You know that you need a multipurpose adhesive sealant for your application. After reviewing the options available, you’ve landed at Formoa 004. Now you want an overview of the product without translating the technical datasheet.
This article will give you just that.
Here at Forgeway, we’ve been manufacturing adhesives and sealants for over 25 years. Formoa 004 is a multipurpose adhesive sealant from our very popular Seal/bond Formoa range.
But won’t Forgeway just give a biased overview of the product?
If you don’t trust us when we say this is an unbiased review, then you should click off now. However, if you want to learn more about Formoa 004 and want to know the ins and outs of Formoa 004, stick around.
This article will help you understand more about the product. It gives a more practical overview that a technical datasheet struggles to provide. By the end of the article, you will know the pros, cons, and estimated cost of Formoa 004.
If you want a short video review of Formoa 004, you can watch it below:
What is Formoa 004?
Formoa 004 is a hybrid polymer-based adhesive sealant from our Seal/bond range. We engineer these products to have good sealing and bonding capabilities.
Formoa 004 can bond to a variety of metals, composites, and plastics as well as wood and ceramics. It comes in the typical 290ml cartridges, 600ml foil packs, or bulk options.
With a skin-over time of 23 minutes, Formoa 004 leaves plenty of time to finish off the bead and get a good seal. A maximum open time of 40 minutes and a fixture time of around 8 hours mean Formoa 004 should be used on projects you can leave to cure overnight.
What are the advantages of Formoa 004?
Now that you have a good idea of Formoa 004, it’s time to analyse the advantages of using the product.
Formoa 004 is good at bonding and sealing
As we mentioned already, you can use Formoa 004 for bonding and sealing. But why is it good at both? The answer lies in the strength and flexibility of Formoa 004.
It has a tensile strength of around 1.8 MPa and a tensile elongation (flexibility) of around 790%. To put that into context, typical silicone sealants will have similar flexibility but with a strength between 0.5-0.8 MPa.
This means that if you have sealing and bonding applications, you can use Formoa 004 as a multi-use product. You can consolidate the sealing and bonding into just one product.
Formoa 004 is easy to work with
Some Hybrid polymer sealants are difficult to tool up. Getting a good finish will require a lot of skill. But Formoa 004 is not like most Hybrid Polymer sealants.
It has lower viscosity making it less difficult to extrude than typical hybrid polymers. This decreased viscosity is also easy to tool up and smooth off.
And with a skin-over time of 23 minutes, Formoa 004 won’t form a skin too quickly which could ruin the finish. Other hybrid polymer sealants will skin over in 10-15 minutes making it difficult to finish off in time.
The low viscosity and long skin over time make Formoa 004 easy to work with.
Formoa 004 is fully over paintable
It’s a commonly known fact that you can’t overpaint silicone. And as silicones are the most popular sealants, most people assume that you can’t paint over all sealants.
However, Formoa 004 is fully over paintable. It doesn’t contain any silicone or isocyanates and therefore can have a coating of paint over the top without worrying about the paint bubbling.
We often debate the need for overpainting sealants. Especially when used during manufacturing processes. However, should the need arise, you can fully overpaint Formoa 004.
What are the disadvantages of Formoa 004?
Now that you have a better idea of Formoa 004’s advantages, it’s time to look at some of the disadvantages. And we’ve taken feedback from our customers to ensure that we give you an honest and unbiased review of the product.
Formoa 004 doesn’t have maximum performance
We’ve mentioned the ability for Formoa 004 to bond as well as seal. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean you can use Formoa 004 as a structural adhesive.
Small and lightweight components will not be an issue. But large and heavy structures will require a structural adhesive with much more strength than Formoa 004.
You may also experience degradation in performance when exposed to very harsh conditions. When used as an exterior aesthetic sealant, Formoa 004 may degrade in harsh climatic conditions (hot, humid, high UV).
Other products in the Formao range like Formoa 063 will have greater exterior exposure.
Formoa 004 can be thicker than silicone
As we mentioned earlier, Formoa 004 is easy to use. Nonetheless, it is still thicker than most silicone sealants. It will also have a different texture to silicone.
We’ve seen feedback from operatives that Formoa 004 is more difficult to use than silicone. We would argue that Formoa 004 isn’t more difficult as long as you know how to use it. But we do agree it is different.
Nonetheless, if you’re currently using silicone sealants, you will notice a difference. This is particularly the case in colder weather.
Hybrid polymer sealants become much more viscous and thick in colder weather, making them more difficult to use.
Formoa 004 can take a long time to cure
The viscosity isn’t the only feature that can be affected by climatic conditions. It can also impact the cure time. And as we mentioned earlier, Formoa 004 isn’t the highest-performing product in the Formoa range.
For bonding applications, you’ll need to wait around 8 hours until you can put Formoa 004 into light operation. It will take a further 72 hours for it to reach a full cure.
In colder conditions, it will take even longer than that.
If you need a faster curing product, other products in the Formoa range can cure much faster.
How much will Formoa 004 cost?
The question of ‘cost’ is often one that companies shy away from. If they do answer, they’ll often give you an answer which sounds like ‘the price depends on…’
Whilst it’s true, it’s not very helpful. And it doesn’t give you a good idea of how much Formoa 004 is likely to cost you.
So, if you are an industrial manufacturer, you can expect the following pricing:
More than 5,000 units per year:
- £2.93 per 290ml cartridge
- £3.82 per 600ml foil pack
For smaller quantities:
- £3.23 per 290ml cartridge
- £4.12 per 600ml foil pack
However, we should mention that some factors will affect the price like location, testing requirements, and ultimately volume. Nonetheless, these figures should give you a good idea of how much Formoa 004 will cost you.
Is Formoa 004 a good fit for you?
Now that you’ve read this far, you’re likely thinking about your application. Will Formoa 004 be the best product for you? Finding the right adhesive sealant isn’t always easy.
That’s why we’ve been helping companies for over 25 years with their bonding and sealing requirements. If you’re stuck on what to do next, we can help.
Formoa 004 is the right product for you if you want an affordable but good quality adhesive sealant. The bonding and sealing characteristics will also help consolidate the cost of multiple products.
However, if you need an adhesive with more strength or have an exterior application that will experience abnormally harsh climatic conditions, you will want to look at other products in the Formoa range.
Still stuck? You can download the technical datasheet for more information or get in touch with an expert to find out whether Formoa 004 can meet your needs.
