How much bonding?

[Leakylunar]

Quick question (again)
To mount one solar panel with 4 plastic corners and 2 plastic sides
and 1 double gland entry point how many tubes of sikoflex/CT1 do you think I need?

 

[Silver-Fox]

One ?

 

[grasscutter]

One. Make sure you clean the areas to be fastened before using it.

 

[tonyidle]

Roughen the plastic feet with fine wet'n'dry or wire wool. Degrease thoroughly.

 

[Leakylunar]

Thanks all help very much appreciated ( needed?)

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[stevec]

Don't forget about the minimum thickness of Sikaflex. A couple of mm I believe. Use a spacer of some sort (matchstick?).

 

[MisterB]

or a tile spacer?

 

[stevec]

Yes, that's what I used.

 

[Allanm]

Meths is a good degreaser.

 

[MisterB]

Meths is a good degreaser.

and if you dont use it all you can toast your success later with a glass or two ....

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[Lenny HB]

With plastic mounting make sure you use the correct Sikaflex at least one of them it not suitable for plastic,. A couple of people have had panels come off because they used the wrong one.


Any left over Sika seal the end of the tube with aluminium foil and screw the screw the nozel back on and it will keep for at least 6 months.

 

[Peter Beeston]

Sikaflex do a product that they call an 'Activator' for cleaning/degreasing the surfaces to get the best bond, but it is only Iso-Propyl Alcohol. Which is easy to get hold of.

 

[bluebenz1]

And don't forget bonding is not the same as a sealant joint..i.e if you need to seal a shower tray to an upright panel...the more sealant you use the better (within reason) as the sealant will flex by a percentage of the thickness applied...eg 12mm bead of sealant will allow more movement than an 8mm bead if there is a 5% flex tolerance....5% of 12 is more than 5% of 8....possibly not applicable in this situation but worth remembering when using sealant....

 

[Off da Grid]

Sticks like [insert expletive] if you do it right, it’s a right sod to get off again.

 

[Paddywack]

Sikaflex do a product that they call an 'Activator' for cleaning/degreasing the surfaces to get the best bond, but it is only Iso-Propyl Alcohol. Which is easy to get hold of.

It is solvent based but "containing a bond activating substance designed for the activation of surfaces prior to bonding and sealing with Sika® products."

For this reason you'll find people assembling aircraft tend to use the manufacturers recommended cleaner/primer rather than meths or acetone. Be like them.

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