Our Annual Cold Weather Warning - Keep Your Tape Warm!
Our Annual Cold Weather Warning - Keep Your Tape Warm!
It's that time of year again when suddenly the temperatures start to drop, especially at night. Summer is fading and winter is coming. The T shirts are put away and the jumpers come out. But spare a thought for your tape. It doesn't like the cold!
About Temperature
Tapes are tested (and therefore usually perform their best) at 23oC. Above this, they gradually lose adhesive strength and even at modest temperatures some cheaper tapes started to fail.
But below 23 degrees, tapes gradually and progressively start to firm up and become more solid. As they firm up they lose tack, or stickiness, and cannot bond as easily. So tapes have a minimum application temperature, usually 5 to 15oC, to ensure sufficient tack to bond. Below this they will struggle. At even lower temperatures, usually at around -20 to -40 degrees, most tapes "freeze", become rigid and brittle, lose all tack and will not bond at all.
Two Factors
Actually there are two factors affecting tape in cool and cold conditions. The first, as described above, is that the tape becomes less tacky and will not bond as easily or quickly. This phenomenon affects all tapes, but not equally. Some tapes that are very tacky at room temperature lose tack rapidly at lower temperatures. Others that appear not to be as tacky, retain their tack well. Check the data sheets or ask us for advice!
The second factor is that condensation becomes a problem at low temperatures. Air contains a significant amount of water vapour, but warm air can hold a lot more than cool air. So when warm air cools, the water vapour can precipitate out as condensation - or dew. Hence the expression "dew point". For this reason we do not recommend using any tape below 5oC, even though some may retain good tack at this temperature.
Phone us for advice on 01628 642800
Look Out For...
1) Cool temperatures.
At cooler temperatures tapes take longer to bond and may need more pressure. Please bear in mind that tapes, particularly foam tapes, are great insulators. A box of foam tape that has been kept in cold conditions overnight or even over the weekend will take a very long time to warm up. Until it has warmed up, it will be lacking in tack. So try to keep the tape in a heated factory rather than an unheated store or the boot of a car!
2) Condensation
Materials stored in cold conditions and brought into a warmer factory are likely to attract condensation. If you keep substrates such as sheets of metal or glass in unheated conditions and bring them into a warmer factory they are likely to attract a film of condensation which may be nearly invisible.The tape simply will not stick to a substrate if it is protected by a layer of condensation.