Glue

Just a quick update on a great find.  I needed some glue for another project and was recommended E-6000.  The stuff is pretty interesting.  It sticks to everything, goes on with a viscosity sort of like silicon and actually looks a bit like silicon.  However, when this stuff dries its a crazy combination of extremely tough and flexible.  This is important because I am still not crazy about how I have bonded the manifolds for the panels. 

I need to glue or weld the manifolds to the end of the panels.  For the prototype I used some acrylic plastic adhesive, which comes in two types.  One type is really just a solvent and is extremely thin.  This works if you have to bond two really flat peices together, but it turns out that the edge of the double-wall panels (be it polycarbonate or acrylic) are not really flat.  Each channel caused a little bulge.  The result is that when you try to use the solvent adhesive, it cant form a tight seal.  The other type of adhesive was more "gooey" and provided for some ability to fill in the area between the bulges.  However, it still dried very quickly which made it a challenge to get on.  It also dries fairly solid and brittle.  I've tried silicon, but it does not stick very well.  I've also tried welding, but that is really hard when the manifold material is thicker then the double-wall panel.  I can see welding the manifold on without some sort of special oven, and that would be a pain.

Enter E-6000.  I put some of it on a test piece last night, where I glued some polycarbonate single-wall to a double wall.  It went on easy.  It's a bit noxious, but nothing even close to the solvents I've used.  The instructions say to apply some to both surfaces and wait for 2-10 minutes before pressing them together.  That is the perfect amount of time.  Not to short to be difficult, not to long to be a annoying.  Today I tested it, and it was an incredibly strong bond.  I had to resort to extreme force while prying the piece off.  I could not remove the piece when I tried to pull it off. The glue remains flexible, which means that the panel itself will be more durable.

Some of its stated features:

• Does not become brittle in cold weather, can bond items subject to vibration.
• Excellent chemical resistance to water, dilute acids and dilute bases.
• Can be submerged in fresh and salt water after complete cure.

I cant believe I'm excited about a glue.  But seriously...this could solve a big problem.  I want to figure out how I can build these panels so that anybody can build them at home.  I think i'm one step closer.