I am coating the interior of a speaker enclosure with these bitumen damping pads:
Solen Electronique Inc. | DAMPING PAD
The pad have a thick easy to remove plastic film under the self adhesive side, but on the other side, there is a very thin plastic film that is very hard to remove.
If I try to peel it, only small sections can be peeled peel off at a time, as the film has no elasticity.
Is it meant to be removed ?
I would prefer to leave it, because the pads have an unpleasant bitumen smell, and it would save the trouble.
On the other hand, felt needs to be glued to the pads, and perhaps the film is not a great surface.
Suggestions would be appreciated.
Solen Electronique Inc. | DAMPING PAD
The pad have a thick easy to remove plastic film under the self adhesive side, but on the other side, there is a very thin plastic film that is very hard to remove.
If I try to peel it, only small sections can be peeled peel off at a time, as the film has no elasticity.
Is it meant to be removed ?
I would prefer to leave it, because the pads have an unpleasant bitumen smell, and it would save the trouble.
On the other hand, felt needs to be glued to the pads, and perhaps the film is not a great surface.
Suggestions would be appreciated.
You need 2 layers why?
Plastic is hard to stick to, and peeling it off will damage the bitumen...
Try sticking the felt with hot melt on to the plastic, or use a frame and screws.
The plastic film is most likely to be LDPE, PP or HM-HDPE, all notoriously hard to stick to.
If your felt pads also have a plastic layer, you can try melting them together with a heat gun. Difficult.
Plastic is hard to stick to, and peeling it off will damage the bitumen...
Try sticking the felt with hot melt on to the plastic, or use a frame and screws.
The plastic film is most likely to be LDPE, PP or HM-HDPE, all notoriously hard to stick to.
If your felt pads also have a plastic layer, you can try melting them together with a heat gun. Difficult.
Bitumen is sticky... one side has an adhesive film with release paper, the other side of the sheet has this thin film to allow the sheet to be wound in rolls, or else it would be , well, lumpy.
The layers would stick together, the release paper/film on one side and this on the other side prevent that.
This film is wrapped during the warm bitumen stage, when soft bitumen is wound onto rolls for packing and shipping. Its adhesion to the bitumen will be very good.
So I think this type of material could also be having other uses.
Anyway, he wants to stick something else on top, and that will be difficult.
The layers would stick together, the release paper/film on one side and this on the other side prevent that.
This film is wrapped during the warm bitumen stage, when soft bitumen is wound onto rolls for packing and shipping. Its adhesion to the bitumen will be very good.
So I think this type of material could also be having other uses.
Anyway, he wants to stick something else on top, and that will be difficult.
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Mechanical means like a staple gun are more viable.
Flame treatment, or a heat gun pass are needed to even print on commodity plastics.
I have been in plastic molding since 1992, I know a little bit more than most about things like this.
It would be best if the OP tries out adhesive on a small patch.
PVC film will be easy, but its use is declining except in medical packaging.
And the only short term adhesive that works is Flexikwik, a super glue variant made to stick edge banding to table tops and so on.
It is made in India by Pidilite.
And the Loctite adhesives for this use are expensive, and need an acid like primer. Not recommended.
Flame treatment, or a heat gun pass are needed to even print on commodity plastics.
I have been in plastic molding since 1992, I know a little bit more than most about things like this.
It would be best if the OP tries out adhesive on a small patch.
PVC film will be easy, but its use is declining except in medical packaging.
And the only short term adhesive that works is Flexikwik, a super glue variant made to stick edge banding to table tops and so on.
It is made in India by Pidilite.
And the Loctite adhesives for this use are expensive, and need an acid like primer. Not recommended.
Of course not, leave it there.
So I think this type of material could also be having other uses.
OF COURSE!!!!!
"Somebody" is selling $1 bituminous roof waterproofing
as $100 "wonder" Audiophile Cabinet improvement or whatever, with typical 10000% markup, allowed by the magical words: "Audiophile grade"
EDIT:
as of:
Stapling is fine where contact surface is unimportant, such as in fiberglass, which is meant to absorb standing waves "in the air".
FWIW it might be a couple mm away from cabinet wall or even hanging as curtains.
But here we are trying to damp *wall* vibration itself, so best material would both add mass and viscosity, the latter working as a (mechanically) resistive dissipating medium, so it needs perfect contact and adhesion to cabinet wall.
Not kidding, "best" adhesion would come from a propane gas flame gun, as used in roofing, which would partially melt bitumen , make is soft and sticky, and perfectly adhere to surface irregularities.
Of course not practical inside a wooden cabinet, so some kind of adhesive will be second best option.
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This is an amateur DIY audio forum. Just how far do you think you are going to get talking unmitigated sense like that?
Yes that, and also that foam isn't going to damp the cabinet wall energy anywhere near as well as bitumen or damp internal airborne acoustic energy anywhere near as effectively as a natural fibre product like felt.
Thanks for the great answers, I like the stapling solution, the only problem is that some cavities of the cabinet are to small for the staple gun to be positioned properly.
So I will use staples where I can, and in the difficult walls I will just remove the film at strategic places that will receive glue.
So I will use staples where I can, and in the difficult walls I will just remove the film at strategic places that will receive glue.
WHICH film will you (try) to remove?
The one facing the cabinet interior?
Leaving bitumen exposed?
If so, WHAT adhesive do you think will adhere to raw bitumen surface?
A water based one will not stick (hint: bitumen is used as water *blocking* on roofs)
A solvent based one will dissolve bitumen and make a MESS.
Personally I would leave the plastic film on.
Which I suspect was applied to molten bitumen and rolled on.
EDIT:
The idea is to damp wall vibration (flexing), not standing waves inside the cabinet, which (hopefully) is taken care of by added felt.
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I am using this glue:
Adhesif pour revetement de sol souples 950 ml DURAL - Canac
Even if the bitumen pads are self adhesive, I want to make sure they remain bonded over time.
I was planing on using the same glue for gluing the felt.
I will make a test to see how well it adheres to the interior facing plastic filmé
Adhesif pour revetement de sol souples 950 ml DURAL - Canac
Even if the bitumen pads are self adhesive, I want to make sure they remain bonded over time.
I was planing on using the same glue for gluing the felt.
I will make a test to see how well it adheres to the interior facing plastic filmé
My replies were to the OP problem, as I understood it...
He got self adhesive bitumen sheets which he stuck inside the speaker, now wants to stick or attach felt on the plastic coated bitumen layer, on the other side of the adhesive coated layer.
Sticking things to plastic is difficult.
Try a small patch, like I said earlier too.
How about holding the felt in place with plastic mesh, and attaching the mesh to the speaker walls with staples or nails?
Will it affect the acoustic performance?
He got self adhesive bitumen sheets which he stuck inside the speaker, now wants to stick or attach felt on the plastic coated bitumen layer, on the other side of the adhesive coated layer.
Sticking things to plastic is difficult.
Try a small patch, like I said earlier too.
How about holding the felt in place with plastic mesh, and attaching the mesh to the speaker walls with staples or nails?
Will it affect the acoustic performance?
I totally forgot..use sticker or lamination glue, it works.
Sticker glue is used to coat plastic or paper, and release paper is rolled on.
Lamination glue, used to laminate film to paper after printing, is a slightly less proven option.
Both are milky out of the container, when they turn translucent after applying, join up.
We used to make velvet pads with it, velvet was stuck to LDPE foam with it, then on the other side we would use silicon release paper.
Last done in 2007, I had forgotten about it...
The smallest pack here is a kilo...
Sticker glue is used to coat plastic or paper, and release paper is rolled on.
Lamination glue, used to laminate film to paper after printing, is a slightly less proven option.
Both are milky out of the container, when they turn translucent after applying, join up.
We used to make velvet pads with it, velvet was stuck to LDPE foam with it, then on the other side we would use silicon release paper.
Last done in 2007, I had forgotten about it...
The smallest pack here is a kilo...
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