| One of the ABC's of laminating. A measure of thickness of
adhesive. All of our products are tested at 77 degrees on a Brookfield
Viscometer. Temperature and humidity greatly affect viscosity
of products, 77 degrees is an industry standard. In much warmer
weather, adhesives tend to thin out regardless of quality, i.e.
#70 at 4,200 cps. at 77 degrees, could become 2,900 cps. at 90
degrees. If running vinyl or paper to gypsum this would not create
a problem. This would create a problem if the porosity of the
substrates were greater. MDF, Particle Board, etc. This could
cause voids in the adhesion and present aesthetic or de-lamination
problems. In colder weather much the opposite occurs. Products
tend to thicken up quickly. #70 at 7,500 cps. at 77 degrees might
become #70 at 12,000 cps. at 55 degrees. I cannot over emphasize
the importance of keeping products at a dry stable temperature.
When problems occur in adhesives temperature, humidity and application
tend to be the biggest culprits. Other problems that affect viscosity
are heat and air, particularly in the glue pan area. A shallow
flat bottom pan is much more consistent for your adhesive than
a V shaped pan with some depth. This type of pan tends to build
viscosity more quickly and can cause "roping problems".
Heat deflectors or shields may also be required to solve this
type of problem.
Generally speaking, heavy vinyl's, MDF, Lauan, Particle Board
and industrial type applications require a more viscous product.
Paper and gypsum applications require a less viscous product.
All adhesives manufactured by Sun Adhesives are solvent free with
-0- VOC's unless otherwise specified. All products are P.H. balanced
to run properly and be worker sensitive. By balancing P.H. and
adding fungicide we reduce potential mildew problems. For cold
weather applications we add an adhesive "antifreeze."
Besides testing for viscosity and P.H. we also test for solids
of both raw materials and finished goods for all of our customers.
We keep retains of all batches for 6 months to refer back to in
case of problems. We manually test each product batch for adhesion.
An example of his would be testing vinyl to particle board or
MDG, or wood to wood. We are equipped with state of the art equipment,
with the ability to run large batches. This gives more consistency
to our products. |