Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

So PL Premium is supposed to be good for 12 months from the date of manufacture, as long as the tube hasn't been opened.

Anyone know how to tell when the stuff was manufactured?

I don't see a date on the tubes, and I looked on the boxes of tubes in Home Depot and didn't see a date there either. The way Home Depot works (or Lowes, or many other hardware stores) it wouldn't surprise me to hear of someone bringing in year old unopened tubes, with an old receipt, and the staff just throwing them back on the shelves without knowing or caring about the date.

I just bought two tubes of the 3x, and I believe they must be from the same lot, because stamped on the bottom of both is HE9171L101, then underneath that, one says 00606 and the other says 06489. Does anyone happen to know a web site, or something, where I could look this up to see when they were made? (Titebond, incidentally, tells you how to read their numbers on their web site; couldn't find something similar for Loctite.)

As always, thank you!

Tom

A board member tells of buying PL and the glue was kind of grainy. He thought it must have been old. I bought some urethane caulk that was slightly grainy. At the time I thought the caulk was just like that but now I think it was old, damaged like the other members PL. Back to PL. I just used an opened, year old tube and the PL 3x was creamy like just opened. The glue was used in an outdoor roofing detail.

Tt

http://img1.wfrcdn.com/docresources/4063/15/150333.pdf

3L0028HP11
0 = Last Digit of Year of Manufacture
028 = Day of Manufacture based on
365 days per year
For example:
0028 = January 28, 2010

T

tony.latham wrote:http://img1.wfrcdn.com/docresources/4063/15/150333.pdf

3L0028HP11
0 = Last Digit of Year of Manufacture
028 = Day of Manufacture based on
365 days per year
For example:
0028 = January 28, 2010

T

Just what I was looking for! Thank you Tony!

BTW, we were using the 8x PL Premium (gray), but it was pretty stiff even when new(ish) and we had trouble with my cheap caulk gun. For the roof we'll try the 3x and also use a fancier battery operated gun.

Tom

BTW, we were using the 8x PL Premium (gray)...

I've never seen that stuff. Where'd you find it?

Tony

tony.latham wrote:

BTW, we were using the 8x PL Premium (gray)...

I've never seen that stuff. Where'd you find it?

Tony

A year ago, when we were looking for "PL Premium" (never having used it before) we found both types at Lowes. Didn't know any better so we figured we'd pay a little more and try the "better" product.

If it weren't for the difficulty applying it (due to its thickness, or viscosity), we would stick with it, as it's been holding great. But since we have such a large area to cover to apply the roof, we decided to consider our options.

First, we were using a $2 caulk gun that has a 10:1 thrust ratio. That worked well enough for caulk, not so good for adhesives. After looking at options on-line, we decided to try the Ryobi battery operated gun, with 500 lbs of push force (we already have a Ryobi battery/charger, so bought the one where it wasn't included).

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-18-Volt-ONE-Power-Caulk-and-Adhesive-Gun-Tool-Only-P310G/205648767

If we don't like that, we might try a mechanical gun with better thrust ratio, or pneumatic guns are also available.

Since no one else has commented on this, I'm guessing the 3x is thinner, and isn't a problem as long as someone is using a reasonably good gun.

I haven't had problems sanding the 8x although I did see some comments about it sanding harder than 3x, on some boat forums. After we try the 3x, we'll have a better basis for comparison.

We plan on applying three sheets of 1/8" Baltic Birch for the roof. We'll go slow and start in the back with the 3x. For the last piece, which has a lot of vertical surface in the front, we may go back to 8x, since it is specifically designed to be "fast grab". By then, we'll have more experience, and can make the call.

Drifting off-topic just slightly: Our plan for applying the BB is to use dry-wall screws to hold the curve temporarily until the glue dries. We'll then fill the holes with epoxy and phenolic before glassing. That seemed to work well with the hatch. With the epoxy coated fiber glass over the holes, I can't see that water intrusion will be any problem <knock wood>.

If anyone senses any flaws in these plans--would love to hear them (sooner than later, please!) Thanks!

Tom

I think the more likely thing at Depot is them not rotating stock.

Look at getting a quality quart caulk gun and buy the big tubes of glue. For every two small tubes you buy it's like getting one free. It's amazing how much glue you go through on these little campers.

Todd

When I apply PLP on large glueups, I cut the plastic end of the tube. Using usual gun I put the big chunks of glue on the surface and distribute the glue with notched throwel of my choice for the application. No problem with usual hand gun, easy and fast. PLP requires glueups to be clamped as it expands when curing with moisture from air. Just sharing my experience. Cutting the tube end off is not my original idea, I read it on this forum.

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Our plan for applying the BB is to use dry-wall screws to hold the curve temporarily until the glue dries.

I don't see any problems with that but you might consider using pocket screws since they have a big head that won't crush into the plywood.

Here's a shot of a temporary pocket screw that I placed during my hatch-spar installation. They really suck things down better than a flat-head screw.





Tony

Fiberglass cloth with epoxy is a good plan. I went with automotive body paint as a finish, which is expensive, but any paint or clear coat that protects from UV should work.

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KTM_Guy wrote:I think the more likely thing at Depot is them not rotating stock.

Look at getting a quality quart caulk gun and buy the big tubes of glue. For every two small tubes you buy it's like getting one free. It's amazing how much glue you go through on these little campers.

Todd

We thought about that Todd. Thing is, we don't use any product that comes in caulk tubes that much, and it tends to dry out on us by the time were ready to use it again. We'll see how this goes. How much PL premium would you folks use for a 5 x 5 board?

Tom

tony.latham wrote:

Our plan for applying the BB is to use dry-wall screws to hold the curve temporarily until the glue dries.

I don't see any problems with that but you might consider using pocket screws since they have a big head that won't crush into the plywood.

Here's a shot of a temporary pocket screw that I placed during my hatch-spar installation. They really suck things down better than a flat-head screw.





Tony

Hi Tony,

I should have mentioned, I'm using finish washers with the screws. They dig in a little, but the epoxy and filler cures all. I accidentally broke a screw this afternoon, and had to put another one next to it. The picture shows how much I dug in on this corner



I think your solution is better, but I already have 20 lbs of drywall screws, and a box of those cheapy stamped washers.

Tom

OP827 wrote:When I apply PLP on large glueups, I cut the plastic end of the tube. Using usual gun I put the big chunks of glue on the surface and distribute the glue with notched throwel of my choice for the application. No problem with usual hand gun, easy and fast. PLP requires glueups to be clamped as it expands when curing with moisture from air. Just sharing my experience. Cutting the tube end off is not my original idea, I read it on this forum.

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I like that idea. thank you, we may try it!

For finishing, we plan to copy Tony, and use fiberglass (already did it on the sides), then prime and cover with Monstaliner bed liner. We found a tan color that matches our Taco, unless we go with the bright orange that seems to be popular these days!

Tom

Thank you all for the suggestions! As usual, I didn't get as far as I'd planned this weekend, and so Shelly and I will try the PL Premium (3x) next weekend. (I'm just a slow worker; good thing I don't do this as a day job!) I'll post any differences we find between the 3x and 8x versions.

Tom

We glued the first roof panel down this morning:



using a combination of screws, clamps and weights to keep the panel clamped down.

Turns out it took 2 1/2 10 oz tubes of PL Premium! I hadn't expected it to take so much, so we only had two tubes of the 3x. We finished with a tube of the 8x, which had been made at the end of August 2018, so we bent the rule on one year shelf life a little.

Shelly did most of the gluing and says the 8x is definitely thicker than the 3x, but the electrical caulk gun worked fine with either



She cut the first tube (3x) for about a quarter inch bead, which I think was much too big for this application, and maybe part of the reason we used so much. I tried to spread it around more with a notched trowel, but it didn't spread too well, so I gave up on that idea. The next two tubes were better, she cut them for maybe a 3/16 inch bead.

I am a bit concerned with the way that glue expands, thinking we may have a ripply roof.



I'm hoping after routing the roof panel clean, and then making a 3/8 inch round-over, this edge won't be so obvious. Maybe between the epoxy and Monstaliner, ripples won't be too apparent also.
Otherwise, we may have to restrict guests to our camp to those under 5 ft 9!

The next panel will take the front curve, and the small one after that will be all vertical on the front, so we'll use (new) 8x PL Premium, since it's "fast grab". 5 tubes should do it, but I may buy another just for insurance. Seems like the wrong place to save a few bucks.

Todd, if we hadn't already invested in the 10 oz gun, I probably would buy the larger one, now seeing how much glue we used. Oh well!

Tom