Before I try it, just thought to ask others what experiences they may have had using CA to glue lead or steel weight pieces against styrene plastic. I was thinking of using a thick GOOP adhesive, but it might make a mess of things.
Cedarwoodron
I’ve used CA pretty extensively in Athearn BB locomotives with both steel and lead weight. No problems yet. I’ve also used white glue to secure #7 lead shot into locomotives and some rolling stock (It’s small enough to hide in the nooks and crannies of a flat car frame).
Mark H
I agree with Mark, CA works good on lead bird shot and steel weights. I haven’t had a problem using Goop on Styrene but a buddy said it melted the bottom of an Athearn boxcar. I use Goop on pretty much everything with out any problems, works great for mounting can motors. It absorbs vibration and doesn’t conduct sound.
Mel
Modeling the SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I use silicone bathtub caulk. It never lets go, sticks to metal, plastic, anything.
JB Quik Weld, 2-part epoxy.
Rich
Aleene’s origonal tacky glue.As long as you give it time to set up it will hold sheet steel just fine.You can pour it over lead shot and have the same results as long as it sets up before you derail the hopper.
On the big plus side it will not damage plastic bodies and or floors.
For installing sheet steel weights I’ve taken to using double-sided foam tape. I don’t trust CA, although the newer flexible types like Poly Zap or Microbond may be OK. Regular CA creates a brittle bond and can easily come loose over time.
Excess Goo can in fact lead to warping. I’ve seen extreme examples where Goo all but destroyed a car due to deformation of the floor.
I use gel CA to secure lead sheet. If you use small amounts the CA doesn’t hold as firmly as it does on other materials. I suspect it is the manufacturing oil or possibly lead oxide that allows the bond to be broken fairly easily. The bond is quite strong enough to keep things in place.
The fact that the joints can be separated is not a bad thing if something has to be dissassembled. I just proved that when I blew the LED headlight in a 25 ton switcher that was filled to the gills with lead. Everything had to come out to get at the LED. Again, small amounts are critical. If you use large gobs of the stuff you won’t get the weights apart without damage to the shell.
Dave
Other than the foam tape, it is probably a good idea to let the adhesive fully cure before closing up the car and trapping the fumes. That is what I do, but maybe being over cautious.
Just to add to George’s caution about fumes, using CA close to clear plastic window glazing can cause the glazing to fog. He is not being too cautious IMHO. If that does happen, Clear Glosscoat or canopy glue can fix it.
Dave
This would only apply to using CA in locos with clear plastic windows. The fumes can craize/ fog the pastic if the shell is not left off while the fumes disipate. Happened to me a few times from CAing detail parts and applying the CA from inside the shell to bond. Didn’t allow enough time in my impatience and installed the shell.
Goop, contact cement or Goo, as well as other adhesives that have solvents, can attack the plastic if too much is applied and/ or the cement hasn’t had a chance to completely tack/ dry before placing the weight, trapping wet cement between plastic floor and weight. I have used Goo or contact cement for years on hundreds of weight installations w/o any trouble. A light coat to both sides, let dry/ tack and place.
I’ve used silicone bathtub sealant, which worked well, but, with much of my rolling stock stored on its side in boxes, it eventually let go - this was on cleaned and scarified plastic floors, and allowed to fully cure before re-assembly.
Contact cement works well if there’s good contact between the weight and floor (no voids) and if you follow the instructions on allowing the proper drying time before bringing the two surfaces together. Not waiting sufficient time leaves solvent trapped in the contact area, which will attack the plastic.
I started using plastic strips to affix weights in Accurail cars. The first step is to straighten the weight so that it lays flat on the car’s floor. The picture below pretty-well covers the assembly procedure. The short pieces, same thickness as the weight, are cemented to the car with solvent cement, then the crosspieces are added in the same manner. I used clothespegs to clamp things together and allowed the joints to cure overnight.
I built some Red Caboose cars on which I wanted an opening door (mainly for photo opportunities), so the full-length floor weight arrangement was unsuitable. Instead, I used sheet lead, stacking shorter pieces atop a longer base piece and securing them as shown in the photo below. The lead was cut to fit using a utility knife, and the .080" or .100" square styrene strip was cemented only to the plastic car sides using solvent-type cement, effectively trapping the weights in place:
…and the result:
[IMG]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/Get%20a%20load%20of%20this