need help with grids

[Craig Matheny]

Hey guys and gals it has been awhile been very busy with the Christmas season and I am running into an issue. The glue on my Aluminum Epilog grids has let go on one of them and not sure what to use tried epoxy works till the cleaner eats it away. Anyone know what they glue the 2 pieces together with?

[David Somers]

Craig. I dont have an Epi so I am just making guesses.

What kind of cleaner are you using? That will determine what will work for an adhesive.

How about a thick CyanoAcrylic glue. Those typically take time to cure as is. But you can speed them up with a spray of water, or an accelerator spray.

My next thought would be a thin layer of something like Sugru. That is a silicon putty that has about a 30 minute open time and a 24 hour full cure. It is resistant to most chemicals including petroleum based products. It has a bit of flex to it. Is very easy to mold and work. It sticks to most surfaces, but not polypropylene products. I also ran into a few coated metals that didnt take it well. Anodized aluminum was fine though. I use it all the time for all kinds of repairs and modifications. I think it is mail order only. A UK company, but they have distribution points in the US so an order arrives quickly. Unopened packs last about a year in the fridge. sugru.com.

My last thought is Locktite E-30-CL, but be warned it is an epoxy glass bonder so that may not help if your cleaner is disolving epoxies. This stuff works very well on glass and aluminum. I have used that a number of times with great luck, and it lasted. I did have remove all the oxide on the aluminum first though.

Without knowing what your cleaner is based on that is as much help as I can offer. Let us know what you find!

Dave

[Rich Harman]

JB weld is resistant to most chemicals, and bonds to metal fairly well.

Another adhesive that works really well is Goop. There are many "flavors", shoe Goop, automotive Goop, marine Goop, household Goop etc., as far as I know, they are all the same stuff.

[Dave Gates]

We use this stuff called PC-7 epoxy. It's been working great for us although it does not work on some plastics. It is resistant to chemicals according to the manufacturer's website also.

We have had good results with JB weld in the past as well

[Kev Williams]

Every boater I know who's ever used this stuff says do NOT use it on anything you might ever have to take apart...

[Craig Matheny]

Ok here is the name of the cleaner Industrial Purple Degreaser by Zep
Next the adhesive has to dry hard as when it comes time to replace the grid I have extras I had cut at a great price. So if it is a silicon it does not come apart later well. I tried on my other grid 5 min epoxy and it held for awhile but have had to re-glue.

So any ideas...