I've found that a "huff" of breath from your lungs (not just from your mouth), usually supplies enough moisture to cause the ca to cure.
Wayne
I usually get the small bottles with a dispenser top from the LHS. I use these fast enough that I run out before it goes bad. I get the thicker stuff, not the watery kind but not the gel, either.
I keep it refrigerated if I'm storing it for a while.
I also practice good glue hygiene by keeping the cap and tip clean.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Dave, I encourage you to try my suggestion. A set of Loctite Plastics Bonding System accelerant and super glue costs less than $5 USD, and it works better than any other super glue that I have ever used. I believe that it was doctorwayne who first suggested this product to me.
Rich
Alton Junction
Track fiddler I've had that problem with CA glues and thought it was a bad batch myself. Come to find out from a gentleman at Woodcraft hobby store, CA glues rely on the moisture in the air to set.
Hi TF,
I knew about the requirement for moisture to get the CA to set. I don't think that my house is so dry that there is no moisture in the air. We are not experiencing any static electricity and the wood furniture is not as dry as it has been in years past during cold weather. I can tell how dry the wood furniture is by looking at my dining room table. The drier the table gets, the further the end leafs stick out past the main table. In a dry, cold winter the leafs will be about 1/4" wider than the main table. They aren't anywhere close to that yet.
Just to clarify, I was using Gorilla Gel CA and it did not set up at all. After an hour it was still the same consistency and there was no indication whatsoever that it was forming any sort of a bond.
I was also using another brand of CA, the name of which eludes me right now, but it had worked well for several months. Then it just stopped working.
I think my next step should be to buy some accelerator so I will do that.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Apparently that stuff does go bad. Bought a decent size bottle about a year ago and just tried it out. It was tightly sealed but more gooey than thin, and didn't even work with accelerator. I'm only going to buy the small disposable tubes of this stuff anymore.
TF
My grandson inadvertently broke off the arm of a bobblehead with a basketball in its hand. I thought that there was no way to repair such a fragile and relatively heavy piece (i.e., the basketball in hand). I used the Loctite Plastics Bonding System, an accelerator and super CA combination, and it worked like a charm.
https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/products/fix/super-glue/loctite_plasticsbondingsystem.html
It bonds in seconds and holds the two parts together securely.
tstageSounds like the accelerant/bonding agent is being contaminated. What are you bonding to with your current CA?
Hi Tom,
In this case I was trying to bond clean brass to bare styrene. The other situations where the CA has failed recently were similar.
wvgcait shouldn't matter if it's 'fresh stock'
Hi wvgca,
Thank you for correcting my misconception.
Hi Dave. I've had that problem with CA glues and thought it was a bad batch myself. Come to find out from a gentleman at Woodcraft hobby store, CA glues rely on the moisture in the air to set.
Being that it's so dry in the winter time, that's when this problem can more likely occur. The guy also informed me that a fine mist spray of water, can work just as effectively as the accelerator. Tried it, and it worked.
Sounds like the accelerant/bonding agent is being contaminated. What are you bonding to with your current CA? If it's a recently painted material, are you allowing for adequate curing times of the paint?
I don't recollect any CA that I've ever used not cure properly. It usually ends up drying hard in the bottle first.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
it shouldn't matter if it's 'fresh stock' .. CA glues will hold their effectiveness for years , in 20 or 30 years i have never had a bad one, and usually buy the cheap watery ones , not often the better ones ...
sometimes i do use zap-it, a rapid setter for CA though..
Hi folks,
I have recently been having a problem with my CA glues not setting properly. I had a couple of bottles of CA which were a few months old and they simply stopped working, so I blamed it on age. I bought a replacement bottle of Gorilla gel CA from Amazon and I tried it for the first time tonight, and it doesn't work at all either.
I have two questions:
What CA glues work for you?
How do I guarantee that I am buying fresh stock?
Thanks,