what kinda glue to use

[ziggy]

i'm working on my windshield. it has a center panel that opens. unlike most boats, it slides vertically. there is a top rail that is the guide for the window. the guide is metal. chrome plated aluminum maybe. there are voids in the metal that originally had some glue in them. + one side is flat. plexiglas is glued into a channel on the rail. i think the glue needs to be rather strong as with every wave i hit, the window will be trying to slide out of the slot in the rail. so far i've been to 2 glass stores, 1 boat store, and one boat (fiblerglass)repair shop. no one has had any good ideas yet. most agree with me that silicon would not hold up. i need to glue it once and do it right. the new plexiglas panel i have is near impossible to obtain. obsolete coke bottle green color..... any ideas.... i think i need something that can be into the void, slots on the rail. i guess at this point i'm leaning towards some kinda epoxy. can't be to fast drying though. the slot is 18'' maybe so it'll take me a little time to apply whatever i use... silicon would probalby apply ok, but like i said, i don't think that'll take the torture....
for pics of the panel....... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=248519

 

[Bondo]

Re: what kinda glue to use

Ayuh,........

4200 maybe,..??.....5200,..??

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use

thanks again bondo, i'd thought about 4200. might be the thing. i'm thinking if i ever break the window that if i use 5200 i'd be left hopeless though....never get it out again. either or would meet my application needs too i think..... ran that by a couple of the folks i talked to at those stores..... one of them, can't remember which thought it could be a viable idea too....

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: what kinda glue to use

Ziggy,
I have used a 3M automotive glass glue for odd ball glass installs.
May work good for you application.
It comes in a caulking tube, bought it from an automotive paint store.
It is used to glue in glass, black in color.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: what kinda glue to use

I think what you want is "sikaflex"... it's specifically designed to work in window applications, where a lot of expansion and shrinkage without leaking is needed.

Erik

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use

well, i don't know the outcome yet. and it'll need a good beating on some high surf before i believe it. but i talked with aristocraft today. they said the rebuild 19's all the time and just use 100% silicon by ge. i guess if they say it works good for them, and they've had no ramifications. guess i'll give it a go. hard to argue with the oem. sure applied nice like i thought it would. it's a done deal and is drying now..... time will tell. thanks for the input peoples.....

 

[Coors]

Re: what kinda glue to use

I deal with commercial construction; when the glass guys leave, they leave a mess of used caulk tubes. Poly eurathane.

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use



my glue didn't work. bummer. i didn't even make it down the hiway, the top rail seperated from the panel. grrrrrrrrrrr. good grief. now i'm hosed. gonna have to fig. a way to clean the s--t outta the channel and use something else. just what i didn't want to happen.
my initial response was to blame aristocraft for suggesting the product. they said. ge product. 100% silicon. i used that. however. i wonder. the ge tube says right on it. tack free in 1/2 hr, dry in 24 hrs. well, i accedently dribbled some on my table while applieing it. well, thought i might be hosed this morning when i came out and found a spluge on my table from the other day of application, thought i'd have to just peel it up like silicon with a razorblade. not. it was still wet 24 hrs after supposed cure time(thats 48 hrs cure time). darn. can i blame someone? bet i'll spend hours undoing and redoing it with 4200 which i think il shouda used in the 1st place... darn thing won't come loose after i get greaved......
new question. what cut's wet silicon? down to clean for a new kinda glue..... or any suggestions at all would be great.... i think the silicon is gonna be slick and not take kindly to a new glue.......ideas?????

 

[ondarvr]

Re: what kinda glue to use

While not the best product, silicone should work ok. If the humidity is low it can take a long time for it to cure and if the tube freezes it may never get hard. Trying to get silicone off can be difficult, not many things will cut it very well. Acetone will work if it's soft, but when it gets hard I've only found a few paint strippers that will cut it, and then not very well.

 

[Coors]

Re: what kinda glue to use

Like Erik said, silaflex is good. Silicone is bs, even on your house.
Let it cure, dig it out, and start over. Enough will be dug out, so that another adhesive can bond.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: what kinda glue to use

The problem is nothing will stick to silicone except more silicone, it all needs to be removed for anything else to work, so it may be easier at this point to work with what he already has in place. Like I said, silicone isn't the best product for this application, but it will work.

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use

got the top rail clean, got the window clean. called silaflex. they confirmed what ya said ondarvr. once silicon has been applied. nothing sticks to it...... i might get away with etching it deeply, but the silaflex tech said i need new plexiglass.. man, that just ain't happening. i need to try something else. i'll etch it and glue it with........... i don't know yet..... i'm still reading i guess..... what a bummer this turned out to be...... best laid plans i guess......

 

[Viking77]

Re: what kinda glue to use

To bad ziggy?

Thanks for sharing with us!

Would it be possible to get most of the silicone out, use sikaflex or 4200 and then put a couple of rivets in the bottom rail of the frame through the plexiglass. The remaining silicone in the bottom of the channel would be like a cushioning gasket and the sikafles and rivets would anchor it. Possibly some small 3/32" rivets would not comprimse the strength of the frame and give good holding power.

Good Luck!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: what kinda glue to use

I'd try the silicone again, at this point it would only cost ya a couple of bucks for another tube. It will work to hold it together.

 

[Coors]

Re: what kinda glue to use

This should be made a sticky,I never knew silicon ruined the bond for future adhesives.
But I never had good luck with it anyway, even on the house.
Poly, sik, vulcum, butyl. Works

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use

well, after 3 days, or round abouts, of researching Plexiglas (googeling) i came up with of all things, marine tex. epoxy. called them up (the mfg)and they suggested the marine tex flexset. like i said, nothing it seems sticks to Plexiglas.however, epoxy is one thing that may stick to it. marine tex says this flexset will stick. i think it advertiseis's that it'll stick to lexan. lexan and Plexiglas are very similar in molecular stucture so i have high hopes. it does not however advertise that it'll stick to Plexiglas......

the redo was.... all Plexiglas was stiped of silicon back to looking like regular Plexiglas. Plexiglas was taped and then etched w/ 60 grit sand paper. horizontally. final surface prep was mek, all metal was striped of silicon best i could see it was totally free of surface silicon. 120 emery cloth used for etching. mek for final clean, then glue. i hope i used enough glue. couple spots where the glue didn't fill the gap. whatever, if it adheres. i think it'll be irrelevant... i hope so.... oh, isopople (rubbing)alchol cleans wet epoxy. lacquer thinner breaks down silicon.....to a degree.... mek left a real clean looking surface to application.... now. time will tell..... i'm drying.... 24 hrs. to full cure..... supposedly.....

 

[Coors]

Re: what kinda glue to use

good luck, you have don the research well. Let us know.

 

[ziggy]

Re: what kinda glue to use

Let us know.

i'm a believer. flexset worked best i can tell. the rail ain't fell off. no issues at all. many hours later... i'm a happy camper... for my application. flexset filled the bill.......

 

[aristocraft]

Re: what kinda glue to use

Hey Ziggy, Hate to bring up an old thread, but felt it needed some explanation. Silicon works GREAT with Plexiglas. It was used from the factory starting in the sixties, and is still used today. Hence how if you look at the bottom of your front windshield it has a bead of silicon all the way around it. Now, we buy GE Silicon II and it works great. about 6 months ago, we too got a batch of the tubes that took almost a week to set!!!! we fortunately found out the next day that it was still wet, and returned the whole batch. Typical results are different from yours, and it sounds like you were just in time for buying one of the tubes from the "Someone forgot to push a button" days at GE. Just thought I would clarify this as silicon does work great..... if you get a good tube