dhc4ever
16-12-2007, 04:22
Well a while ago I asked about seam sealing tents and tent floors, it appears most of those that replied knew as much as I did, so some study was called for.
I called a few of the up market adventure-trekking-climb that bloody mountain type stores and asked questions, I spoke with our resident guru Carl and basically got the same reply.
Get seam grip.
So armed with the knowledge that a few products were available to seal tent seams and seal floors I went looking with intent (very poor pun).
McNett site here, look under tents
http://www.mcnett.com/
Seam grip. (SG)
Repairs, seals and waterproofs, a flexible urethane for use on natural and synthetic fabrics, laminates and more.
Comes in at least 2 tube sizes 1 oz and the one I got 8 oz (thanks Carl).
All I can say is if you have anything bigger than a patch job to do get the big tube.
Comes in a toothpaste type tube as a clear, viscous, sticky liquid, which will dry in a couple of hours and cure in 24hr.
Tent repair
Step one is remove the old seam sealing tape and the glue thats under it, I used Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a combination of a bluntísh stanley knife blade, (gratuitous knife reference) and scotch brite pad to scrape it off. Pull the material taunt over a flat surface, drown in the IPA and scrape using the stanley blade, be careful doing this.
How hard it is to get off depends on age, just because it leaks doesnt mean its going to just fall of, it certainly didn't in this case.
After removing the old tape and glue and cleaning the surface and allowing it to dry, squeeze a bead of seamgrip along the seam, try to lift the edge and push the SG under it with the brush.
Paint a strip about 6mm either side of the seam and totally cover the edges and stitching, give it a complete THIN coating. Try and keep it flat as the SG will run if put on an angle before its set. I let mine sit for 24 hrs to dry.
NOTE once this stuff is dry, thats it ,it's staying, the only way to get it off is cut it off.
This stuff has a lot of uses, use it as a contact cement, hole repairs on fabric, Shoe soles, hole in tents etc Im even using it to seal some cracks in the air inlet hose on my 4x4, and possibly more importantly it will glue stubby holders back together.
After the seam grip had dried, I gave the inside of the fly a coating of Tent Floor Sealer as well, See PT 2 for comments on this.
Does it work? At the moment I would say YES, I gave the tent a good soaking with the hose (tank water) and heavily sprayed all the fly seams for about 10 mins, NO LEAKS:yahoo:
Photo 1 The old seam tape condition
Photo 2 The fly after the tape was removed
Photo 3 Applying Seamgrip to the seam, a cut down brush is very useful here.
Photo 4 The finished result
Photo 5 All the items used for the job
PT 2 will cover the tent floor sealant http://laventrix.net/showthread.php?t=772
I called a few of the up market adventure-trekking-climb that bloody mountain type stores and asked questions, I spoke with our resident guru Carl and basically got the same reply.
Get seam grip.
So armed with the knowledge that a few products were available to seal tent seams and seal floors I went looking with intent (very poor pun).
McNett site here, look under tents
http://www.mcnett.com/
Seam grip. (SG)
Repairs, seals and waterproofs, a flexible urethane for use on natural and synthetic fabrics, laminates and more.
Comes in at least 2 tube sizes 1 oz and the one I got 8 oz (thanks Carl).
All I can say is if you have anything bigger than a patch job to do get the big tube.
Comes in a toothpaste type tube as a clear, viscous, sticky liquid, which will dry in a couple of hours and cure in 24hr.
Tent repair
Step one is remove the old seam sealing tape and the glue thats under it, I used Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a combination of a bluntísh stanley knife blade, (gratuitous knife reference) and scotch brite pad to scrape it off. Pull the material taunt over a flat surface, drown in the IPA and scrape using the stanley blade, be careful doing this.
How hard it is to get off depends on age, just because it leaks doesnt mean its going to just fall of, it certainly didn't in this case.
After removing the old tape and glue and cleaning the surface and allowing it to dry, squeeze a bead of seamgrip along the seam, try to lift the edge and push the SG under it with the brush.
Paint a strip about 6mm either side of the seam and totally cover the edges and stitching, give it a complete THIN coating. Try and keep it flat as the SG will run if put on an angle before its set. I let mine sit for 24 hrs to dry.
NOTE once this stuff is dry, thats it ,it's staying, the only way to get it off is cut it off.
This stuff has a lot of uses, use it as a contact cement, hole repairs on fabric, Shoe soles, hole in tents etc Im even using it to seal some cracks in the air inlet hose on my 4x4, and possibly more importantly it will glue stubby holders back together.
After the seam grip had dried, I gave the inside of the fly a coating of Tent Floor Sealer as well, See PT 2 for comments on this.
Does it work? At the moment I would say YES, I gave the tent a good soaking with the hose (tank water) and heavily sprayed all the fly seams for about 10 mins, NO LEAKS:yahoo:
Photo 1 The old seam tape condition
Photo 2 The fly after the tape was removed
Photo 3 Applying Seamgrip to the seam, a cut down brush is very useful here.
Photo 4 The finished result
Photo 5 All the items used for the job
PT 2 will cover the tent floor sealant http://laventrix.net/showthread.php?t=772