# Does your Sikaflex tubes Burst like mine always do?



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Every Time I use Metal Sikaflex packs, the tube always burst and ends up flowing out of the sides?.

Never the same issue with Plastic tubes.


TM


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## Kev1 (Apr 4, 2011)

Is that in use
Or sitting on the shelf in storage


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*using*



Kev1 said:


> Is that in use
> Or sitting on the shelf in storage


In-use yesterday


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## Kev1 (Apr 4, 2011)

Sounds like the contents had dried solid near the spout where they should come out of. meaning as you pump the pressure is transferred to the side wall rupturing it.

just a guess.

Was it a new tube or one that had been opened and left to stand

Kev


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*new*



Kev1 said:


> Sounds like the contents had dried solid near the spout where they should come out of. meaning as you pump the pressure is transferred to the side wall rupturing it.
> 
> just a guess.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the replies.

Brand new product "i" Series.

Use by December 2012

Just always happens with the metalic tubes.

TM


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## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Stop buying Sikaflex and find an alternative - I did

Cheers

Dave


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Err

You did puncture the metal tab where the mastic comes out didn't you  


ray.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*puncture*



rayrecrok said:


> Err
> 
> You did puncture the metal tab where the mastic comes out didn't you
> 
> ray.


Yes, the tube burst 1/4 the way as usual.

TM


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi. 

Did you warm the tube?-did you cut the nylon nozzle to a wider aperture?.. did you put a nail or something similar through the punctured metal tab to see that the mastic inside is fluid and not set?.. 
Is the sell by date still current?,, 

If all the above are ok buy your next tube from a different supplier.. 


If all those things above are OK it is your technique.. 

edit.. looking at your picture it looks like your mastic gun is not pushing the cap straight and the disc that does the pushing is collapsing the tube and penetrating the side of the tube wall and breaking through the side of the tube wall.. 

Give the mastic time to come out as it is very viscous,, 

ray.


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## FoweyBoy (Dec 7, 2006)

Sikaflex tubes are often too large for the jobs I have, and a lot gets left unused and it soon cures in the tube. Its a bit like Colman's mustard - the profit is in the mustard (Sikaflex) you don't use!

I have tried sealing the end of the nozzle with self-amalgamating tape. Today I could not clear the cured Sikaflex in the 1" below the nozzle screw fitting, so ended up piercing a hole in the side of the tube to access the small amount I needed - it was a rather messy way of doing things.

Dow Corning do a small tube with its own plunger of marine silicone rubber sealant, as well as the standard tube for a gun.

Do Sikaflex do smaller tubes :?:


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

A few years back I and others were invited to test a variant on sikaflex manufactured by Dow Corning at an exhibition at one of the posh hotels in Wakefield..

For attending and trying the products, we were plied with beer food and samples, but the best was a mastic gun they supplied which had a 2 to 1 gear reduction making the effort needed to squeeze the tube a doddle..

Unfortunately the product they were trying to introduce never got off the ground, as Sikaflex it was amazing stuff, but aimed at the building industry it was the wrong product coming out at a whopping £6.00 a tube compared to the normal Silicone mastic we used at less than a pound a tube.. A know brainer really..

Still got the mastic gun after all these years, more than could be said for cheap mastic guns which end up like the OP's efforts and in the bin. Took a lot of looking after on site, take your eye off the ball and it would have been away.. :roll: 

ray.


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

teemyob said:


> Every Time I use Metal Sikaflex packs, the tube always burst and ends up flowing out of the sides?.
> 
> Never the same issue with Plastic tubes.
> 
> TM


They seem prone to denting making the pressure required on the trigger higher and cause the burst.
I've found this product better, claims to have a 40 year guarantee and is at least half the price of Sikaflex.
Link to post Sikaflex alternative

I've just remade the roof seams today and it gave a good finish - when used as a sealant it can be smoothed with white spirit.
Steve


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

SNandJA said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > Every Time I use Metal Sikaflex packs, the tube always burst and ends up flowing out of the sides?.
> ...


Thanks Steve,

So I could use it for My Roof Seems?


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## firecamper (May 13, 2012)

hi may i recomend a product called CT1 its more addisive and robust than silka flex we use silka all the time at work making slurry towers etc but have started to use CT1 on smaller jobs and found it better and re useable but has all the advantages of silka .. just a idea.


kev


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

teemyob said:


> SNandJA said:
> 
> 
> > teemyob said:
> ...


Seams/seems like a good idea! If you follow the thread Stixall as an alternative, one person posted that he used it to attach a solar panel. It dries to a rubbery feel. The pain is to get all the old mastic out. Also pays to use masking tape or I find electrical tape easier to remove both side of the joint. It takes the overspill if you use the standard digital tool. You can't beat fingers can you or so I thought but I have a flexible joint tool like this
Caulking Tools
The small one is really good but the removal tool works well too. The trim I was working could be "lifted by running the black tool under it whilst I applied Stixall. Sliding the black tool with one hand and filling the gap behind it with the gun in the other. This meant I got some sealant under the edge. Finish off with a layer on top and smooth with the tool. The blue tools give a choice of shapes and sizes of bead.
I've yet to see the white finish cured but the work I did underneath using the black version made a good looking, slightly shiny joint. If it sticks to everything as well as it does to my skin then it should be good!

Steve


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Joints*

Thanks Steve,

This was my Tube.

Sikaflex 292i


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## firecamper (May 13, 2012)

http://www.ct1ltd.com/ct1.html heres the web site can get from most builder mrchants or relvant


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

firecamper said:


> http://www.ct1ltd.com/ct1.html heres the web site can get from most builder mrchants or relvant


Impressive video, seems to have same properties as Stixall Extreme. The clear version looks good. Seems like both CT1 and Stixall are Polymer based so similar products although CT1 video implies that the product is removed with water but it says in the data sheet that product should be smoothed with MULTISOLVE which is a spray on solvent. Stixall uses white spirit.

Steve


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

*Re: Joints*



teemyob said:


> Thanks Steve,
> 
> This was my Tube.
> 
> Sikaflex 292i


This is the marine version isn't it? I've only used 221 which is the adhesive which is polyurethane based and I used this to fix our Fiamma wind-out awning and 512 which is supposed to be specific caravan and motorhome product but I found wasn't particularly white when cured when I used it on a body seam. It always seems harder/more viscous than other sealants to me - Swiss engineering I suppose....

The CT1 product video is interesting, like Stixall it is a hybrid polymer based product. It looks like it does everything that Stixall does. I'll try the underwater thing tomorrow to see if Stixall works the same. My builder's merchant (best in the local area) recommended Stixall as I noted in the other thread. I'll ask them about CT1 next time I'm in. CT1 has oak and beige in the colour range which would/wood! be handy inside our van, the beige in particular could be good for us.

So choose UK for Everbuild, Northern Ireland for C-Tec or Swiss for Sikaflex!

Edit:
I thought Sikaflex was Swiss but your tube seems to be from Germany - so perhaps it is German over engineering the product and under-engineering the container!
They are all better than silicone anyway!
Steve


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

SNandJA said:


> teemyob said:
> 
> 
> > SNandJA said:
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Have to say I've never managed to keep as clean as the picture on the Pro-Caulk package! It picks up the surplus and in theory allows you to fill a gap further on, plus any body part/item of clothing that happens to get in the way......


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## FoweyBoy (Dec 7, 2006)

Stixall is also available in a 80ml tube "Stixall Easi Squeeze" - ideal for small jobs and less waste!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Does your Sikaflex tubes Burst...........................on the bed post over night.


Sorry, it just came to mind, Alan.


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

teemyob said:


> SNandJA said:
> 
> 
> > teemyob said:
> ...


Stixall in use


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## SNandJA (Aug 22, 2008)

More on the final use of Stxall.

Electrical tape comes off easier and doesn't stick like masking tape maybe gives a neater edge too BUT not as easy to keep straight when applying.

The first photo is a mystery. I was working my way round the roof and the last side appears to have a different sealant. Does anyone recognise it? Is it a kind of tape applied rather than gun application. We have similar looking seams in the shower, seems too uniform even for an expert with a mastic gun?

Steve


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