Gasket Tape, Foam Gasket Tape and Adhesive-Backed Strip Gasketing
Stockwell Elastomerics manufactures gasket tape and many types of adhesive-backed strip gaskets. Gasket tape goes by many names, including strip gaskets, foam gasket tape, slit-to-width gasketing, foam gasket tape or Strip-N-Stick® gasket tape - all names for sponges or foams that have a peel and stick adhesive backing that are cut to a prescribed width. Because the material is rolled up and supplied on a core it resembles a roll of tape.
Stockwell Elastomerics has extensive experience in strip gasketing and sealing applications and has selected the top performing materials for door gaskets, enclosure gaskets, NEMA gaskets and IP gaskets. These gasket tapes take into consideration long term use, UV and ozone exposure, extreme high/low temperatures and firmness for compression. Included are materials listed by UL for UL 50, UL 50E (periodic recompression and continuous compression), UL 197, UL 508, UL 1571, UL 1572, and UL 94V-0. Also included are foam gasket tape that meets 21 CFR 177.2600 suitable for food contact. This wide range of foam gasket tapes/strip gaskets allows Stockwell Elastomerics to supply gasket materials that will meet most enclosure gasketing needs.
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Gasket Tape Touch Brochure
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gasket tape materials to touch and feel.
Manufacturing Gasket Tape/Strip Gaskets
Gasket tape is made by slitting a master roll of material to a prescribed width. The length may be specified, though there are limitations based on the thickness of the material and master roll put-up. Strip gaskets can be made from any variety of roll stock material such as silicone foam, urethane foam, silicone sponge, or neoprene sponge. These materials are typically provided with an adhesive, peel and stick backing for ease of installation. The most common uses are dust and moisture protection for large enclosures and electrical equipment housings. A strip gasket can be used for IP61, IP62 and IP63. More aggressive wash down requirements such as IP64, IP65 and IP66 may require bonded corners to prevent the ingress of pressurized water. The same holds true for NEMA 4 and UL 50 enclosures. Note: IP refers to Ingress Protection from objects and moisture.
The key benefit to using a strip gasket or gasket tape is the reduced material cost. Stockwell Elastomerics manufactures custom gasket strips based on customers’ needs. To have a strip gasket manufactured by Stockwell Elastomerics, the required information is:
- Strip width
- Material thickness
- Type of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) backing
Foam or Sponge Material Considerations
Stockwell Elastomerics maintains a full inventory of high performance gasketing materials that resist taking a permanent compression set under long term or repeated compression (rebound properties). Compression set resistance is a key performance discriminator between PORON cellular urethane, silicone foam and closed cell silicone sponges versus low cost blended neoprene and PVC foams. For indoor applications such as on industrial controls, PORON provides a good value for long term performance. For outdoor enclosures that see the full range of environments, silicone foam or closed cell silicone sponge will perform better over time.
Flame Rated Foam Gasket Tape
Silicone foam materials usually meet UL 94V-0 – this flame rating is often specified for telecommunications enclosures and electronic enclosures gaskets. Silicone foams are also available that meet FAR 25.853 requirements. Closed cell silicone sponge products are available that meet UL 94HB and UL 94V-0. PORON cellular urethanes meet UL 94HB, which may be acceptable for indoor enclosures.
Adhesive Backings for Strip Gaskets
Stockwell Elastomerics offers over 20 pressure sensitive adhesives. Most of the adhesives supplied on gasketing tape materials fall into 3 categories:- Film Supported Acrylic (also known as double coated PSA) – PSAs are constructed from coating each side of a thin PET film with adhesive. When a supported PSA is laminated to a "stretchy" rubber material the thin PET film gives the strip gasket (or gasket tape) dimensional stability. This is useful to prevent the assembly technician from stretching the strip gasket during installion. The recommended adhesive for general purpose applications is Adchem 256M acrylic adhesive.
- Unsupported Transfer Film – PSAs are .002” to .010” films of adhesive on self-wound rolls of release liner. Transfer film adhesives can be stretched and conform to uneven surfaces or bends (to reduce the number of butted splices) during installation. Recommended transfer adhesive backing for strip gaskets is 3M 9485 acrylic (0.005” thick). unsupported transfer film adhesive on cast metal enclosures and sheet metal enclosures with uneven surfaces. The recommendation in this category is 3M's 9485 acrylic transfer film adhesive.
- Low Surface Energy Adhesives - have been developed to adhere to "tough to stick to" materials such as power coated metal surfaces and some plastics. LSE adhesives are available in film supported constructions such as 3M 9490LE and transfer film adhesives such as 3M 9472LE.
Request a Free Silicone Sponge / Silicone Foam Gasket Tape Touch Brochure
Request a free "touch" brochure with small samples of gasket tapes to touch and feel.Contact Stockwell Elastomerics for Gasket Tape/Strip Gaskets
Contact Us for further assistance with gasket tape, gasketing tape, strip gaskets, foam gasket tape and any adhesive-backed strip gasketing.Related Information: |
Go to Gasket Tape / Strip Gasket Technical Data and Data Sheets page.  View Gasket Tape Overview Data Sheet
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Strip-N-Stick® is a registered trademark of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation
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