Adhesive for rear swim platform mat?

[Thrall]

Whatever MC uses sucks too. Mine didn't last 50hrs, BUT, the heat may have something to do with it. My boat is all black and the boat/platform sat out in the sun in the desert for a few summers. Transom and deck were oxidized at 3 years old!
Come to think of it, it has only cut loose when it's been really hot. I have a teak deck now, so don't really use the 'glass one.
Great idea on sanding the back of the pad down. That should help considerably.
Another problem I think is it's difficult to get the glue 100% around the perimeter of the pad without getting it on the exposed part of the deck. I think water intrusion is what starts the lift-off, so maybe mask off carefully around the outside of the pad then you can be liberal with the cement at the edges and form a good seal.

[tr6coug]

Mine came of two summers ago. I stripped the old glue off of the platform and sanded it with 80 grit sand paper. Then cleaned it with acetone. I used clear waterproof silicone caulking and glued the mat back onto the swim platform.

This spring, I replaced the black rubber mat with a sea-dek mat. It must have taken 2 hours to get the old mat off. It was stuck so well that we had to slice it into strips and peel them off individually. I don't think that mat would have ever come off on its own.

[Thrall]

Interesting. Did you sand the rubber too or just the gel?
Glue on mine has always stuck fine to the gel, but not the rubber.
I'll have to try caulking the next time.

[jgraham37128]

It looks like MC uses something in a caulk gun because I can see the pattern of going back and forth on the mat. I'm in the process of scrapping it off the mat right now and will try the DAP contact cement unless I get a better idea?

thanks,

JG

[jgraham37128]

Ok, I just walked in from gluing my mat back down. I cleaned up both the platform and the back of the mat. I applied the DAP Contact Gel Cement on both the platform and mat then fastened down with blue 3m tape. I'll let it sit for a few days and peel off the blue tape. I noticed immediately the side were wanting to roll up.

I'm hoping this will be the last time I have to do this.

[jgraham37128]

Ok, first weekend back out and mat did perfect. I'll check back in a few weeks to confirm this worked but so far so good.

[hbomb]

there are numerous contact adhesives on the market but the heat will play a major factor in the mat lifting......
It has been touched on in an earlier post.....
clear silicone (turpentine clean up) is the best for the job...... ensure it is a multipurpose silicone for adhesion to all surfaces.......clean the back of the rubber deck with some grit paper to roughen up and similar to the fibreglass deck then wipe down with turps or acetone......apply silicone in a criss/cross pattern, instal and weight the top until it dries.....

[JimN]

3M 5100 is a really strong adhesive, but it's removable if you need to. 5200 is permanent, as long as the surfaces are prepped correctly and not the type that repel adhesives.

[jgraham37128]

Originally Posted by hbomb

there are numerous contact adhesives on the market but the heat will play a major factor in the mat lifting......
It has been touched on in an earlier post.....
clear silicone (turpentine clean up) is the best for the job...... ensure it is a multipurpose silicone for adhesion to all surfaces.......clean the back of the rubber deck with some grit paper to roughen up and similar to the fibreglass deck then wipe down with turps or acetone......apply silicone in a criss/cross pattern, instal and weight the top until it dries.....

I tried clear silicone when it first started and it seemed to do nothing. Now I didn't clean it up like I did this last time but everywhere I placed the clear silicone it came right up once in the water.

[jfw432]

I don't mean to offend but if the DAP weldwood contact cement didn't work then you did it wrong. If you do it right, you could turn the deck upside down and drag it in the water at 50 mph and it won't go anywhere. PSA sucks compared to properly setup contact cement.

Here is the correct process:
Brush it on both surfaces then walk away and have a beer or something. Come back in about 15-30 minutes and brush another coat on both surfaces. Go have another beer. Now after you've let the second coat cure for 15-30 minutes, stick the two pieces together. My swim deck has had hydroturf mat on it for 1.5 years and it hasn't so much as lifted at an edge. I also put it on my engine cover which currently doesn't have the shield inside so the heat won't make this stuff fail either. Do it right once and you'll never have to do it again....you also won't get it off without sanding it off.