CT1 Sealant and Adhesive

[Paul H]

Saw this product in Toolstation and a possible use in bonding metal . Cost was about £12. I haven’t tried this product 

Checked on www ct1.com and found this Video ( not to all tastes ) https://youtu.be/AoZuA0ATw4Y

Paul

 

[Badwolf]

Paul - I must be honest, I skipped (fairly quickly) through the vid and have not looked at the web-site yet.  My own view is that bonding porous surfaces (wood, breezeblock and the like) is one thing (numerous non-mix products like uni-bond and sticks like sh!t, are available) but metal to metal is something else. I would suggest that you test it on metal plate, and test it to destruction before using it for something serious. Took me ages to find the ones that I eventually used. I think that there may be a considerable difference between 'construction adhesive' and 'Structural bond' which is very expensive. If you find it works well that will be a great use to everyone (myself especially) here but test it carefully.

[Bfg]

I use CT1 on my boat and it's really very good for structural bonding and as a sealant between grp and wood parts. I can glue a batten of wood to the hull side and the following day it will take my weight. I also used it for bedding (sealing bolt holes of) the stanchions around the deck edge. 

However., I used what was left in tube as a seam sealer on the gearbox cover I altered to fit my car, and then over-painted this with acrylic paint. It stuck extremely well to the POR-15 that i used as a primer / protective layer, but it's taken 4 weeks of those panels sitting on a high shelf in my lounge (the consistently warmest place in my apartment) for the paint to now feel only 'slightly tacky'. That drying time is annoying. Both use white spirits as a cleaner.

Pete.   

[Badwolf]

Pete - If I read your post correctly, if it has taken so long for the POR-15 to get to that state, it is worrying. It should be dry overnight as it works by reacting with the moisture in the atmosphere. It may be worthwhile sending an email to Frost's technical department. They are very helpful.

[Bfg]

No BW.,  the POR-15 went off fine.

I painted the steel with that first ..as I like to rub it deep into any overlapping seams.  Once that had dried, I then applied the CT-1 as a seam sealer.  I left that for another day and that went off.  I then applied the enamel ..just as a colour finish coat, and it was that which wouldn't go off.  ie. the red paint, not the POR-15, remained tacky where there was CT-1 under it.  The rest of the paint, directly over the POR-15 dried just fine.   

[Badwolf]

Thanks Pete. I understand now.

[DVD3500]

Interesting.. The gasket around the rear window of my Körbler hard top has a few small cracks and I am looking for something to patch it up as getting a replacement will likely not be possible....

Might this stuff do the trick or is it more of an adhesive?

 

[Clive]

1 minute ago, DVD3500 said:

Interesting.. The gasket around the rear window of my Körbler hard top has a few small cracks and I am looking for something to patch it up as getting a replacement will likely not be possible....

Might this stuff do the trick or is it more of an adhesive?

 

It is all things to all men. Apparently.

But there are plenty of decent sealnts out there, as well as PU, MS and hybrid adhesives. (I use Soudal Fix All, they do that in a clear. Or a LMN silicone)

[Bfg]

On 04/01/2022 at 16:20, DVD3500 said:

Interesting.. The gasket around the rear window of my Körbler hard top has a few small cracks and I am looking for something to patch it up as getting a replacement will likely not be possible....

Might this stuff do the trick or is it more of an adhesive?

 

I'm sure it would do the job well, but I recommend you check to see if it is UV resistant.  On my boat, when used to seal around the stanchion bases, the CT-1 was painted over. 

Pete.

[DVD3500]

Good point... the whole reason I bought this hard top was because we sometimes get wacky weather and I want to go "Targa" if it is sunny and dry but the weather won't stay that way long enough to warrant the soft top so it will get UV exposure...

 

[Clive]

On 03/01/2022 at 19:29, Bfg said:

No BW.,  the POR-15 went off fine.

I painted the steel with that first ..as I like to rub it deep into any overlapping seams.  Once that had dried, I then applied the CT-1 as a seam sealer.  I left that for another day and that went off.  I then applied the enamel ..just as a colour finish coat, and it was that which wouldn't go off.  ie. the red paint, not the POR-15, remained tacky where there was CT-1 under it.  The rest of the paint, directly over the POR-15 dried just fine.   

How long did you leave teh CT1 before overpainting? and how thick was the CT1. I am wondering it it had a chance to fully cure, although it is supposed to be solvent free. Odd really, but sealants and paints can be odd.

[Bfg]

52 minutes ago, clive said:

How long did you leave the CT1 before overpainting? and how thick was the CT1. I am wondering it it had a chance to fully cure, although it is supposed to be solvent free. Odd really, but sealants and paints can be odd.

I left the CT1 overnight to dry.  It was only a thin skim (mostly 1-1/2 mm or less but perhaps locally to a max of 2mm to 2-1/2 mm deep). I've not had issues with it before, but then I've only over-painted it with two-pack paints.  White-spirit cleans CT1 off your fingers, etc, and the acrylic paint I'm using similarly uses white-spirit for cleaning brushes and as a thinner.  I have not tried a water-based paint over the CT1 but I suspect that it would be fine. 

The gearbox cover I used the CT1 on, as a seam sealer, has been in the warm (my lounge) since being painted on or about the 14th December. The paint is now almost dry. Certainly nothing to stop me handling the cover now.  So what's that - 26 days.?  Most likely it would have been OK a week ago, if handled with care.

I've subsequently tested Everflex - Weather Mate, which is an n-butyl acetate compound to see if that proved any less "inconvenient" !   That sample was a piece dried around the edge of the nozzle (not my tube I might add, as I would never leave the nozzle in such a state !).  After painting I left that sample all night and all day in the warmth of my lounge, and the red paint was still tacky enough to come off on my fingers.  I'll find something else !  

UPOL - Tiger Seal has been recommended. This is a polyurethane sealant.

I would check any of these sealants for UV degradation, if it is to be used in direct sun light.   On my boat I used Sikaflex to glue a very large skylight onto the outside of its bowed companionway hatch. That was a polycarbonate (Lexan) plastic which needed to be both burglar-proof secure (despite no screw fastenings nor edge frame) and also to 100% seal the window.  However that's pretty expensive ..if you just need a small quantity, as it doesn't keep well in its tube once opened. For a car's hardtop or even a windscreen seal I'd investigate silicone sealant.  That is a product I really don't like near paint nor in engines.  If any paintwork or local touching-in of paint chips needs to be done, then that should be done before the silicone is used. 

Pete

[Clive]

3 minutes ago, Bfg said:

I left the CT1 overnight in to dry. It was only a very thin skim (max 2 to 2-1/2mm deep). I've not had issues with it before, but then I've only over-painted it with two-pack paints.  White-spirit will clean CT1 off your fingers, etc, and the acrylic paint I'm using similarly uses white-spirit for cleaning brushes and as a thinner.  I have not tried a water based paint over the CT1 but I suspect that it would be fine. 

 

UPOL - Tiger Seal has been recommended. This is a polyurethane sealant.

 

I have used everbuild PU40 from toolstation for all sorts of stuff, including seam sealing a car before painting (2k) Good stuff.

I am intrigued by the acrylic paint using white spirit as a solvent, as I thought acrylic paints were water based? certainly all the primers/gloss I use in houses. I also appreciate johnstones do some very good stuff. (I like their pliolite masonary paint, that is oil based..... great on a poor surface as it means stabalising solution is not needed, so is selfstabalsing and gets a coat of colour on a wall in one go, saving time.)

Do you have a link the the paint?

Ta

[Bfg]

1 hour ago, clive said:

I have used everbuild PU40 from toolstation for all sorts of stuff, including seam sealing a car before painting (2k) Good stuff.

I am intrigued by the acrylic paint using white spirit as a solvent, as I thought acrylic paints were water based? certainly all the primers/gloss I use in houses. I also appreciate johnstones do some very good stuff. (I like their pliolite masonary paint, that is oil based..... great on a poor surface as it means stabalising solution is not needed, so is selfstabalsing and gets a coat of colour on a wall in one go, saving time.)

Do you have a link the the paint?

Ta

I went into their / Johnstone's trade counter (Ipswich Branch) and spoke to the nice lady, explaining that I didn't want water based paint for re-coating painted but otherwise scraped-bare steel ..for the car's inside floors. Also that I wanted to thin it down - to paint the inside of my car's doors.  That thinned paint was to capillary into the crack between the pressed door and its outer skin.  I'd clean it out best I could, but whatever else was in there would be sealed in.  The purpose was to keep the air, the condensation and rain water off the steel.  I went on to say that I had been looking at Smooth Hammerite product, but didn't like their having a special thinners. It was also expensive.  I said the car was now red (originally a darkish conifer green) and so that would be my preferred choice and Hammerite did a red, but it really wasn't a very good match.  

The lady suggested this (see below) and offered to colour match the sample I'd brought in (a front grill stay).  She used RAL colour cards, and we agreed that the colour she suggested was so close that it probably wouldn't be any better if she used the digital scanner to ascertain the colour mix.  We briefly discussed price, and quantity for quantity, it was a little cheaper than Hammerite, and then the white spirit was much much cheaper than Hammerite's thinners.  She mixed it up (the can says 0.8 ltr) then and there.    

I've been delighted with this paint as it covers in one coat (even over bright silver POR-15, zinc, or black) and (aside from on butyl ) stays wet edged for a good amount of time and then dries overnight.  The paint smooths out brush strokes well and yet is not so prone to runs as some paints I have used (like Crown Paint's exterior gloss - otherwise also a great paint). In this weather, when painting the car's floors, including flish panels and inner sills, I loosely close the car hood, and then have a fan heater (on very low) just to kick it off ..to prevent runs.

I haven't yet needed to thin the paint, as it already rubs well into cracks (..for example where I pulled out the 22+ year old seal-sealer used around the floors of this car and wire brushed that out.  Otherwise angled / drawn out brush strokes smooths the paint neatly enough for it to settle flat and glossy.     

Because this paint was just to seal and colour coat the floors under the carpets - I didn't take them back to bare metal. Nor subsequently take much care in preparation ..just a light rub down of the POR-15 (with 80 grit !) followed by a brush out, quick vacuum and a wipe over with a piece of kitchen towel  ..so not exactly high quality prep and not even the use of tack-cloth. As a consequence, this side of the floors have a lot of fine dust pricks ..which I plan to ignore.     (NB. I should have used emery paper rather than sand paper )  

Still, I sorta liked the painted inner sills, so I'm thinking of leaving those exposed rather than their being carpeting over.  Accordingly, I gave their top surface a thicker coat ..which I hoped would settle flatter.  It did, and from this piccie, I think you can see that a light wet-n-dry rub down and polish would make them tidy enough to show ..as hand painted sills in a driver, rather than show car.  Btw the crinkle just in front of the slotted hole is where I hadn't scraped off the old carpet glue. That's how (not !) good my prep' was

Hope that helps,  Pete