How do you use Pro-seal and document the procedure with a camera? The simple answer… you don’t! Once the Polysulfide Sealant comes out o the can, anything in the area (including a camera or cell phone) is fair game for getting daubed or slathered with the stuff. So instead of pictures of the actual job, here are a few of how I set up, and what the start and finish look like—plus a few hard-earned tips for keeping things as clean as possible.
The biggest tip is—plan ahead! Have everything you need for the job laid out before you open the can. Rags, mixing sticks, mixing platen, scale, gloves… applicators, paper towels, paper towels, and more paper towels, a squirt bottle of acetone… and maybe a stick that you can grab to scratch your nose when it itches—you sure don’t want to touch your face with a gloved hand that has been working with sealant!
(I should pause and explain to the uninitiated—Polysulfide sealant is a magical chemical compound used to seal fuel tanks and has all sorts of other airframe uses but once you take it out of the can, you are liable to get it everywhere, and, like epoxy, once it gets one something, it is there forever. A smooth, non-porous surface can be wiped clean with acetone while the sealant is still uncured, but anything else… forget it.)
Second tip—you need two sticks to get “Part A” out of the can—one to scoop it, one to wipe it off the scooper. Have whatever you’re going to mix it on already set on your scale, with the scale tared. Close up the can and put it out of reach before opening the “Part B” (activator) can. Use two clean sticks to ladle that on the platen. I like a flat mixing surface, but a paper cup also works. Mix until you see no streaks – you want a uniform color for a complete mix. And it’s not five-minute epoxy. Take your time, relax, be careful—the sealant doesn’t cure that quickly.
Last tip—wear one set of tight-fitting gloves, and the next size larger on top of those. When (not if) you get sealant on the outer gloves, peel them off and put new ones on – that way, you avoid getting sealant everywhere because of touching places with dirty gloves, and the inner gloves keep your hands clean.
