• User avatar
  • User avatar
  • User avatar
  • User avatar
#13480
I wasn't sure where to put this question but it's about marine vinyl so we'll go with marine.

I have a motorcycle seat pan that's made of aluminum. I used marine vinyl to recover it. It's fastened with contact adhesive on the bottom side of the pan. The initial bond is good but over time the bond softens due to the plasticizers in the vinyl. I usually use Weldwood solvent based contact cement.

I've previously covered the same seat pan with plain furniture grade vinyl and the same contact adhesive held up for a couple of years with no problem so I'm pretty convinced there some incompatibility between the adhesive and the marine vinyl. I've also seen the same adhesive failure problem with 4-way stretch vinyl.

Has anyone got experience bonding marine vinyl? What's the best adhesive you've found?

The foam on the perimeter is 1/8 inch so I really can't rivet or use mechanical fasteners so I'm kind of stuck with glue, or so it seems not stuck.

Thanks
#13481
There's vinyl and then there is vinyl... SO many different kinds, and I've seen many calling themselves "marine". Since you're pretty much limited to using glue (and Weldwood is a good one), my suggestion is to investigate different vinyls. Is the one you're using PU or PVC? And with either, I've seen many different types and qualities of backing on the vinyl. It's the backing that the glue contacts, so I'd experiment with different ones.

When you say "over time" the bond weakens, how much time are you talking about? Is temperature a factor? (Hot climate or more northern?). I'm tempted to try making a joke... if you feel it lasts for 6 months, give a 3 month guarantee! :)

Oh, while I favor a good contact cement for your application, you might also experiment with E6000 adhesive. It's rather good and is used for many automotive applications.

Good luck!
John liked this
#13482
We bond a fair bit of marine vinyl and only use weldwood. However only vinyl to sew foam, never tried to bond vinyl to aluminum. Maybe etching the aluminum would help the bond? And/or give the aluminum some texture with a wire wheel, those tiny grooves give it a bit extra to hold on to. If you are concerned about plasticizers, there are always synthetic leathers like sunbrella horizon that dont have them.
John liked this
#13496
Yeah i would make sure the aluminum is not smooth. Rough it up to give the glue something to grab on to. Also try increasing the amount of material that is being glued down so that the glue has more surface area to increase the hold strength.
#13500
I've done several seats on aluminum pans and vinyl bonded with contact cement. Interior vinyls maintain the bond to the aluminum no problem. I've had trouble with the bond twice, once with 4 way stretch vinyl and once with marine vinyl. It's fine for a few days but then the contact cement turn gooey and loses it's bond. I've rebonded the marine vinyl with another coat of contact adhesive but that is now failing too in the same way. I'll try the E6000 and see how that goes
#13507
sandmanred wrote: Tue Aug 17, 2021 3:55 pm I've done several seats on aluminum pans and vinyl bonded with contact cement. Interior vinyls maintain the bond to the aluminum no problem. I've had trouble with the bond twice, once with 4 way stretch vinyl and once with marine vinyl. It's fine for a few days but then the contact cement turn gooey and loses it's bond. I've rebonded the marine vinyl with another coat of contact adhesive but that is now failing too in the same way. I'll try the E6000 and see how that goes
I'm the guy who suggested trying E6000, but on second thought it might not work. Contact cement can be spread out on both surfaces and allowed to dry and then makes "contact" immediately when, uh, contacted. E6000 might be very difficult to work with UNLESS the surfaces are very small. And you apply it only to one surface and must contact before it dries.

You'd probably be better off trying different qualities of vinyl... look at how they are backed, and whether they are PU or PVC.

Good luck!
#13511
Weldwood makes a glue that dry's under rubber, it comes out of the spray gun like a spider web. I've done dozens of carpet jobs on aluminum boat's, weldwood does the job. They sell the glue in a small can, so you don't have to buy a gallon to try it out.
John liked this

I don’t think the bobbin color matters as mu[…]

Single Faced Basting Tape

Drop the single face and just enter basting tape. […]

Do you have a picture of the corner? Trying to und[…]

The Padded Cell

nice job! :grin: