Holiday anticipation is the greatest joy
Holidays – isn’t it the greatest word in the world? Weeks ahead, we already get excited when thinking of the time off work, we are busy making holiday plans and dream of carefully chosen destinations. And when the day finally comes and it’s time to pack our suitcases, we almost burst with joy and anticipation!
But then … when the suitcase gives up
A suitcase has to go through a lot in the course of its life as a packhorse. Tirelessly, it runs with us over every street and dirt road in the world and lets us throw it on the baggage carousels in every airport. Meanwhile, neither we nor the airport staff treat our loyal travel companion very carfeully.
As you can see in the picture on the right, not every suitcase can handle such a rough lifestyle. One of the suitcase wheels had quit its job and fell off during the last trip. Of course, this needs to be fixed before going on the next holiday. After all, we don’t want this little accident to spoil the fun of looking forward to our next trip!
Quick help for your suitcase – bonding with RK-7300
Since the adhesive used by the manufacturer had come off, our application engineer Mike assumed that the suitcase was made of a low surface energy plastic, which is difficult to bond. Most likely, the manufacturer had used the wrong adhesive for the material. So always keep in mind: The supposedly “world’s best” adhesive is not automatically the right adhesive! It’s always essential to choose the adhesive that is best-suited for the material you want to bond.
That is why Mike went for our WEICON Easy-Mix RK-7300 Structural Acrylic Adhesive. This adhesive can score with its excellent adhesion to plastics and high strength, it is viscoplastic and impact-resistant. Based on MMA (methyl methacrylate) and thus showing outstanding adhesive strength, it can also be used on low surface energy plastics. So the right product for our damaged suitcase in every way.
Before applying the adhesive, Mike pretreated the surface with our WEICON Surface Cleaner. Then, he inserted the two-component adhesive into the matching WEICON Easy-Mix Dispenser D 50 and started spreading it generously. Only when the surfaces are fully covered with the adhesive, it can achieve a full-surface bonding. As soon as the wheel was placed in the right position, Mike removed the waste adhesive with a cloth and Surface Cleaner. After approximately 24 hours, the adhesive was fully cured and the suitcase was ready to go on the next big trip.
Written by Annabelle Kreft
