Application Note: Wedge Welding

With Novaseal's GT-100 Wedge Welder and soon to be announced Planetary Roller Wedge Welder, you now have an affordable hand-held welding solution for heat sealing:

• Sunbrella Acrylic Fabrics
• SeaMark Marine Fabrics
• Polyester Cover Fabrics
• Upholstery & Cover Fabrics
• Vinyl Coated Fabrics
• Nylon & Polyester Fabrics

Sunbrella's acrylic fabrics are 100% solution dyed woven acrylic fabrics with excellent fade and weather resistance, durable, and UV resistant. Most commonly used for awnings, outdoor furniture and bags. Bainbridge's SeaMark marine fabrics combine Sunbrella woven acrylic on one side with a water proof vinyl coating on the other. The vinyl coating is too thin to create a weldable surface, although with the addition of sealing tapes, all Sunbrella and SeaMark fabrics seal incredibly well with Novaseal's Pulse-type bar sealers or Novaseal's field applied wedge welders.

When wedge welding is used with thermoplastics (vinyl, HDPE, polyurethane, pvc, etc.), the wedge is located between the sheets to be heat sealed. However when using wedge welding to heat seal acrylic fabrics, the wedge welder is located above the sheets. A re-usable layer of TCF is placed between the wedge and the top sheet. The TCF layer is used to reduce discoloration on the top sheet. To accommodate a seal, you'll need to locate sealing tape between the layers of acrylic. The sealing tape is heat activated by the hot wedge. Pressure roller assures that the seal tape creates good adhesion of acrylic to acrylic. TCF and sealing tape are both available at reduced costs from Novaseal.

There are several advantages in using either GT-100 or Planetary Roller Wedge Welders manufactured in the United States by Novaseal.

• Hand-held convenience
• Factory and/or Field sealing
• For straight or curved seals
• Affordable

For more information, including pricing, please visit Novaseal's Website, or call us at 561-470-3267.