Customer Reviews

Permatex 84101 PermaPoxy 5 Minute General Purpose Epoxy -- Crystal Clear

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am more of a breaker than a fixer. However, I recently had to drive backwards (called "backing up" by the experts) for about 15 feet and was attacked by a traffic sign turned terrorist. It knocked off the driver's side rear view mirror...you know, the one that is outside the car, not the one you actually use up by the roof. It was still semi-attached by some kind of wire or something, but was hanging down and giving me a view only of my tire. Since I already know what a tire looks like, and do occasionally look when making a lane change to the left, I tried to duct tape the thing back on. Didn't work. The mirror still sagged and all I could see was the tire. The man who fixes my car when things hit it said it would cost me $150 to get it back to where I could see those pesky drivers who are always in the lane you need to be in (since I couldn't see them, I just honked and waved my hand out the window a lot when I moved toward the left and you know what, it works.)

$150 sounded like a lot, so I decided to postpone the repair, figuring 3 rights make a left anyway, and I'm never in that big a hurry. However, the intervention of a nice policeman convinced me otherwise. I had the option of paying the car fixer $150 or the City considerably more, and had 30 days to make up my mind. I was giving some consideration to holding up the local convenience store, except they know me and the nice man gave me a free Icee last summer. Time was running out and I figured I'd better bite the bullet and go see Mr. Car Fixer. Again. Then I saw this stuff on Amazon. Permatex 84101 PermaPoxy 5 Minute General Purpose Epoxy, Crystal Clear. Even the name inspires confidence...and the price was considerably lower than my other options. I ordered it, it arrived, I glued the outside mirror back on, used more duct tape to keep it in place just until I was sure the glue was set, and unbelievable, I Fixed Something.

Yeah, I was kind of astounded too.

It's been several weeks and I even forgot about the glue job and took my car to the carwash, where neither the water, the brushes or the little guy with the rag could knock it off. I don't think I'll do that again, not wanting to push my luck, but as a temporary fast fix, this is just amazing. The mirror feels like its on there and really solid. Of course, calling the number on my ticket and explaining that I glued the mirror on and it was holding took some doing. I sent them photos and offered to come down in person, and finally got the citation cleared. I think they were probably just afraid of having me in their parking lot where they park their own cars. But whatever, I'm happy, they're happy, and I'm sure any number of other drivers go home at night without exciting stories about the lunatic who pulled in front of them without looking.

For regular gluing jobs, this must be even better. It's easy to use, not having to mix things, no mess. Just real sticking power.

The directions are clear, the product is easy to use. Just squirt out some mix from the double barrel tube, mix it up, and apply with the little spatula/stick it comes with. I used this to reattach the plastic grill ornament/decal on my Volkswagen 2 months ago (popped off while parallel parking behind a truck), and the ornament is still solidly in place. No complaints here!

Update 11/14/2010: The grill ornament/decal is still in place through a PA winter and a Missouri summer!

This is great stuff! It sets up fast and bonds pretty much anything to anything else, including to glass. I have used it for repairs including the rear view mirror in our van, which had fallen off since the windshield repair person didn't re-attach it properly.

Easy to use and mixing a breeze. Sets up a in just a few min. It does remain slightly soft and perhaps better for vibrating fixes vs the rock hard epoxies.

A good 'fixer upper' needs both kinds in the tool box..

As a former chemistry, my inner nerd possessed me to immerse myself into the subject of super glues and epoxy, and then to experiment with them for my (outside the box) purposes. 5-minute set time is optimal for, among other factors, minimizing delayed drips. High viscosity creates thick coat, so no need to do second coat. This brand is superior to Devcon because the latter 2-ton version has yellow tinge.

I am moving on to the 5-minute "Protective Coating Co. 070147 Pc-clear Medium Viscosity Epoxy" because it promises optical clarity. Medium viscosity might also offer fewer brush marks. I will then move on to the ITW (Devcon, the only brand that offers this) 21445 "Flow-mix" 60 Second Epoxy. "State of the art syringe automatically mixes epoxy hardener and resin during application" sounds cool. Devcon also offers 5-minute and 30-minute epoxy in "Flow-mix" syringe. That sounds attractive.

P.S. When one side to be glued is plastic or fabric, Superglue is mostly useless. But epoxy works on these materials. Superglues cure by interacting with humidity in the air. One advantage of superglue is that there's a solvent that removes it: "Super-Solvent" is specific to cyanoacrylate superglue. Epoxies are not glues. They cure by chemical polymerization, an exothermic reaction. So at the end of the 5-minute or 30 minute set time, it abruptly becomes a solid (still soft) polymer. The major advantage of the longer set time is that, when the object being coated is place level, the still-liquid epoxy levels itself thereby smoothing out brush marks.

I needed to mend a crystal piece and tried various super glues and glass glue products that did not work. This product worked perfectly. Although you need to work within the time limits before it sets up, that was very easy. As a matter of fact if you are gluing something you need to hold together while it bonds then you need to be a bit patient as it does take two or three minutes before you can release it to let it set. It sets up very hard so be sure you are prepared and are doing this over a surface you don't care about or can toss out, like cardboard.

I have no complaints about the epoxy as I've used it to re-attach my car's review mirror to the windshield, a ceramic chip on to a bowl and stop a crack from expanding on a cellphone. The mirror feels strongly bonded and I've adjusted the angle several times without the base coming off the windshield. The ceramic bowl has been through the dishwasher numerous times and the chip has not fallen off.

My only complaint is about the dispenser cap. When you're done using the Epoxy there's a piece of plastic that on place back over the nozzles. It doesn't screw on or fit snuggly and has popped off on occasion while in storage so it has the potential to create a mess if you don't store it in a container, plastic bag etc.

Used this to glue a sandpaper sheet to a terry cloth pad on my buffer so I could use it as a sander. Bad idea, but the sandpaper held on very good for the orbital sander. That takes some strength from glue. A little got on my hand but I washed it off right away. Was pretty easy to mix and dried in about 4 minutes. Very good stuff for the price. I use this over super glue because I think it holds way better.

Ok. This eventually did work. Let me give you a few tips. 1) Have your own stirrer stick/applicator. The stick that "pops out" of this one is useless. 2)Same for a place to blend the product - the blending "tray" is too small and will only work if you only blend a little and only once. 3) If you are trying to re-attach your rear view mirror, you will need a thingee to hold the mirror in place for the product curing time, unless you are very strong and steady. I used a walking stick. Otherwise the weight of the mirror just makes it fall off before this gunk sets up. And your arms start to hurt and then you move and then it won't set. It isn't like the glue you put your false nails on with. It takes time. I used a lot more of it than I thought I would. Almost half the tube to do the mirror and one large trim panel. It is smelly and when it gets on your hands it feel hot. And it is hard to get off. Wear gloves. It drips and oozes some. Have a rag. So far the two things I glued are staying, but I am tired and dirty and it was no fun. There should be an easier way. I wonder if E6000 would work? It is what we use to hold crystals on the skating dresses. It sets up fast and holds in the wash..... Anyone know???

I bought this to do a repair on a fender liner on my car. I had worn a pretty good sized hole through it (8"x4"). I cut a piece of plastic to cover the hole by about an extra 2 inches or so and used this to bond it together. Other than I needed 2 tubes of it. Holy crap was this nice. Really strong, has lasted all winter and hasn't broken. You do have to work fast before it dries. I had one other person helping me and it solidified on us before we were finished on the first tube (learning curve). The second time around we were quicker and didn't have a problem. I did find that it works best to use something to mix the two together first (metal bowl or something or paper... ) The first time we used it, we didn't mix it well enough in some spots because we just used the applicator right on the fender liner and mixed as we went, so some spots didn't mix completely and it didn't harden. When we used a dixie cup to mix it well first, we had no problems at all. I also used the fiberglass tape (like for sheet rock) to add extra durability to the liner and to help fill gaps and holes where the fender liner wasn't flat etc...