Adhesive and Sealant Applications & Tools

Production is never perfect. Periodically there is a malfunction within the process and the sausage is oversize. Generally speaking the manufacturer does his best to catch this, but some do get to the end user.

An oversize sausage is nearly impossible to load into the tool the normal way, simply dropping it into the barrel. What you need to do is draw the sausage into the tool. Albion's DL-45-T14, DL-45-T15, DL-45-T24, and DL-45-T25 all have the ability to pull the sausage into the tool. These are the professional tools.

The Aluminum Barrel, low cost tools.... which includes Albion's B12S20... are not built with that feature. With these tools all you can do is set return the sausage. (If anyone does have a way to load an oversize sausage in a tool like this, please share.)

Watch this video on how to draw an oversize sausage into a dispensing tool.

Labels: sausages, videos

Watch this interesting video showing you how a Sausage is filled. The process is significantly faster than the process of filling a cartridge, and thus has a lower cost per ounce. This savings is passed onto the customer.

Machine is built by Poly-clip Systems Corporation.

The Sausage is a package used to contain sealant and is customarily supplied to the market place. We will talk further on this subject.

Labels: sausages, videos

A Sausage (also known as a Chub or Sachet) is sealant or adhesive packaged in a Mylar bag. They are dispensed with full barrel tools. The sausage has its benefits and drawbacks. In this section I am listing some of both...

Benefits over a standard cartridge:
More cost effective

Shelf life is typically longer

Fewer changeovers – Sausages typically hold twice as much material

Reduction in waste, when totally dispensed they are just ½” tall

With sausage guns you get access to a wider variety of nozzles (longer, wider, narrow slots, bendable, multiple beads, etc.)

Potential Drawbacks:
Requires a different gun

Tends to be messier for the end of the sausage is open at the nozzle end (meaning you must be more careful in loading and unloading sausages from the tool.)

Benefits over Bulk, Material packaged in pails:
Cleaner and easier to load

More portable if the application is in a difficult location. You can simply take a couple sausages and the gun to the location.

Drawback:
When tooling the joint, you must discard the excess material verses putting it back into the pail and reusing the material.

For the next few segments we will be talking more about unique things related to the sausage.

Labels: sausages

I have heard numerous excuses to not attend the World of Concrete Trade show and none of them seem justifiable. When you don’t come, you miss connecting with the people and key/new products within your industry.

Yes, I admit it does get old coming year after year but it brings the industry together. People talk, business is conducted, and contacts are made.

Yes, I understand money is tight, but is it so tight that you miss a key gathering of professionals within your industry?

Yes, I feel strongly that the World of Concrete is worth the time and money. What is two days of your time, a cheap ticket, and hotel room in Vegas? That's right, the flights are cheap and the rooms can be too, if you are smart.

I want to encourage you to seriously consider attending. If you are on the fence, do it. Go to the World of Concrete.

Labels: World of Concrete

This graph is interesting to talk about. It illustrates the measured results of a standard smooth-rod drive tool versus a similar dripless style tool. The blue line shows the force generated by the standard drive system. Note the small drop in force between each pump. It also shows the displacement (amount of material dispensed) of the drive system with each pump.

The purple line shows the exact same action using an equivalent drive system with a dripless feature. Note that the force drops to zero at the finish of every stroke and the displacement is about 20% less per pump.

What happens? The smooth rod drive tool allows the operator to pump efficient, smooth, long beads of sealant. Conversely, with the dripless drive, at the conclusion of each pump there will be a dramatic bump or lump in the bead.

Conclusion: Choose the right tool for the job! Smooth rod tools are excellent for applications where the bead requires more then one stroke. Dripless is better for small beads or multiple, repetitive dabs such as interior paint prep where you are filling short cracks, nail heads or depressions intermittently.

There is a reason and an application for both types of drive systems.

Labels: dripless

What is Firestop? It is sealant that hopefully is never used but when it is needed (during a fire) it does its job and saves lives. It is sort of like an airbag in a car, you never want to use it but when it is needed it had better spring to life and do its job. Firestop is designed to expand and seal off openings in walls to prevent smoke and fire to spread into another part of a building. This enables those in that space to escape. Unlike sprinklers which help to contain the fire, firestop is used to help keep people within the building safe while they work to get out of the building.
From FCIA’s website --- www.fcia.org ---- “The FCIA's mission is for member organizations to be recognized throughout the construction industry as preferred quality contractors of life safety firestop systems. FCIA Member Contractors are committed to providing consistent, high quality firestop systems as a critical part of Effective Compartmentation.
Through active participation in the FCIA and related forums, members contribute to the advancement of the firestop and compartmentation industry and maintain exceptional knowledge of this specialized service.
Through this professional commitment to fire and life safety, member contractors bring considerable value to their customers by enhancing public safety and property protection.”
We surely have learned a great deal from those within this organization. Our part is to help educate them with respect to dispensing tools but to also help deal with difficult applications. The firestop contractor may have to climb up inside a building in a crowded space and apply material. Short guns, bendable long nozzles, supper thin nozzles and on occasion spray tips may be required.
Another excellent resource.

Labels: FCIA, firestop, trade organizations

I have found that it takes well thought out solutions based on solid engineering theories for anything to work and work well. I guess that is what brings me to who I am, an Engineer. You simply can fight gravity, or expect adhesive to truly stick to ice. Basic proven theories allow us to solve problems.

One of the strongest organizations I know in our industry is the Sealant Waterproofing Restoration Institute, SWRI, (www.swrionline.org) an organization of contractors and material manufacturers who focus on sharing technology, finding solutions and raising industries technical level.

Most people feel that anyone can put sealant in a joint, but truly they must understand the characteristics of the joint, match those characteristics to the proper sealant capable and then properly clean, prime and install the sealant. There is some real serious theory behind sealing a joint properly….and I think that is what separates an SWRI contractor from the guys with their pickup trucks and low bids. Think about it for just one moment, sealant is generally there to keep water out of your buildings for a long time….improper installations and/or improper material selection will cause failure and leaks.

Those within SWRI review applications and share their experiences, discuss difficult issues and work to train those within the industry. The connection between the manufacturers brings a higher level of accountability on parties, the contractors and the manufacturers. It also allows issues to be discussed and hopefully resolved possibly through the development of new products. But, again I must emphasis the solutions have to be sound.

I am not an expert for I supply the SWRI contractor with tools, the SWRI contractor is.

My next Blog will be on another organization the Firestop Contractors Institute Association, FCIA.

Labels: SWRI, trade organizations