3M VHB Tape

So I'm at the point of working on the trailing edge of my -10 rudder which I had planned to use the tape method described in section 5 instead of proseal.

I ordered some off of Amazon, and after attempting to adhere it to the wedge piece, I've found that the adhesive tends to want to stay attached to the roll and not come up with the piece of tape as I'm unrolling it.

I'd get a section that seemed fine, then mid-wedge, the adhesive would stay stuck to the roll, and I'd end up with a stretch that had no adhesive at all.

I'm wondering if I've gotten a bad batch of tape? Doing some searching here, I saw a reference to the tape having some sort of shelf life.

First picture shows the entire adhesive stuck to the main part of the roll; second picture shows the tendency it has to pull off and stay on the main part of the roll.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Any thoughts?

I know that some of the 3M tapes do have a shelf life, and do start to "cure" when left exposed to air. I've got two rolls of laminating adhesive that I use for small jobs that I keep in a plastic bag and in the dark when not in use (it also cures faster when exposed to UV).

Not sure if the VHB falls into that category or not, but the behaviour you're seeing matches exactly to what happens to the older laminating adhesive.

Excess Heat

AdamB said:

So I'm at the point of working on the trailing edge of my -10 rudder which I had planned to use the tape method described in section 5 instead of proseal.

I ordered some off of Amazon, and after attempting to adhere it to the wedge piece, I've found that the adhesive tends to want to stay attached to the roll and not come up with the piece of tape as I'm unrolling it.

I'd get a section that seemed fine, then mid-wedge, the adhesive would stay stuck to the roll, and I'd end up with a stretch that had no adhesive at all.

I'm wondering if I've gotten a bad batch of tape? Doing some searching here, I saw a reference to the tape having some sort of shelf life.

First picture shows the entire adhesive stuck to the main part of the roll; second picture shows the tendency it has to pull off and stay on the main part of the roll.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Yep, looks to me like a roll that was exposed to excess heat at some point. Use that awesome Amazon return service and send er back! You'll have a new one in two days.

We use that stuff on military airplanes in production and it definitely has a shelf life. It's been a while since I looked at a roll, but I remember 6 months. And there's definitely something wrong with that roll.

Also, the bond strength takes several days to get to maximum. If you try to peel your joint apart immediately, you'll think that tape is ****...

I've used some some other unsupported tapes at work. try peeling the tape off the reel by taking the free end right back on itself so the tape does a 180 as it leaves the reel. you might get a cleaner peel that way.

Not sure about shelf life but we use those tapes at my work. These require pressure when applied for proper adhesion. We initially had problems with the bond failing. Once we got the application down it is very strong.

Thread drift on elevator rib adhesive

FWIW, I recently used 3M Fire Barrier 2000 on engine baffling and adhesion is awesome. It leaves a deposit on the aluminum if you shear it off with a knife or razor blade. Just sayin, no mixing, flexible and really sticks !

Larry DeCamp said:

FWIW, I recently used 3M Fire Barrier 2000 on engine baffling and adhesion is awesome. It leaves a deposit on the aluminum if you shear it off with a knife or razor blade. Just sayin, no mixing, flexible and really sticks !

Click to expand...

Even though it sticks real well, it would be a very poor choice for bonding trailing edges......

Can not be spread in a very thin coating.

Thanks, Guys.

I've requested an Amazon return and should be getting a new roll in a day or so.
Van's also says that they've never experienced this previously.

If the new roll doesn't work, I'll reconsider and possibly just use Proseal.

Van's also sells it.
I think the turnover time of stock is reasonably short.

https://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?ident=1459790533-344-96&browse=tools&product=3m-tape

An update on this...

I used Amazon's return service and got a new roll in 2 days. Same deal...

I returned both of the rolls and ordered one from Van's. Got it tonight and was able to put the tape on the trailing edge wedge without any issues.

The stuff from Amazon was clearly junk!