200g Wetsuit Tank

[earthstudent]

Using a roller would also probably give you a really smooth finish (whether a very fine nap roller, or even a plastic/metal one).

The distributor recommended a brush over a roller because a roller can give you bubbles. I think a roller may work just fine (if used properly) and a plastic or metal roller should work no problem. I will say, I do recommend using a brush or roller that you don't mind throwing away. The Wetsuit is not easy to clean off of brushes or clothes or really anything that is not a smooth surface. I really would consider what ever brush you use to be a one time brush, that is why I went with cheap brushes. Metal or plastic rollers would clean up pretty easy though.

How did you put the fabric on? Do you paint some on first then stick the fabric to it?

Yes, I put down a normal coat of Wetsuit, just wide enough for the piece of fabric I was planning to lay down and then laid the fabric down and used a plastic bondo scraper/knife (not sure exactly what it is called?) to smush the fabric into the Wetsuit. Then I put another coat of Wetsuit over it. I continued that until the tank was covered in Wetsuit and fabric. I then let that cure for a few days (5 days I think) and then I put another coat of Wetsuit on. This is how I recommend doing it. It gives you a thickness around 60mils and assures a solid thick coat.

 

[sashimimaster]

I want to get some but they don't have prices on the website. Do they only give that out to distributors?

 

[cvermeulen]

Subscribing. Do you have any product/distributor links? The neptune coatings website doesn't have much info, and doesn't mention any fabric (that I can see right off the bat anyway).

 

[earthstudent]

I want to get some but they don't have prices on the website. Do they only give that out to distributors?

Subscribing. Do you have any product/distributor links? The neptune coatings website doesn't have much info, and doesn't mention any fabric (that I can see right off the bat anyway).

The fabric is on there site, it is called Invisilink. But there will not be any pricing. The website is just for info about the product.

At this time they are only setup to sell the products to approved roofing applicators. This is only a minor problem at this time, as the owner is changing this stipulation due to the fact that there are more applications other that roofing. I am meeting with the owner tomorrow and I will find out how people like you all that may want to order, can go about it. We were talking previously about setting up a section of the company that is for the koi pond application (ply tanks would fit here), were anyone can order without all the hassle. Possibly a website store or something.

I will try to get all the details on ordering and updated pricing and try to get it posted some time tomorrow.

 

[cvermeulen]

FWIW this product appears to be nearly identical to Zavlar and Permadri. I've never seen the invisilink fabric recommended for use with those other two products though. I wonder if it's compatible. You said it's relatively cheap; I wonder just what it is, and if any reasonably light, loose weave fabric will serve similarly in a pinch.

 

[Miguel]

Great job! BUT, ABOVE ALL, AN IMPECABLE TASTE, IMPECABLE, IN DOGS!

 

[earthstudent]

FWIW this product appears to be nearly identical to Zavlar and Permadri. I've never seen the invisilink fabric recommended for use with those other two products though. I wonder if it's compatible. You said it's relatively cheap; I wonder just what it is, and if any reasonably light, loose weave fabric will serve similarly in a pinch.

Zavlar is a polymer modified emulsified asphalt. This means it is a water suspended asphalt with a polymer in the mix as a rubberizing agent. It does not tell you what type of polymer (there are MANY) is used so there is no way of knowing exactly what this product is and infact could have a mixture of polymers. Due to the product characteristics, I would say it is a elastomer type polymer used (just an educated guess). This is a rubber polymer that is very elastic, hence the name. This type of polymer is used in many liquid rubber products.

PermaDri is a modified elastomeric asphalt emulsion. So it does tell you the type of polymer used. At least they are not hiding anything. So this is an elastic rubber polymer in a mix with an asphalt product that is suspended in water.

So Zavlar and PermaDri are likely very similar products.

Wetsuit is a modified neoprene asphalt emulsion. Neoprene is also a polymer. Neoprene is the key here, as neoprene is about twice as elastic and an elastomeric product. This characteristic is what gives Wetsuit some great advantages. This elongation it has helps in puncture resistance, tearing and impact resistance.

What does this mean in a ply-wood tank application? It means if you drop a large rock in your Wetsuit lined tank, you have the best product on the market to handle that impact and prevent a puncture.

Invisilink is a polyester fabric. I would think any polyester fabric should work just fine with any of these products.

 

[earthstudent]

Great job! BUT, ABOVE ALL, AN IMPECABLE TASTE, IMPECABLE, IN DOGS!

Thank You

 

[cvermeulen]

Zavlar is a polymer modified emulsified asphalt. This means it is a water suspended asphalt with a polymer in the mix as a rubberizing agent. It does not tell you what type of polymer (there are MANY) is used so there is no way of knowing exactly what this product is and infact could have a mixture of polymers. Due to the product characteristics, I would say it is a elastomer type polymer used (just an educated guess). This is a rubber polymer that is very elastic, hence the name. This type of polymer is used in many liquid rubber products.

PermaDri is a modified elastomeric asphalt emulsion. So it does tell you the type of polymer used. At least they are not hiding anything. So this is an elastic rubber polymer in a mix with an asphalt product that is suspended in water.

So Zavlar and PermaDri are likely very similar products.

Wetsuit is a modified neoprene asphalt emulsion. Neoprene is also a polymer. Neoprene is the key here, as neoprene is about twice as elastic and an elastomeric product. This characteristic is what gives Wetsuit some great advantages. This elongation it has helps in puncture resistance, tearing and impact resistance.

What does this mean in a ply-wood tank application? It means if you drop a large rock in your Wetsuit lined tank, you have the best product on the market to handle that impact and prevent a puncture.

Invisilink is a polyester fabric. I would think any polyester fabric should work just fine with any of these products.

Great reply, thanks for that. My only concern I guess with trying to cobble one of the other products (Zavlar/Permadri) with an improvised polyester fabric would be thickness and curing. I wouldn't want to make it so thick that it would not cure properly. I suppose some testing is in order here.

Thanks again for the detail.

 

[earthstudent]

Curing for all these products are based on several factors.

Temperature
Humidity
Thickness

One factor many people do not think about is, what substrate it is being applied to. If you were coating glass, than a thick coat might take longer to cure than if you applied the same coating to a piece of wood. The reason being, the wood will help absorb and evaporate the water where as the glass would seal it on that side and only allow it to cure from the coatings surface. I found when using Wetsuit, that it cured much faster when using it on wood than on many other substrates, like metal, plastic or glass.

All these products rely on the evaporation of water to cure. So, if you do it in a normal ambient humidity, at or near room temp (70-75 f) than a 60 mil thickness (about what you get with fabric and a second coat) than it should be cured in a few days and if you give it a week than you should be plenty safe. This has been my experience with Wetsuit and other similar products.

Another thing to note here is that, you cant paint on a layer that it "too thick" as gravity will not allow. Just like you can not paint a 1/4" thick layer in one shot. You will only be able to apply a maximum thickness on each coat.

When doing the first layer with fabric, you get about 40mil (coat of product, fabric, coat of product) and then after that cures, if you put on another coat, you get about 60mils total. That is when you try to put on a good healthy amount each time and 60mils is all you need, at least with the Wetsuit.