Sealant

[mininut2]

This is something that I think T1 Terry put up somewhere before
http://www.abldistribution.com.au/p-802 ... esive.aspx
Rick

[Craig]

I used the selleys bathroom sealant in our Winnebago about 8 years ago. It is still in great condition.

[T1 Terry]

Where do you get Simson from Terry?

Would you use it for solar panels onto the roof?

The light weight solar panels was the reason for first changing from Sika to Simson. Sika 11FC releases its bond at 90*C but it is severely weakened at 70*C, Simson hangs in there over 125*C, needs little in the way of surface conditioning, a with over with a metho soaked rag does the job fine, Sika wants a special activator/primer applied for high stress joints, Simson will for a plug in the nozzle that pulls out easily, Sika will continue to set the plug all the way down the nozzle and into the cartridge or sausage the longer it soits between uses unless stored in the fridge or a seal made with metho or thinners in a sealed nozzle and then attached to the unused tube. I had cartridges and sausages of half used Sika solid and cartridges unused that had gone that thick it was usless, the Simson doesn't seem to suffer the same problem.
The down sides are, it's a multi tool and hrs of work to get it back off if you made a mistake, the heat gun just can't get it hot enough to release, it required clothes you can sacrifice for just those Simson jobs, it doesn't come off no matter how many trips through the washing machine, it will clean up with metho or thinners before it's fully cured, but it's a razorblade, coarse sand paper or multi tool once it's gone off, 7003 will skin in 10 mins in humid weather, but the remained can take 24 hrs if it was a thick layer applied, this can be handy for pushing the sealant deep into a joint you can only access from one side, but if you remove the joint before it's fully cure the stuff ends up on everything it the local area

T1 Terry

[Mrcoolabah1au]

Simple simon say ?

[Kelvin12]

Continue to have problems with Sika. 11FC or marine in the white colours breaks down and cracks but the black in the same range sticks like hell, just the white doesn't go so well for some reason despite being the same mix. White sure is easier to clean up but the black is really crook to clean excess. Like Terry mentioned it goes off in the tubes and there is a lot of waste if you aren't going to use the full tube or sausage. Tried several different ideas and found leaving a good ball on the nozzle did seem to help for short time storage. Biggest problem with the cartridge is getting any sort of quantity of nozzles. Bunnings must pay for individual ones as they hand them out like they are gold plated. Most I could ever get after pleading was 2 per cartridge. Sausage tubes have packets of them on the shelf but not the cartridge.

Dirk

[BruceS]

I found inserting a long (4") galv roofing nail into the nozzle, wrapping very tightly with GladWrap (twice) and then storing the unused tube in the fridge seems to stop it solidifying as quick. It is moisture/humidity that sends Sika 'off' so ensure you prevent moisture in the fridge getting at it as much as you can! Yes I know about the shortage of nozzles!! Pity they aren't the same size/thread as Selley's?

[Kelvin12]

G'Day Bruce,

No idea why Sika don't supply/ sell packets of the cartridge tubes. They do for the others but not the cartridge for some reason. At $16 a tube its an expensive issue if the bloody thing has gone off. Do the fridge thing when at home but not up on the bus.

Dirk

[T1 Terry]

Simson 7003 and 7005 is definitely a better product. The excess knob in the end of the nozzle is all that is needed, a careful removal so it doesn't break off inside the nozzle and away you go. It doesn't yellow or go powdery in the direct sun, a clean up with metho is all that's required after making the rough surface for it to adhere to of course, the same with any adhesive. The 7005 is more of a winter product or for those that can assemble very quickly, 7003 skins at about the same speed as Sika 11FC, but the inner part of a thick bead takes longer.
as far as getting the cured piece out of the Sika nozzle, a length of wire or welding rod a little longer than the nozzle itself, push it part way in to form the plug, if reused in a few days it will pop out the end, a week to a mth, unscrew the nozzle and push the plug out the threaded end, much longer than that and the Sika will have cured down into the cartridge and then a drill is needed to open up a passage to get the last bit out. At least with the sausage you can cut the foil and remove the cured plug. 12mths old and it's in the bin, opened or not, it goes thick in the cartridge or sausage and won't stick very well at all.

[BernieQ2]

I reuse my 'sika' nozzles I let them go hard for about a month or so then pull the plug out.
I have dozens in my shed just waiting to be re used.
Bernie.

[Kelvin12]

G'Day Bernie,

You idea works very well. When I think of the dozens of Sika nozzles I have binned.

G'Day Terry,

So where do we get Simson. Been looking but haven't come across it. I remember a bus converter ages ago now who told me about it but couldn't find it then. He was having the same problem with Sika so switched over to Simson.

Dirk