hot glue gun to shoot ptex?

Eli · Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 68 Location: Seattle

Has anyone tried using a cheapo hot glue gun with ptex candles? My last patch has an amazing amount of char in it from dripping...

mikeski · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 235 Location: North Vangroovy

I sifted around the web on this a bit. My incomplete research showed that glue guns are not appropriate for ptex and depending on the glue gun, likely not suitable for the 'tech' stix that tognar.com sells for the glue-gun-like thing they also sell. This is based temperature info I found for these materials - ptex - hot - ~800 to 900 F. Tech stix ~500 F. Glue gun ~400 F. I may be wrong here - I didn't spend a lot of time digging for details.

The other issue of using a glue gun is that you'll use quite a bit of the ptex/tech candle per repair. My glue gun seems to like 1 stick melted and another to push it out. So if you switch from glue to ptex/tech or vice versa you have to push out all the old stuff. How do you know when it's all out too?

nogood · Joined: 13 Dec 2004 Posts: 147 Location: Mission Ridge WA

technicaly it would work, if you can find a glue gun that gets hot enuff. But that will be hard to find for lest then an accual base extruder from kwik. anyway if you find one that will work it's probobly not a good idea to switch back and forth with glue and p-tex. I'm pretty sure your going to end up with glue in your repairs. so check out kwik tuning, they have base extruders for pretty cheap, all they are is a hot glue gun thats hotter, and has a different shaped tip.

Later
Matt

detra · Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 10 Location: central mass

I tried it once, the glue gun wasn't hot enough.

Grant · Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 3:21 pm Post subject:

You can usually rub off much of the carbon build up from the p-tex candle on your metal scraper while still keeping it lit, before starting to drip it into the base repair. The carbon doesn't bond as well as the p-tex so your repair is less secure with a lot of char.

keithermadness · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 24792

The advantage of the ptex gun is that you heat up the adjacent ptex. It makes for a stronger bond. The flash heat you get from dripping ptex doesn't heat up the adjacent ptex enough, especially if the repair is next to the edge. The metal quenches the heat too quickly.
_________________
~km

"Everyday is a potential avalanche day."
-Missiongravity

XXX_er · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 7397 Location: Northwest B.C.

forget those p-tex candles ,I found the stuff just wears away pretty fast

get some pure p-tex repair string and use a soldering iron to melt it in for a much better repair

dana · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 3656 Location: MA

Woolbury · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 1227 Location: Front Ranger

I did my first Ptex repair Wed on a gauge the size of a nickel in my new(to me)TRocks. Smooth & pretty, I was so proud. When I picked up my ski to show my friend at the end of our ski day yesterday my core shot was back-the repair had just popped out. A Ptex candle won't fix a repair like this? Or is there some other step I missed?

XXX_er · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 7397 Location: Northwest B.C.

I push along a chunk of razor blade with a soldering iron over the string for a pretty nicely finished job before I do any scraping or razoring off excess .It seems to get good heat penetration and leave a good finish without melting the existing base

mikeski · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 235 Location: North Vangroovy

XXX_er · Joined: 07 Dec 2004 Posts: 7397 Location: Northwest B.C.

tognar has an epoxy/p-tex string for hits down to the core.You melt it in to the core as a base layer and melt the p-tex string over that level to the base

khyak · Joined: 18 Dec 2004 Posts: 24 Location: WA. Cascades

I bought the 30 buck soldering iron from togner along with their string ptex. I am really happy with the results.

pb · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 539

televisionary · Joined: 06 Dec 2004 Posts: 3962 Location: casa de sueños