Welding of Poly Taups
Submitted: Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 18:19
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Member - barry F (NSW)
Howdy Folks, I need a bit of help. Has anyone out there had any experience with the welding of those cheaper Poly Taups, not the common blue ones, but the little better quality silver external/army green internal variety?
Some info on the packaging says they are constructed from an internal weave of 14 x 14 1100 denier H.D.P.E and are laminated both sides with 0.05 mm of L.D.P.E.
My application is that I need to cut to my desired shape from an existing hemmed off the shelf taup & then rehem it in the areas that I need to.
Any advise, good or bad, would be appreciated. Thanks
Reply By: dbish - Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 18:35
Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 18:35
Hi Barry, used the same type of tarp for a boat cover, after cutting to shape folded edges & sewed new hem using an old Singer sewing machine & terryline thread (sail making) type. Daryl
AnswerID:
433480
Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 18:52
Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 18:52
Barry Low Density Polyethylene is only weldable ultrasonically, as far as I know.
Higher quality "Ripstop" type materials are typically glass reinforced PVC. PVC can be chemically welded by thoroughly scouring both surfaces with acetone and then using swimming pool liner glue and clamping under pressure for some hours. It can also be ultrasonically welded.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Mptorhome
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433484
Reply By: Member - DAZA (QLD) - Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 20:42
Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 20:42
Long time ago we used Clear Silicon on a Blue Tarp did the job ok, the seam lasted a long time, the life of the tarp.
Cheers
AnswerID:
433488
Follow Up By: PatrolEv - Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 21:35
Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 21:35
I was actually looking at this topic on some old posts today and one of them suggested sikaflex, I assume that would work as
well as silicon?
Cheers
Ev
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704400
Follow Up By: wortgames - Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 08:19
Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 08:19
I just recently used Sikaflex to stick a reinforcing strip to the green side of one of those DuraRig tarps.
It didn't work :o(
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704440
Follow Up By: Member - mazcan - Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 13:25
Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 13:25
hi
i used roof and gutter on the blue type tarp and i only got a couple of trips out of the tent ground sheet before it fell apart
however not sure if sikaflex would be better
FollowupID:
704479
Reply By: Member - Scrubby (VIC) - Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 22:05
Monday, Oct 18, 2010 at 22:05
G`day Barry,
Contact Glue works on Shade Cloth, just paint along the edge to be hemmed at the required width, wait until touchable, fold over hem, press together between a couple of bits of timber that have been coated with WD40 or similar to prevent sticking to the wood. Bingo.
I can`t see why it wouldn`t work on your tarp.
Regards,
Scrubby.
AnswerID:
433504
Reply By: Member - barry F (NSW) - Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 15:35
Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 at 15:35
Thanks everybody for your input, it's appreciated. Looks like I will start a bit of experimentation with those ideas.
They use a heated metal Jaw covered in Teflon to seal plastic ( PE ) bags, so today I purchased a strip of Teflon & experimented using an electric soldering iron running over the teflon which was placed over a folded section of the Taup & had some success.
Again, thanks to you all.
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433563