Addy going off too fast

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J

justinisaac

Hi all

Bought a couple of bags of Gran-fix flexible addy to finish off a project - the previous ones were fine but these two are going off incredibly fast. To give it some perspective, I usually make a mix using about a litre of water, which in this case gives me enough time to get about ten to twelve medium sized tiles on the wall. This stuff is going off in about 5 mins which doesn't leave me much working time.

I took it back to my local tile place and the chap behind the counter told me that it was going off too fast because I used an electric mixer and the heat generated by the friction was causing the addy to go off quicker! He told me that 'lots of tilers' had had similar problems and suggested I use a stick to mix from now on.

Now, I admit that I've been out of the loop for four years due to a diversion into the restaurant business, but I'm fairly sure that in that period everyone's not gone back to mixing addy with a stick! Not to mention that on the bag it says 'mix either manually or with a mixer'.

I pointed out that I've been using the same drill and mixer attatchment, on low rpm for about fifteen years and have never had this problem, but he seemed convinced that it was my mixing technique...

I used cold tap water, the bathroom is about 16 to 18 degrees with no direct sunlight and I used a clean bucket every time. I made a scoop that when filled level four times and added to 1 ltr of water, makes a nice workable mix. The date on the bag is Jan 2015 but the Gran-fix website says it's fine until a year after that date...

Has anyone heard of this problem before? To be honest I felt a bit let down by the sales chap - I've spent quite a bit with them over the last six months and I thought it was a fairly clear case of duff adhesive...
Anyway, for now I'm just mixing a small mix by hand, enough for 2 tiles. Only a few metres left so not a major problem...

Cheers!
Justin
 
Mix it with a stick. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]
Salesman patter. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Never heard that one before, could have been stored & the frost has got to it.
It's in date so a strange one.

They will make a "Winter" mix & a "Summer" mix, they will retard it so it goes off in the colder weather.
 
a customer of mine supplied gran fix adhesive for a floor,the stuff is crap,the floor failed and that was me following every instruction to the t
 
In the poll of 2013 for adhesive used by members of this forum 8 out of 174 who expressed a preference used Granfix ( 4.6%).
With the service you've received I'd change manufacturer.
Only used Granfix grout once - and never again.
 
Need to start a new thread - what type of stick do you use to mix adhesive - mine was a 3 ft 6inch piece of hardwood about 2inch square.
 
'Had' to use mapie rapidset the other day as customer supplied mats but i bet its months since I've used a rspf apart from sticking hardi down and forgotten just how fast you had to work..no time for cuts n drilling holes carting tiles about n drinking tea, standardset is a godsend..🙂
 
'Had' to use mapie rapidset the other day as customer supplied mats but i bet its months since I've used a rspf apart from sticking hardi down and forgotten just how fast you had to work..no time for cuts n drilling holes carting tiles about n drinking tea, standardset is a godsend..🙂

I buy a pallet of SetaFlex at a time now, 30 white SetaFlex & 20 grey rapid.
Standard SetaFlex is a brilliant adhesive.

TJ, I had the adhesive in the bucket in the van over night, it's just too cold for it to set, no point in waste..
Remember I'm Scottish.. [emoji6]
 
I buy a pallet of SetaFlex at a time now, 30 white SetaFlex & 20 grey rapid.
Standard SetaFlex is a brilliant adhesive.

TJ, I had the adhesive in the bucket in the van over night, it's just too cold for it to set, no point in waste..
Remember I'm Scottish.. [emoji6]

Don't think it says you can do that on the spec!
 
Nothing wrong with using a mixing stick,floor layers use them till this day
I do flooring as well as tiling,I'll have you know my 'stick' is multi use,I do prefer hardwood too softwood,softwood mixes slower I find maybe more friction 😀
 
I'm certain any spec of tile adhesive wouldn't state you can mix it one day,leave it in your van then use it the next day
 
I'm certain any spec of tile adhesive wouldn't state you can mix it one day,leave it in your van then use it the next day

What it will say is that once mixed it will have a pot life of 5hrs.
These are temperature dependant on 20 degrees. If it's 2 degrees in my van then what will happen to the addy?
It won't go off & has a longer open time, a lot longer.
 
Nah I'm no having that one,never heard it in my life,was it frosty where u are?cos I know it was where i am
 
If the adhesive is still "live" i.e hasn't gone off, I don't think there's a time limit.

Correct. Adhesive cures under chemical reaction & until it goes off then that chemical reaction isn't happening.
View attachment 60620

Top left tiles, 5/6 tiles are fixed with said addy, can come & dig out grout & try & lift them.
If you can I will pay you all your time, effort & travelling time etc.
That's how confident I am that they tiles won't budge.
 
So this thread started off
With a bad batch of gran fix
Then the tile guy got ripped a new a!.-hole for suggesting to use a mixing stick
Now we are mixing adhesive one day then using it the next
In cold and frosty conditions
Wow
 

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