3m 5200

OK - I purchased couple calking gun tubes 3M 5200. Had 20 tile to reset at spill over wall from spa to pool; want it to never let loose again. When I checked it was not well set in 24 hrs; still fairly tacky and tiles sit in sun. I checked internet and different items regarding set time came up. Some said to apply water on it to speed the set... I was keeping it dry.

Anyway, I purchased two tubes and plan to use one on boat in a location that will often receive a lot of many pounds flex-stress. Bolts will also be in assistance.

Is this 5200 stuff really all that great at holding things steadfast together. I also read in my search that it always stays elastic and can be cut with razor knife??

Input form those experienced with 3M 5200 appreciated!

Thanks - Art

Regular 5200 sets in about 3-5 days; fast set is much better, as it sets in about 24 hours.

Good stuff.

I attached soap dishes to tile with nothing but 5200 in our showers 22 years ago. Still there, still no cracking, shrinking, loosening, nothing. Amazing stuff, so just wait a few days and you'l need dynamite to get them off.

I'm a big fan of 5200. One of these days I'll build a boat just fastened with it to show what it can do.

It is moisture cured so spray it down to accelerate the cure if you're in a dry climate.
It will even cure underwater.

I always use it to bed metal fittings, cleats, thru-hulls, etc., to fiberglass. If I ever want to remove them I know that if I warm the fitting with a propane torch, it will pop right off. If I can't use a torch, a product called DeBond works well to remove it.

I wanted to hang my boat hook pole and brush pole on the side wall of my cockpit.
I couldn't use screws with out going through the hull. I used 5200 to glue teak blocks to the side wall and screwed the hangers to the teak. I used masking tape to hold the teak blocks on the vertical fiberglass until the 5200 had cured. That was more than ten years ago and the hangers are still holding on just fine.

Wear throw away cloths and gloves when you work with it. I swear the stuff can jump.

HopCar said:

still holding on just fine.

Wear throw away cloths and gloves when you work with it. I swear the stuff can jump.

Click to expand...

I did notice that!

Thanks for replys, guys! I'm sold. Is the 24 hr cure 5200 as good as long term cure?

HopCar said:

I swear the stuff can jump.

Click to expand...

Couldn't count the times that it's jumped on me! It's always best to have a role or two of paper towel, also this stuff "goof off" works pretty good for cleaning the extra off whatever surface you applied it to and also your hands.

Also if have some left over you can put it in the freezer, I've saved numerous 3/4 used tubes like that.

Remember, it is so messy "if you order it by phone it will get in your hair"

Art said:

I did notice that!

Thanks for replys, guys! I'm sold. Is the 24 hr cure 5200 as good as long term cure?

Click to expand...

No.

I may belong to a minority here, but I can't even find an application where I would use 5200. I'm sure you guys aware of the fact that once fully cured, it turns in to a brick. If you ever have to take it off, it'll be a huge PITA.

For this reason, anytime I need to use a sealant with similar quality I use 4200. As you may know, it has similar properties, works great for all underwater applications (e.g. transducer installations, etc.), but it's flexing and much easier to take off.
For anything exposed to the surface, I'm using 4000UV.

Just my .02c FWIW.

Steve said:

Remember, it is so messy "if you order it by phone it will get in your hair"

Click to expand...

I think if somebody in San Diego even thinks about ordering it, I get some on my fingers here in Sioux Falls.

I think of 5200 only as a strong adhesive, not a caulk or sealant. There are much better choices for the latter, including various Sika products. 5200 will eventually crack/craze in the sun, though you can paint it, which helps.

Agree with Alex F. 5200 is a terrific adhesive but you sign a contract with the devil. Forget all the happy stories about easy removal w/ heat. This stuff will cure and bond with strength stronger than fiberglass and wood and that tells the story about removal. If it is not your boat and that is what you want then go for it. Agree that 4200 is a better option. There is tons of info on 5200 but my 18 yr experience says to explore other options first because 5200 suffers from the rare characteristic that it works too well. For sealants I am a fan of the Boat Life products. Also some inexpensive bathroom sealants at Home Depot work well too (a mix of the same stuff). Lastly, I'm not sure I agree with the sun cracking and deterioration angle; I haven't seen it. Following a terrible atomic bomb blast maybe it is only cock roaches and 5200 that makes it through to the next round.

5200 aka "Satan's Glue" would never get near my boat by either dare or bet. It is not a sealant as sealants remain pliable. It may come in a tube that fits inside of a caulking gun but that still does not make it caulk. Liquid Nails comes in a tube but nobody (including the manufacturer) claims it is a sealant.

Oh CP, you're such a girl. Afraid of a little glue. I spit in Satan's eye and smear 5200 on everything! Real men use 5200. Ladies us 4200.

Just joking, please don't kill me.

Seriously 5200 does stay somewhat pliable to allow for small movements in the surfaces it's bonded to.

When 3M first came out with 5200 they gave dealers little samples to demonstrate what it was. The sample was a piece of aluminum bonded to a block of wood with about a 1/4" thick layer of 5200. The other side of the block of wood was bonded to a piece of glass, not fiberglass, real glass.
That thing kicked around my store for twenty years of more. Everybody who picked it up would try to twist the glass off. It stayed flexible and the last I saw it the glass and aluminum were still bonded to the wood.

HopCar said:

Oh CP, you're such a girl. Afraid of a little glue. I spit in Satan's eye and smear 5200 on everything! Real men use 5200. Ladies us 4200.

Click to expand...

4200 I'll use on a through hull fitting but anything above water is butyl tape on my boat. Once upon a time bedding hardware was considered routine maintenance. The problem I have with products like 5200 is the proponents of it all say it is forever. If that is the mindset and your hardware starts leaking into the core your first indication of trouble will be soft spots packed full of mush. Dolphinite or butyl tape users "seem" to pay more attention to their deck fittings and as re-bedding is so easy and painless with those materials a user is far more likely to re-bed a borderline looking item if he won't need a torch to get it free.

It sure would be nice if a 5200 use disclosure statement was required at the time of sale for boats as it sure would make life easy on those of us who wish to avoid it.

Can nylon be bonded to steel with it? Say to seal a nylon hose-barb into a steel pipe so a hose could then be slid onto the hose-barb and not leak?

Oh horse feathers, 5200 is a tool nothing more or less (it wont sink your boat or deliver you to the devil).

Understand what it is and where to use it and quit crying. you don't use a jig saw to tighten a fuel filter, do ya?

5200 has a bond stronger then glass mat has to the gel coat so keep that in mind, it sucks as a beading compound, butyl works great.

Butyl sucks as a structural glue and that is what 5200 was designed for (deck/hull joints).

I use it once or twice a year for very specific purposes, so should you.

Oh ya, if it gets on you it's a mess, I have a shirt and shorts just for for 5200.



I also keep a tube on board just to repel boarders in questionable anchorages.

I don't fear the Devil... Therefore I don't fear 5200!

Beeee a bitch in a divorce fight! Bead on car door/trunk/hood or house door/window jams... OUCHHHH!!

I now - big splotch on tires and roll car forward till splotch sits on concrete garage floor. OHHHH Yes, used inappropriately this 5200 stuff could become illegal!

Alex F said:

I may belong to a minority here, but I can't even find an application where I would use 5200. I'm sure you guys aware of the fact that once fully cured, it turns in to a brick. If you ever have to take it off, it'll be a huge PITA.

For this reason, anytime I need to use a sealant with similar quality I use 4200. As you may know, it has similar properties, works great for all underwater applications (e.g. transducer installations, etc.), but it's flexing and much easier to take off.
For anything exposed to the surface, I'm using 4000UV.

Just my .02c FWIW.

Click to expand...

Same here. That now makes .04c.

There are a lot of applications that benefit from a structural adhesive.

I had a sailboat with a kicker motor mount where through bolting all four bolt holes wasn't going to happen.

The person that mounted it used 5200. In my mind it was the appropriate use.

When I had to change mount a few years later...sure it was a PIA but with care there was very little gel damage (easily patched and the larger mount covered most of it anyway.

It would have been a MUCH bigger PIA had the motor mount come free or twisted on the 2 bolts holding it in a bad inlet.

Structural adhesive is used in many applications outside of boating also...for the right applications it just may be the best for the job outside of epoxy or other adhesives.

I have removed 5200 using a guitar string and 2 wooden handles. The stuff is like cement though it really has holding power. For a sealant I prefer 4200 or Butyl depending on the application.
Bill

When I don't need 5200 I almost always use Sika Flex. That means I usually use Sika Flex.

I've been thinking of another use for 5200 though. I have numerous holes in the floor of my 19' FG OB. The plywood floor is getting weak from water ingression in the past. Want to prevent more rotting plywood.

Thought of plugging the holes w 5200. But I think they may come loose over time. Thinking of putting a 1" dia pice of AL or SS over the 5200 or even a Quarter. Could catch a shoe on a quarter though. Another possibility would be to put a bit of FG cloth on top of the 5200. Do you think it would "wet out"?

Also when I install the seats later I want to glue pieces of wood or aluminum channel to the floor and attach the seats to the channel w bolts or screws. I'm thinking of Sika Flex for that.

Any ideas..???

Eric, I use 5200 for a lot of things but I don't think it's right for your soft plywood project. If you want to try a short cut, epoxy putty, fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin are the things to use.

The right way that will be to replace the soft plywood.

manyboats said:

When I don't need 5200 I almost always use Sika Flex. That means I usually use Sika Flex.

I've been thinking of another use for 5200 though. I have numerous holes in the floor of my 19' FG OB. The plywood floor is getting weak from water ingression in the past. Want to prevent more rotting plywood.

Thought of plugging the holes w 5200. But I think they may come loose over time. Thinking of putting a 1" dia pice of AL or SS over the 5200 or even a Quarter. Could catch a shoe on a quarter though. Another possibility would be to put a bit of FG cloth on top of the 5200. Do you think it would "wet out"?

Also when I install the seats later I want to glue pieces of wood or aluminum channel to the floor and attach the seats to the channel w bolts or screws. I'm thinking of Sika Flex for that.

Any ideas..???

Click to expand...

Eric, I guess it depends on whether you want to patch or fix. If patch, 5200 will stick like heck to solid wood and never come loose, but you'd have to be sure you were anchoring to solid wood. I think I would rather fix by saturating the punky wood with epoxy thinned with MEK, a.k.a. penetrating epoxy, then patched with wood dust thickened epoxy. If a couple extra pounds isn't an issue, then a single layer of epoxy glass over the outside of the hull up to the water line will make the repair permanent.

Oh yes Hop Car and Delfin,
I agree completely but my time is all tied up w one 30' trawler and house and property projects. At this point I'd really like to get ONE boat serviceable as we work on Willy. So all I need is registration, seats and several clean fuel tanks. Not much trouble.

So re your responses I think I'll just wait for some drier weather and zap the old holes w 5200. Thanks for the input.

Willy, for mounting your seats: I have used this material available in different sizes at Lowes or HD almost indestructable and inexpensive. It can be cut with wood working tools and takes screws or glues including 5200 etc

Shop Royal Mouldings Limited 1.25-in x 2-in x 8-ft Interior/Exterior Paint Grade PVC Brick Moulding (Pattern 7526) at Lowes.com

Steve said:

Willy, for mounting your seats: I have used this material available in different sizes at Lowes or HD almost indestructable and inexpensive. It can be cut with wood working tools and takes screws or glues including 5200 etc

Shop Royal Mouldings Limited 1.25-in x 2-in x 8-ft Interior/Exterior Paint Grade PVC Brick Moulding (Pattern 7526) at Lowes.com

Click to expand...

I have been looking into similar stuff...it does come in sheets too...haven't looked to far but looks interesting...

Sheet - AZEK Trim - Product - AZEK