Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

GPW wrote:Wonder what he did with the Gripper to not get the results others got ?? Anybody read the can ?

The result could very well have been a procedural error on my part, or the difference could be subjective since I've never played with cloth coated foam before, so my only idea of what to expect was in my head.

It was the same white Gripper that's been referenced here before. My procedure was to brush paint the Gripper onto the surface Foamular 250 foam with just enough thickness for a wet, even coating, then I wrapped the foam with the denim (not my ideal material), squeegeed the cloth, then applied another layer of Gripper over the top, and squeegeed that.

The humidity is pretty high here during the winter, so I think that may have had something to do with it. I was just noticing that some papers sitting on a shelf in my garage were rather limp feeling last night when I went to move them. I don't know if the Gripper needs to breathe or not, but the weave of denim that I used for the test was too tight for the gripper to soak through from the foam side. Thinning the Gripper may make a difference, but I'm not planning to use denim anyway, it was just what I had laying around.

Thoughts?

Not sure if my method was a whole lot different than yours but I coated the canvas thoroughly (got a bit of soak through) and then applied it to the roughened foam. (maybe that's what I did different). I did not coat the exterior surface of the canvas but did brush down any Gripper that soaked through. I got real good adhesion. I wouldn't try to use it for gluing foam to foam but for canvas to foam, I'd use it again...

We did much the same as everybody else ... Painted the glue on the foam then attached and stretched the dampened canvas over it ... It Works !!! My little Foamie is still fine living outside , no problems , but I did notice the supposedly long lasting Eternabond tape was lifting on the edges around the top vent ... gotta fix that ...

Slowly finding out Anything RV is Bogus !!!

You just need to adjust your definition of eternity

The RV guy said this is supposed to last 15 or more years .... Yeah right !!! More RV lies !!!

Hi GPW,

Everything I've ever read or heard about the Eternabond
has been totally positive. I'm looking to possibly using it
on our Avion this summer.

I just looked at their website:

http://www.eternabond.com/?Click=2058&g ... nAodcG0AWQ

And their Tips & Installation Instructions:

http://www.eternabond.com/v/vspfiles/as ... nstall.pdf

I wonder if your problem is what they describe as "fishmouthing" in the PDF ?
That sounds more cosmetic than functional. It says the adhesive never dries out
and always stays flexible to accomodate expansion and contraction.

I'm sure you followed the installation instructions - as you seem to be a very thorough
person from your posts - so I wonder, if there is a problem, could it be with the paint
coating under it failing ? I wonder if that could be the problem, especially with latex
paint - if that was what you used. I don't have a very high opinion of latex paint as
I've been less than impressed with my experience with it.

I'll be interested to hear what you do find out when you attend to it.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

Norm , I’ll get up and examine it closely , see what’s actually happening ... I did thoroughly clean and prep everything , with acetone , maybe in my over exuberance to Clean the surface I might have affected the Latex adversely ... I’ll check and get back with you on this ...
Ps. I found the trick to using latex is to let it dry/harden at least a week before doing anything to it ...it dries quick but is Very SLOW to fully cure ...

Norm, it would seem the only places the Eternabond lifted was where it overlapped onto the top of another piece , The tape is stuck FAST to the painted canvas ... no problems there .... weird huh ???

Hi GPW,

Ah !, That makes sense - from what I read, it does sound
like that 'fishmouth' thing they mentioned. Very Good to hear
that the rest is fast-stuck to the Foamie - exactly what we
wanted to hear.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

We’ll have to re-glue down the “flaps" or they might get larger in a towing “breeze” ...