Adhesive gun adventures!

graham-xrf

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You know how it is when you poke the nozzle between the framing and the brickwork, and it goes up against something, and POW! The structure grab adhesive comes gushing out of the 3" long split in the side of the plastic tube. "Aw - Gosh darn it! Fiddlesticks" accompanied by some Anglo Saxon and a little French!

It's a Bank Holiday Monday. Only half the frame is in. The "click and collect-while wearing a mask on Tuesday" at ScrewFix, or the 2m spaced hour-long queue at B&Q DIY store is not attractive, even I could arrange the journey in a hurry!

I scooped up the escaped adhesive, and squished as much as I could into the gaps, and I headed for the water tap. This solvent-free stuff is damn strong!. My fix was some yellow electrical tape, backed up with a piece of PVC waste pipe which I split with a hacksaw, and two cable ties. The tube rescue may seem a bit excessive given what it is, but the cost of the trouble and delay in getting more adhesive and the replacement cost of the tube far outweighed the route of the hack repair.

Adhesive Gun Fix.jpg

Try not to laugh - this bodge-up was well worth it! :)
 
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I always wrap the cardboard caulk & adhesive tubes with duck tape, before use. Especially important in cold weather.
 
a good bodge is worth its weight in gold
 
I always wrap the cardboard caulk & adhesive tubes with duck tape, before use. Especially important in cold weather.
I get that - but this tube was all plastic, and indoors, and not overly cold. I guess one could expect a split if the nozzle got blocked with set glue, and you get up some high pressure with the gun, but in this case, the adhesive had been flowing, and it also flowed after the fix.

Maybe inadvertently putting the nozzle end up against a flat surface, with a small enough cut nozzle end, can get up enough pressure to just split even a good strong tube casing? Somehow, I always seem to be the one who ends up doing this sort of desperate stuff!
 
If the tube were scored with a utility knife, the score will be the seed for subsequent failure. Careless stockin people armed with urility knives have been the cause of this for me in the past.

Elegant fixes are nice but sometimes the job just requires get'er done.
 
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