That good ol service after the sale. It's really the easy part !

Don't let Jon corrupt you Cory. Stay true to the Jets or Giants.

Tom,

I think it is human nature to get upset if the adhesives do not cure evenly. Our goal is to offer the best customer service and technical support, the widest in stock color selection, long shelf life, competitive pricing, and most important- consistency.  I have been in the Solid Surface industry since 1985 this is all i know:)

Here are a couple of facts I will pass along that many of us have not considered.

1)When you set your gun down after gluing an edge on and pick the gun back up there is a great chance you will have a spotty cure if you do not purge the mixer tip again. Since the adhesive tube is larger than the activator tube the back pressure is greater on the adhesive portion causing run-on. If this is happening you will have off ratio mixing causing an uneven cure.

2)If using the more powerful metal dispensers you can bulge the cartridge causing off ratio. This happens because this dispenser has a greater mechanical advantage over the Silver and Black dispenser. If you use the metal gun you need even pressure on the trigger not trying to squeeze out the adhesive as fast as possible.

These are so many little things that you would never think about that could cause off ratio mixing. I think we have tested every scenario, so if you ever have any problems please call Chad or myself and I am sure we can find the problem.  I've been known to talk Seahawks football also:)

Ray Aleksic

Integra Adhesives 888-862-6665

Or they could change it to Vanilla Ice. Dear New York, be advised that Jon has disparaged your entire footbal state.

Jon, we are in Syracuse, NY.  And yes an eli lead giants fan.  I say bring on 285 pound Jared Lorenzen .

Ray,  I have noticed something today. Ever since my adhesive trouble with Plexis, I have really been watching things, touching the entire sqeeze out, checking for soft spots. This top I am working on, has several angles, so there were several times, I would pick the gun up, and put it down for a minute or two, and then glue again. I was using the small square tip. I noticed I was getting some slow curing spots, that took another 15 minutes to harden.  (Your Earth Color)

When you stated in your post about the residual pressure on the gun and the gun can force adhesive out into the tip without hardner, I started wondering about that. I had plenty of adhesive, so I ran some out on a piece of cardboard, stopped, waited 2 minutes, then applied more. I noticed, after I started glueing again, that during the second trigger squeeze, this was the area of the soft spots. I reproduced it exactly, when I looked at my top, and thought about all the stopping and starting places. My conclusion, since I was not purging the tip each time, adhesive without hardner was getting into the tip.

Then I placed the larger round tip on, did the same start and stop, and never had a soft spot. I believe it is because more adhesive is in the tip??  The same amount of residual squeeze out was a higher percentage on the smaller tip??.

Am I on the right assumption here? If you are not going to purge the tip, after every stopping place, it is better to use a larger tip?

Kelsey

KC

Great test, yes you are correct. I just say if you put the gun down for any period of time to just double bead the first 6 inches and you will be fine. In the summer you might not even notice the off ratio mixing. A great test to see if your system is performing correctly is to take a popsicle stick and rub it over your seams or laminated edges, if you have some areas curing slower/faster than others (1-3 minutes slower/faster) something needs to be corrected.

Ray

 

Ray,  was the idea for the shorter square tip to save the fabricator a little bit of adhesive.  The way I see it I would much rather use the long round tips and not worry about purging and double beading, the cost of the saved adhesive definately doesn't justify the extra precautions that need to be taken.  Kelsey and I fabricate tops ourselves, trying to get employees to follow yet another set of instructions is asking for trouble.

Ray, my last post may have come across as harsh, it was not my intention.  I have alot of faith in Integra Adhesives and I also appreciate the fact that you come on here and tell us what we need to know.  It is a great learning tool for all of us.

Norm,

Not harsh at all. The mixing tip saves on adhesives and the cost of the tip. We sell a very large number of these per month and if they were a problem we would not be selling them. My suggestion to purge the tip or double bead the first little bit is if the gun has been sitting for a long period of time.

Ray

Yet I'm under the assumption that the MCX 08-18 tip works just fine on that cartridge. I have customers using them that way. I'm also  under the impression that...how do I put this...certain manufactures are offering certain tips so they can offer them at obscene prices. Rather monopolistic to me.

Both tips work just fine. I believe the switch in cartridges happened because the patent was ending for the manufacturer?

Yes, I believe that to be true. Or, the mixtip game was being played. If these guys come out with yet another tip...I'm walking to the top of the Sunshine Skyway bridge...promise!