Sealtite(tm) to weld silnylon?

**spchtr** · 05-07-2007, 02:32

There's this thing. The Sealtite(tm) that you can get at Wal-Mart. It's supposed to be used to reseal things like bags of chips/cereal and such.

I picked one up and was messing around with it. The thing takes 2 AA batteries, and basically heats up a little wire to glowing hot when you press it closed. I noticed on some of the forums that some folk like to melt the cuts they make in silnylon and other tarp/hammock materials.

I was wondering if anyone has tried something like this to weld hems and seams.

It appears to weaken the material a little bit where it's used, depending on how fast you pull it along the seam. If you pull too slowly it acts like a cutter, welding the cut as it goes, if you pull to fast it doesn't melt it at all.

**blackbishop351** · 05-07-2007, 03:39

Originally Posted by spchtr

There's this thing. The Sealtite(tm) that you can get at Wal-Mart. It's supposed to be used to reseal things like bags of chips/cereal and such.

I picked one up and was messing around with it. The thing takes 2 AA batteries, and basically heats up a little wire to glowing hot when you press it closed. I noticed on some of the forums that some folk like to melt the cuts they make in silnylon and other tarp/hammock materials.

I was wondering if anyone has tried something like this to weld hems and seams.

It appears to weaken the material a little bit where it's used, depending on how fast you pull it along the seam. If you pull too slowly it acts like a cutter, welding the cut as it goes, if you pull to fast it doesn't melt it at all.

I've thought of trying something like that with a soldering gun. I don't think it'd be strong enough by itself, but if (for instance) you were making a roll-top waterproof sil bag, it might let you avoid having to add sealer later. Then again, you'd probably need to seal the stitching anyway. I'll be playing with a soldering gun soon, so I guess I'll see

**Bug-Bait** · 05-07-2007, 04:36

Originally Posted by spchtr

There's this thing. The Sealtite(tm) that you can get at Wal-Mart. It's supposed to be used to reseal things like bags of chips/cereal and such.

I picked one up and was messing around with it. The thing takes 2 AA batteries, and basically heats up a little wire to glowing hot when you press it closed. I noticed on some of the forums that some folk like to melt the cuts they make in silnylon and other tarp/hammock materials.

I was wondering if anyone has tried something like this to weld hems and seams.

It appears to weaken the material a little bit where it's used, depending on how fast you pull it along the seam. If you pull too slowly it acts like a cutter, welding the cut as it goes, if you pull to fast it doesn't melt it at all.

Hmmm...I have a large shrink wrap machine at work that has a two foot heated bar of some sort that we use to close up plastic shrink wrap. I wonder if something like that would work.
Michael
qpens