Seam Sealing a Tarptent

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I sealed my Moment (and earlier Contrail) with a 5:1 mixture of 5 parts ODORLESS mineral spirits to 1 part GE silicon. I put it in a plastic jar so I could shake it well to mix it thoroughly every 5 minutes. But I used McNett tube silicone seam sealer on the inside of the seams.

I ALSO coated the top 1/2 of my Moment with this thin mix to preclude any misting through in a driving rain.

[Andy F]

Ryan,

I think the older GE caulk you have now is fine. The outdoor exposure it will get is nowhere near the constant every day exposure the window and door caulk was designed for.

[Joe Clement]

Ryan, I did one seam with the Permatex, and decided it was too thick. I'll mix some regular silicone with mineral spirits to finish it.

[Jim Carr]

When I did my DR I thined the first batch very thin and used an artist fan brush with stiff bristles and it worked great for getting it into the seam edges. The head of the brush was about 1" across. I used a bit heaver second coat and have had exellent results.

[Greg Mihalik]

Thin silicone with mineral spirits 3:1 by mixing with a bent coat hanger in a drill motor until uniform. Pour into a syringe and apply sparingly and precisely.

[Ryan C]

It sounds like the majority of users prefer the Silicone and mineral spirits. That is probably what I will go with because it guarantees the results I want when done right.

Thanks to all who have commented!

[JR Redding]

You made a good choice!

[Peter Rattenbury]

Questions for Roger: is the Permatex product available in Australia?
And does 'mineral spirit' in the U.S. equate to paint thinners or white spirit in Australia?

Cheers, PeterR

[Roger Caffin]

> is the Permatex product available in Australia?
Yes, but the price is kinda criminal. I think I went through the USA web site to find the importer.

> does 'mineral spirit' in the U.S. equate to paint thinners or white spirit in Australia?
That's a definite maybe.

Sorry – the terms are so vague that it can be hard to tell. Thinners are NOT defined. I think I used Coleman fuel – white gas. But others have used other things – experiment. A tube of silicone is not dear.

Cheers

[Peter Rattenbury]

Yep, and I think there are two types of 'white' spirits on the Aussie market; one used for cleaning stuff and one for burning.
I shall conduct some experiments…….

[Franco Darioli]

I use Mineral Turpentine
Put a blob in a can, add a few drops of turp, mix, add a bit more and so on till it is runny enough. Only takes a couple of minutes. If you want to make your life difficult, then add the lot in one go.
Franco

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Franco,

Your term "mineral turpentine" is nearly the same as mineral spirits. Mineral spirits, as was explained to me, come from a mixture of turpentine (a pine tree product) and petroleum spirits.

Does your mineral turpentine come in an "odorless" version?

P.S. I checked and found that just that particular brand I used had some turpentine in it. Normally our mineral spirits is all petroleum "Stoddard-type" fluid, known in other countries as white spirits.

[Greg Mihalik]

Mineral Spirits are distilled from petroleum.
Turpentine is distilled from pine resin.

Mineral Spirits are available in an 'odorless' formulation.

[Franco Darioli]

Never had an "odourless" Mineral Turpentine. The smell does not bother me at all.
Last time I bought it I noticed on the shelf next to it some bottles of Mineral Spirit, so we have that as well.
Franco

[Rick Dreher]

Confession time. After going through a tube of silnet and perhaps getting a quarter of the seams on my Cloudburst 2, I bought a GE Silcone II cartridge, loaded up the cartridge gun and sealed the rest of the thing in half the time for a fraction of the cost. No thinner, no brushes, no siloconized hair. It's not the neatest job to be sure but it's waterproofed and strengthened and ready to go.

Never again will I do it any other way.

Cheers,

Rick

p.s. It helps a lot to have a good cartridge gun and not one of the $1.99 Home Depot specials. I suspect the control of the cordless electric ones is even better.

[Brett Rasmussen]

+1 on the cartridge gun. Anything put into a gun format is always better.

[Matthew Swierkowski]

I learned something the hard way recently. I have sealed a few tents over the past few years using various methods. When I got my new DuoMid late last year I wanted to get 'er sealed up as quick as possible. I had some GE Silicone II left over from a previous job. I squirted some in a tin can, diluted it with mineral spirits and went to town. I did notice when I squirted it out that it was not "fresh". What I mean is that it wasn't dried out, but it certainly wasn't a thick viscous liquid either. It was more like a paste.

Well long story short, after it dried it all started flaking off. What's worse is it left a slick film behind that new sealant won't seem to stick too. I had done this on the inside seams by the way. So I went back and did the outer seams with the supplied tube of Silnet. Moral of the story…make sure you have fresh sealant before you start or go get some. Don't use old sealant.

[Roger Caffin]

> loaded up the cartridge gun and sealed the rest of the thing in half the time
I agree with Rick about the convenience of the gun. But you can do even better, at $0 cost.

Visit your local GP, Clinic or even Vet, and beg a second-hand 20 cc hypodermic. They are all single shot these days. You WILL need to explain what you want it for though. You don't need the needle – it wouldn't work anyhow being too fine.

Clean the hypo, fill it with caulk from the cartridge, stick the plunger back in, and away you go. Much easier to use than a gun as it is so much smaller. Good control too.

When you have finished strip the plunger out and let the stuff cure. Then scrape around gently and pull the silicone out. It WON'T stick to the hypo or the rubber plunger.

Cheers

[Franco Darioli]

Bibler tents used to be supplied with a plastic syringe. I don't know if they still do.
Franco

[Rick Dreher]

I agree with Roger that the syringe process is neat and tidy. I've gone through a half-jillion of these applying Seam Grip, going back to my Early Winters days.

http://www.amazon.com/Disposable-Syringe-Tapered-Curved-Tip/dp/B0002YFRAW/ref=pd_sim_hpc_1

Dispensing Seam Grip or Silnet neatly from the original tube is impossible. My qualms with the irrigation syringe are keeping steady pressure on the plunger and the frequent refilling. Since Seam Grip isn't available in a big ol' tube this is the only way to apply it. In my book you're not a "real" backpacker if you haven't destroyed a portion of your brain sealing a small, complex tent with Seam Grip. My Garuda took three tubes and two days; I could taste the toluene for a week.

This is my caulking gun. It has a very smooth feed action and other than keeping the tip steady working at tight angles I can do surprisingly good job with it. Well, up to my lax standards anyway.

http://www.amazon.com/41004-Chilton-10-3-Ounce-Cartridge-Rotating/dp/B0002YU324/ref=pd_cp_hi_3

Chers,

Rick

[Roger Caffin]

> My qualms with the irrigation syringe are keeping steady pressure on the plunger
I had that problem too while I held the hypo in the 'medical' manner. I switched to a dagger hold like this (my hand is partly open for the photo):

as this gives me really precise control over the flow.
Btw: this is only a little 10 cc hypo …

> and the frequent refilling.
Agree with this for the small hypos, but 20 cc or better still 50 cc works just fine. The latter will probably have to come from a horse Vet – I doubt many GPs would threaten a patient with something that size!

Cheers

[David Lutz]

I just finished seam sealing my Duomid with the Permatex flowable silicone and it was a piece of cake….thanks for the tip Ken (please don't vote me off!).

I just cut the end of the applicator as small as possible, squeezed out a bead onto the seam and smoothed it out with the index finger of my other hand.

No problem….it even looks half decent.

It was a much nicer experience than what I went through sealing my mitten and bootie shells with the mixture method.

But I think I got come silicone on the keyboard of my MacBook Pro…..

[Michael Cockrell]

Hope it works, have not "rain-test" with a hose, my seam seal job.

Though I let it air dry several days set up, it still had a lot of stickiness, so I tried a tip I read . . . sprinkle talc powder on the seam seal, shake off, then wipe down with damp towel.

Took away the stickiness and talc smell. Now to wet-test it. Has anyone else tried this?

[Frank Deland]

Hey, don't throw those half empty tubes of silicone away.
To re-use, cut the plastic nozzle almost all the way down its side with a razor blade thin knife along oppostie sides. Peel open to expose the dried up silicone. Cut away the dried column. Tape the nozzle back together and the silicone will flow out of the tube again! Maybe it won't work on another tarp, but it might have other uses.

[David Lutz]

Good tip Michael……I'll try that tomorrow, the seams I did today are still a little sticky.

I don't think we have any talcum powder around, I wonder if I can substitute something else we have laying around here? Baby powder? flour?

Just brainstorming……

Also a good idea Frank…..thanks…….

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