Gorilla Glue to repair Delamination

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

I've had less than spectacular results with Gorilla Glue. It seems to not hold too well in the long term.

Boy, I hope that's not true in my case. I really don't want to have to do it again. It's been about 8 months now and still holding, but that's not very long. I've had good luck with polyurethane glues for other exterior jobs with good results. Guess time will tell.

Gorilla glue uses moisture to activate. You must be able to dampen the surfaces you are attempting to glue. Without the moisture, I suspect GG will not perform properly. Have heard excellent things about Titebond and West Marine sells many kinds of glues and epoxies some of which may work.

Go here and learn about their products which are designed for fiberglass repair.
They are the best in the business.
And toss the gorilla glue.

Http://www.westsystem.com/ss/http://www.westsystem.com/ss/

There was a thread in the DIY section awhile back where this was discussed.

Filon adhesive thread

Hi,

I've had less than spectacular results with Gorilla Glue. It seems to not hold too well in the long term.

Thanks everyone, going to swing into West Marine on my way home and see what they have.

Yes, Gorilla glue does expand. Agree on checking into contact cement since it's a thin layer. Not familiar with high temp or others, but a call to a couple of the contact cement manufacturers should get you the information.

I used a West Marine based epoxy .. don't recall which one. Boats experience delam issues all the time and you might consider visiting a Marine outlet and see what they recommend.

Another thing some use is Finishing Resin. It uses normally used with fiberglass matting, it is a little thinner liquid then regular resins. It will flow into the smaller voids of the delamination where thicker glues won't.

I have some delam starting under a window due to my failure to keep it sealed at the top. I inquired about repair at the local RV place and was told that they use "hi-temp" contact cement. Once the area is opened and allowed to thoroughly dry, the delaminated sections are pulled as far apart as possible and each side coated with contact cement, when the adhesive is dry the 2 parts are clamped together and allowed to set. The dealer said the reason you need the hi-temp stuff is that the walls get hot from sun exposure, and any other adhesive will fail.

I haven't actually done this repair so I can't speak first hand but thought IO would pass this along from a pro in the field. You may want to PM Chris Bryant here on the forum, he is an RV tech.