Hotrodding the GS

[Poolside]

Assembly report.

Going big on the epoxy.

Small



Big

[Lonestar2112]

I see mine! It is the one that is second from the left.

[Poolside]

The word of the day is 'thixotropic'.

For one of the assembly steps the low viscosity epoxy needs to be made into this:

[johnjen]

I hearded tell that each IICE-Aire has been customized with an itsy bitsy 2 letter 'signature' to help it find it's new home. Of course those little elves probably are pulling my leg about that…

JJ

[Florida Lime]

Originally Posted by johnjen

I hearded tell that each IICE-Aire has been customized with an itsy bitsy 2 letter 'signature' to help it find it's new home. Of course those little elves probably are pulling my leg about that…

JJ

True !

SL, SL, SL..........

[Lonestar2112]

Originally Posted by johnjen

I hearded tell that each IICE-Aire has been customized with an itsy bitsy 2 letter 'signature' to help it find it's new home. Of course those little elves probably are pulling my leg about that…

JJ

Whew, I thought you were going to say that I didn't see mine 2nd from left. I was going to have to threaten somebody and get my ass banned.

[Poolside]

Invisible ink.

[johnjen]

Originally Posted by Poolside

Invisible ink.

So that's them little bastards secret. I knew there was something sneaky involved.

And on to our word for the day.
Ok so here is the definition of 'thixotropic' from my built in dictionary.

"Thixotropy is the property of certain gels or fluids that are thick (viscous) under normal conditions, but flow (become thin, less viscous) over time when shaken, agitated, or otherwise stressed. In more technical language: some non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluids show a time-dependent change in viscosity; the longer the fluid undergoes shear stress, the lower its viscosity. A thixotropic fluid is a fluid which takes a finite time to attain equilibrium viscosity when introduced to a step change in shear rate. However, this is not a universal definition; the term is sometimes applied to pseudoplastic fluids without a viscosity/time component. Many gels and colloids are thixotropic materials, exhibiting a stable form at rest but becoming fluid when agitated.

The distinction between a thixotropic fluid and a shear thinning fluid:

A thixotropic fluid displays a decrease in viscosity over time at a constant shear rate.
A shear thinning fluid displays decreasing viscosity with increasing shear rate.
Some fluids are anti-thixotropic: constant shear stress for a time causes an increase in viscosity or even solidification. Constant shear stress can be applied by shaking or mixing. Fluids which exhibit this property are usually called rheopectic. They are much less common."

So after all the smoke clears away what does it all MEAN?

JJ

[dsrydr]

I think it means we're getting close.

[Poolside]

Originally Posted by johnjen

And on to our word for the day.
Ok so here is the definition of 'thixotropic' from my built in dictionary.

. . .

So after all the smoke clears away what does it all MEAN?

Without getting to technical, it means if you throw it at the wall it sticks.


Here's how to make it. Get some Calcium Carbonate powder and mix it into the epoxy.

(For reference, that's a tongue depressor.)





Don't sneeze.





This particular epoxy is fairly low viscosity. Similar to light weight gear oil.
If you look close, you can see the fluid sheeting down the walls like red wine.

Vary the mix ratio to suit. In this case I used 1.5:1 powder to epoxy, by weight.
That's a lot more Calcium Carbonate powder than you see here.





Mix fully.





You'll end up with something like this.





At this mix ratio it sticks to the wall and stays there.





Get a big scoop on the tongue depressor.





Yum!





It pretty much stays put like that. It's a little like bread dough.





But wait, this 'bread dough' stuff needs to dispensed through a 15 gauge syringe needle! How is that going to work?





That's a 3cc syringe, and only a 0.060"/1.5mm needle bore diameter!





The magic of thixotropic fluids. It flows relatively easily when subjected to a shear force.

[TrainedChimp]

The things you can learn on advrider!
More please.

[Parrothead]

I'm impressed! ...or was that repressed. I'm so-o-o-o confused. Glad to see the PMA still strong!

[CCTiger]

Forgive me for not going through the previous pages, but does this mean those ordered earlier in the summer are nearing completion? I never really knew about ETA, so just curious, anxious to install. Thanks.

[Poolside]

Originally Posted by Parrothead

Glad to see the PMA still strong!

Do you mean poly methyl acrylate? I don't get the reference.

[Poolside]

Originally Posted by CCTiger

Forgive me for not going through the previous pages, but does this mean those ordered earlier in the summer are nearing completion? I never really knew about ETA, so just curious, anxious to install. Thanks.

And forgive me for not replying to PMs sooner. Everything is nearing completion, but as you can imagine, the Spring orders will be filled before the Summer orders. The rate of 60 a week was what I imagined I would be at from the start. That rate would have all the orders filled in 3 weeks. What can I say, best laid plans.