I recently did a small job; 20 display cabinets; laminated inside and out with Formica. The substrate is particle board, the contact cement used was a 38lb canister of Formica 200. After about two weeks the laminate has begun to peel off, the cabinets were in a heated building. No exposure to excessive heat or solvents. The prototype was done using the remainder of an older canister, and is still fine. The next 20 done with the new canister are all affected. Has any one else had issues like this? Choice Brands, the manufacture of the glue says I did not use enough glue. So I looked it up, the glue is rated to cover 60 sq.ft. per pound. So a 38 lb canister should cover 2280 sq.ft. The project was about 750 sq.ft. and the canister is near empty.
From contributor Je
Bill,
I see this frequently when it comes to canisters. It's almost always during the winter months and it's almost always the result of one or more of the following:
1) too little glue
2) not enough dry down time
3) exceeding the limits of the open time
4) glue applied at too cold of a temperature
5)too little pressure
Canisters use a different rubber than bulk contact cements and they are very susceptible to problems when the temperature is under about 65F.
From contributor bi
Jeff, thanks for the info.
My shop is held at about 60 degrees, and like I stated the 1st cabinet was done in the same conditions. It was the only one done with the Sta'-put canister.
All other factors were the same, amount of glue, dry time and roller pressure.
From contributor Br
For reasons like this I put my canister, gun and the hose into the dumpster. Went back to a spray pot and normal contact glue.
From contributor Je
Bill,
It could be that the Sta-Put formula you are using is less susceptible to cold than the one from Choice. They both have a wide range of formulas. It also could be that the Sta-Put product had been in your shop longer and had time to come up to temperature. I can almost guarantee if you bring the Choice product up to 70 F and use it as directed you won't have any problems.
From contributor bi
Jeff, can you suggest methods of heating the canister without trying to bring the whole shop up to that temp?
From contributor Je
Bill,
Over the years I've seen a lot of creative solutions to the heat issue. You can buy heater bands from Uline.com that will easily do the trick and I've seen people build heated boxes to store the canisters in. Sometimes it's just a matter of storing them in a warmer room (like your office maybe) and sometimes it's a matter of making sure they're not sitting on the cement floor as this will act as a heat sink and almost certainly result in a canister that's too cold. Remember, there's a good chance that the canister came in to your shop already below temperature and it takes a long time for them to fully warm up.
From contributor ma
I'm with Bruce H.
