hot car

[Steven.nelson196]

The flying field is on my way home from work. So it would make sense to put my FT planes in the car and fly on the way home. I live in Texas which can get hot this time of year so I am concerned to keep my planes in the car in the heat. Has anyone had any adverse side effects from leaving their planes in a hot car?

 

[DamoRC]

The flying field is on my way home from work. So it would make sense to put my FT planes in the car and fly on the way home. I live in Texas which can get hot this time of year so I am concerned to keep my planes in the car in the heat. Has anyone had any adverse side effects from leaving their planes in a hot car?

Depending on how hot it can get, expect the hot glue to soften and possibly let go of whatever it was holding together. If you have a favorite that you like to build and fly perhaps build a "heat-resistant" one with gorilla glue instead of hot glue, or use a combination of glues. A friend that I build planes for leaves all of his gear in his truck all of the time and I have had to mend the FT builds a few times because of hot glue melting. Recently, I have taken to using some gorilla glue in the build alongside hot glue, so I can still get the pieces glued down fast but the gorilla glue will hold if the hot glue melts.

DamoRC

 

[ElectriSean]

Don't leave your lipo's in a hot car, they will puff like mad. Don't ask how I know

 

[jaredstrees]

Yeah, the glue WILL melt. I live in Florida, and my field is also on the way home. It's nice to be able to stop and fly a few packs before I get home to the chores. I usually only take one or two planes with me and I take them inside and leave them in my office during the day. If you don't have you're own personal space at work then see if there is a common area you can store them for the day. Chances are someone will ask about them and maybe you'll gain a flying partner out of it. Make sure you bring in your TX as well!

Oh, and heed the advice of Electisean! I haven't personally had it happen, but most batteries don't like high heat!

 

[PsyBorg]

I believe Andre fell prey to the suns effect on p[lanes left in a car last year when he left a 3d printed plane in his with a rubber band wrapped around it to hold a battery hatch closed. The rubber band was enough to deform the fuselage in the heat. Made for an interesting look to his plane that is for sure.

 

[Brett_N]

I must have special glue then. Or your zip code is somewhere close to the surface of the sun than I am. I left a plane (FT mini corsair, to be exact) in the car (on purpose) all of last week here in PHOENIX, with air temps above 100*F, so interior car temps are even higher than that. NOT A SINGLE ISSUE. Not one little bead of glue started to get soft. I've tried to melt this plane a few times with no luck. And I only use Adtech bulk gluesticks.

Folks in Florida or texas, I can understand having issues, but not from the heat, from the HUMIDITY. If you have more glue on the paper than on the foam, certainly high humidity will wreck a plane FAST since it delaminates the paper, and busts up your joints. (the paper is hydroscopic, the foam isn't)

As far as electronics, OTHER THAN BATTERIES, they are fine in the car. Our stuff is all commercial grade (85*C) or about 180*F so leaving it non-running is fine. Batteries should absolutely go inside though.

My advice is if you are going to leave them in the hot car, just make sure they are COVERED, or in the trunk, out of the sun. UV eats plastic worse than high temps. I always have a plane of some sort in the trunk of the car, or in the back of my subaru and have yet to have ANY issues.

Just my $0.02

Oh, and if you're really worried? Pick up an EPP UMX foamie or similar. EPP melting point is north of 170*C (and actually makes up a large percentage of the structure of your bits and pieces of your car) so it will survive just fine. But again - KEEP IT OUT OF DIRECT SUN - that's the biggest killer.

 

[Jayrod0821@gmail]

The flying field is on my way home from work. So it would make sense to put my FT planes in the car and fly on the way home. I live in Texas which can get hot this time of year so I am concerned to keep my planes in the car in the heat. Has anyone had any adverse side effects from leaving their planes in a hot car?

I live in Oklahoma and have the same problem. Im experimenting with a hotglue alternative. Loctite power grab, heavy duty exterior construction adhesive.
I use it at work alot.

 

[Brett_N]

I live in Oklahoma and have the same problem. Im experimenting with a hotglue alternative. Loctite power grab, heavy duty exterior construction adhesive.
I use it at work alot.

I'm telling ya' - hotglue IS NOT going to re-melt. Prolonged UV exposure will cause it to dry rot (after 2 years or so)

Now - ANY TAPE that you use, absolutely WILL REMELT and become a huge mess (which is a PITA when it comes to reinforcing the firewall.) but hot glue will not. Trust me. The interior of your car would melt also, and if you tear apart the seats, etc, pretty much all use EPP and hot glue to hold them together.

Now in saying that, I've switched to Gorilla Glue White for most of my FT plane builds, and GG regular for my purchased foamies.

It's going to start getting hot here next week. I'll run a week long experiment for you with different glue & tape. I've got a spare SUV that I can let it sit in for a week.

If there's anything in particular you would like me to test, fire away.

Here's what I'm thinking. I'll make a series of "T" shaped pieces, A-folds, and B-Folds.

2 each using GG Regular, GG White, CA (Zap a Gap Medium) and Adtech Hot Glue

1 of each will go in the shade, the other 1 of each where the sun can hit it, all in the same car (my expedition, I don't drive it during the week anyway)

I think I have a temperature logger somewhere, or I can stick a wireless BBQ thermometer in there and try and track the temperature a couple times a day. Our 1 week forecasts starts at 98 and runs up to 105

 

[jaredstrees]

Moisture is definitely a problem. And it may be that my tape glue was melting and not the hot glue. But I've had the glue let go on this new water resistant foam board just by looking at it. No way would I trust it in a hot car.

 

[Hai-Lee]

The term melt is a bit misleading. It is true that melting into liquid state is almost impossible, BUT, here where it can easily exceed 40 Degrees C, (104 F), in the shade, direct sunlight shining through a car window onto aircraft in a secured vehicle can raise their temperature so high that the hot glue can soften severely.

I have seen wing seams pop because the FB was under tension whilst folded into the wing shape. I have even seen glue residues on the interior carpet of a couple of cars. The real issue with heat in a locked car is not the melting of the glue to a liquid state but to a softened state which can allow FB seams to slip or open up under residual tension from the techniques used to fold the FB into the model shape.

I also saw a plane damaged beyond repair because a can of coke was accidentally left under the planes when the car was parked. In the heat the can of coke exploded and punched a hole in the wing and bent the fuselage in half! Here it is a CRIMINAL offence to leave an animal or child in a locked car because death WILL result in a very short time in high summer!

Air temperatures in a sealed car have been recorded at being well over 60 Degrees C, (140 F), and surface temperatures, dashboard, door trim and the like of over 80 degrees C in direct sunlight, (166 F).

That you have not experienced something is not a reason to deny that it exists. Also when there are so many different types or grades of the hot melt glue which are used by the constructors of FT type aircraft and you do not know the reasons for the glue selection it sounds like an attempt to belittle others.

Humidity can effect those planes using tape or even some wraps to cover the plane as the moisture attacks the adhesive at the edges and can cause them to lift over time.

YES, Leaving a Hot Melt Glued FB plane CAN lead to damage to the plane due to issues with the heat, (subject to the extremes of the heat and the temperature responses of the glue you have selected). Depending on the glue type selected the damage can range from extreme to non-existent. If you have fears about the temperature in your car when secured then do NOT risk the loss of your plane.

If you are forced to secure your planes in a locked car store them out of direct sunlight in the trunk or similar as the trunk in normally lower in temperature than the passenger compartment.

As a side issue I only use hot melt glue for the fitment of servos now as I use a liquid glue for all of my constructions with a small amount of epoxy of course and all of my planes are now sealed and painted as the dew can be rather extreme in the early morning!

From personal experience and what works for me!

Have fun!

 

[Jayrod0821@gmail]

I have done my own experiment last year, i kept a plane in my camper shell windows open and in the shade. The hot glue got soft and would easily let go. Also had a glue stick in there and it would pull apart with out much effort. My truck is goldish in color and i have tinted windows with the windsheld reflector in place

 

[Jayrod0821@gmail]

Im tellin ya, try this stuff. Just treat it like hot glue when building,good for the edges too.

 

[DamoRC]

Im tellin ya, try this stuff. Just treat it like hot glue when building,good for the edges too.

Mmm - might be worth a try. I see they have it in a 6 oz tube that doesn't need a caulking gun.

Thinking a little more on this topic I think it might help to specify the products being used. I understand that @Brett_N 's experience is that the glue won't re-melt and he mentioned that he is using Adtech bulk sticks - are these the multi-temp or the high-temp sticks?

I use the Stanley Dual Melt sticks. At first, there was no particular reason for this, the first pack came with my Stanley Dual Melt gun which I initially ran at the high setting all the time. Now with more experience under the belt, I am selective about which temp I use depending on what part I am gluing or how long the run of glue will need to be. Its possible that these dual melt sticks, which essentially are low-temp sticks that can tolerate the higher melt temp setting if needed, are more susceptible to the "hot-car" problem. In my experience the dual melt glue (a) does let go of joints that are under tension (such as wing trailing edges) and (b) does re-melt based on recently having to re-install a servo for a friend where it was clear that the glue melted and ran down the sides of the servo.

DamoRC

 

[Brett_N]

So, I've started the test. I'll let it sit for a week, checking daily around 4PM/.

Location - Phoenix Arizona
Weekly daily high temps - 101,103,103,101,106 (targets)

Glued identical pieces, 4 of each, with Gorilla Glue Original, Gorilla Glue White, CA w/ Kicker & AdTech Pro High Temp hot glue. Just standard A type folds (or B, depending how you look at them, just 90* folds)

I have a feeling the temperature of the glue sticks may have an impact, so I'll see if I have any low melt ones.

2 each in the back of my Expedition, which will be shaded (but in the same cabin space) and 2 each on the dash board. The paper is wax paper just in case.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Sadly your efforts are wasted because your test is flawed. You are testing individual seam types each stand alone and without any tensions trying to pull the seam apart as you would find in a FB folded wing.

Where there are no forces applied continuously to pull the joint apart it will never be a concern. Most complaints have been of wing seams popping or other slippage related distortions especially where the plane is stored in the vehicle such that it has forces applied to it, (one plane stacked on top of the other or even stored on its side on the floor or seat of the vehicle. Additionally I note that your test pieces are all white whereas most planes end up coloured by some method, (increases the IR absorption).

You can feel free to test in any manner to prove your hypothesis but unless you test the way that other persons have experienced then you are just manufacturing or modifying the test procedures to give the results that you want!

Most of us do not need to EXPERIENCE it a number of times to prove that it happens!

Enjoy your testing irrelevant though it seems to be!

Have fun!

 

[Brett_N]

Guess what I'm having for dinner!

Don't get it. I looked up the MSDS sheets for the AdTech glue and the melting point is WAY higher...... oh well. You guys win.

BUT....

Good news - GG Original, White, and CA are all holding strong. I'll leave everything in there (and I'm throwing in a glue stick as a test) for a couple more days, but.....24 hour test shows GG White as the winner (lighter, easier to work with and just as strong as GG Original) if you have to store in a hot car for your next build.

(Yes, I'm testing that theory too. Cutting sheets for The Kraken, and one of the small wings that's going to be an EDF)

 

[Jayrod0821@gmail]

Sadly your efforts are wasted because your test is flawed. You are testing individual seam types each stand alone and without any tensions trying to pull the seam apart as you would find in a FB folded wing.

Where there are no forces applied continuously to pull the joint apart it will never be a concern. Most complaints have been of wing seams popping or other slippage related distortions especially where the plane is stored in the vehicle such that it has forces applied to it, (one plane stacked on top of the other or even stored on its side on the floor or seat of the vehicle. Additionally I note that your test pieces are all white whereas most planes end up coloured by some method, (increases the IR absorption).

You can feel free to test in any manner to prove your hypothesis but unless you test the way that other persons have experienced then you are just manufacturing or modifying the test procedures to give the results that you want!

Most of us do not need to EXPERIENCE it a number of times to prove that it happens!

Enjoy your testing irrelevant though it seems to be!

Have fun!

I was using adtech also and even called them. They are in Texas and store all there glue sticks in a non climate controlled warehouse. So they wont melt but they will let go. Seen it for my self on a plane not just a couple pieces of foam.
It gets stinkin hot here.

 

[Hai-Lee]

Guess what I'm having for dinner!

View attachment 108080

Don't get it. I looked up the MSDS sheets for the AdTech glue and the melting point is WAY higher...... oh well. You guys win.

BUT....

Good news - GG Original, White, and CA are all holding strong. I'll leave everything in there (and I'm throwing in a glue stick as a test) for a couple more days, but.....24 hour test shows GG White as the winner (lighter, easier to work with and just as strong as GG Original) if you have to store in a hot car for your next build.

(Yes, I'm testing that theory too. Cutting sheets for The Kraken, and one of the small wings that's going to be an EDF)

You have my respect for your willingness to put in the effort to clarify matters in your own mind. You were not wrong in your thinking but just a little off in your test procedure perhaps being misled by the MSDS sheets which sadly do not always give the full story of a material's or chemical's properties.

Do not be discouraged at all because some, (myself included), admire those who put in the extra effort to better understand the dynamics of our hobby/sport. Refine your approach to testing and you will produce definite and meaningful results in the future, Look forward to your next installment of "RC Mythbusters".

Have fun!