliobond separated easily with heat, and with difficulty when cold. The residue was tougher to remove than with the Barge cement, but contact cement thinner and acetone did the job.
So, the Barge Cement tube goes into my repair kit along with the spare gaskets and the pieces of old gasket for patching purposes.