Bond UHMW to steel

[Karl_T]

A little piece of UHMW has worked loose on my apple packing line...

It was bonded to a steel plate and came loose on machine startup (after being shutdown for 10 months). There must be 20 spots like this on the weight sizer and all but this one have held for 30 years.

I am getting it clean CLEAN KLEEN! right now. What adhesive would work best?

Karl

 

[Rikshard]

I would advise consulting someone like 3M, as they'll have something incredibly specific that will do your job.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/bonding-and-assembly-us/resources/bonding-selector/

I've attached their structural adhesive brochure, but I'm going to look as well.

Does your adhesive need to be:

Removable?
Food safe?
Subject to high or low temp/humidity/vibration?View attachment Structural-Adhesive-Product-Selection-Guide_GB_2020.pdf

Sent from my M2102J20SG using Tapatalk

 

[Karl_T]

I answered my own question

 

[Karl_T]

Get it from mcmaster https://www.reltekllc.com/Purchasing part 7513A6 at only $90 for 1.7 oz.

 

[RJSakowski]

Polyethylene doen't bond well to anything. You might check LocTite's website as they have a number of specialty adhesive systems. IIRC, they have a compatibility chart.

Barring that, a rubber based adhesive like contact cement might work. They do well with shearing stress and are also fairly good with peel strength.

 

[Nutfarmer]

We use UHMW for wear points on nut equipment. A lot of it is held on with counter sunk screws set below the anticipated wear depth. Wouldn’t work if the counter sink could contact the fruit. Good luck and hope you have a good harvest

 

[C-Bag]

All the UHMW used on our fruit processing equipment was also held with countersunk bolts. We also used roll pins for like the UHMW guide rails on the crazy link belt conveyors we made. That actually worked good if done right. One of the things we learned over time is the expansion and contraction with temp on UHMW is a lot and that’s why they never went with adhesives as they would all eventually break as the underlying metal didn’t reflect that expansion and contraction.

 

[GeneT45]

Check out Loctite 770 primer and 401 adhesive. I *think* I've used them on UHMW, but I could be wrong about the material.

GsT

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Silicone is perfect for this job
It sticks to just about everything and has high shear and excellent elongation properties

 

[Karl_T]

We use UHMW for wear points on nut equipment. A lot of it is held on with counter sunk screws set below the anticipated wear depth. Wouldn’t work if the counter sink could contact the fruit. Good luck and hope you have a good harvest

exact same on my FMC apple weight sizer. an edge got ripped up when first started. Just need to tack it back down between the counter sunk rivet and the edge. I thought about just leaving it popped back in place but think a little extra is in order. I'd buy a replacement but parts are no longer made. If this don't work, I can lock out this drop and fabricate something better.

Got orders due Friday, apples not even ripe yet. Seems like stuff always breaks at startup. A seal popped on the small forklift tilt cylinder, I am making a way to catch the leak until replacement parts come. Can't have oil all over the floor if one of the inspectors show up. (They ALWAYS come right when you are having trouble) Had the HVAC guy out to replace a solenoid on one of the large evaporators in the cold storage unit - $600. I am sure something else will let go this week.

At least apples have strong demand and good prices. Sounds like not so much for some nuts.