MEK

[Mike4116]

MEK The bottom of my Zodiak inflatable has pulled away from the tubes. About an 8" section needs to be re-glued. I picked up the repair adhesive from a marine hardware store and the fix looks pretty straight forward. However, the directions on the adhesive recommend that I clean the area to be glued with MEK (methyl ethyl ketone). Does anyone know where this stuff is available? I know it's a pretty strong and dangerous chemical and due care needs to be exercised while applying it. I don't recall seeing MEK on the shelves of any hardware store, marine or otherwise that I've been in lately.Thanks,

 

[Mel]

MEK is the clear liquid catalyst for a lot of epoxy resins. An auto parts store such as Autozone should have it. Most people use too much hardener, and run out.

 

[kingprawn]

home improvement stores

I've seen MEK at Homedepot and and Lowes, usually in the painting section. I may have even seen it at walmart once or twice also. It is a very strong solvent, so use chemical gloves, goggles, and plenty of ventillation. We have some at work that has been there for over a decade because the hazmat people don't want to do the paperwork to get rid of it.

 

[Donald6441]

as above, thats catalyst for polyester

resin, you know, for fiber glassing. If the marine store sells resin then ill bet good money they have MEK too.

 

[Hal18379]

Pool supply store

I was able to find it at a swimming pool supply store. Good luck.

 

[bobby17657]

good for cleaning bad!!! for your body

I have used the product for years, great solvent, some guys I worked with did not follow the protective cautions and used it as a strong hand cleaner. Very bad idea to inhale or allow skin contact, it has a tendancy to collect in certain special areas of the body causing cancer.

 

[patrick]

MEK is methyl ethyl ketone

It is a great organic solvent which will probably eat your liver and certainly does remove paint. It can be found in most paint departments and stores. Use gloves and proper ventilation. It is a molecule which is but one carbon and two hydrogen atoms different from acetone (dimethyl ketone). I do not believe it is carcenogenic (cancer causing) but it is toxic in other ways.The MEK "catalyst" is MEK peroxide. Not the same thing at all. It is actually another "BLEACH". Do not use it in your laundry or for a solvent.

 

[Rick Webb]

West Marine

I have seen it there. I've used it for all sorts of things before we all knew how bad it was. Works great as a hand cleaner but will dry them out real bad too. Use it only in the open air wear gloves and eye protection and wash your hands after your done.

 

[patrick]

Rick, if you get this on your skin,

you will not be washing much of it off. It is rapidly absorbed through intact skin and will not just rinse back out. My advice is do not get it on your skin or breath it in the first place.

 

[Rick Webb]

I Remember the Burn

I agree that not getting it on you is the best idea of all but washing your hands after you use any of this sort of stuff is a good idea. We used it performing maintanence on AIM-4 missles. It was kept in a five gallon can that we filled out of a fifty five gallon drum. I have not touched the stuff in a long time. It is nasty stuff but it works well.

 

[patrick]

AIM-4 missiles are older than I am

That is too funny. Were you a missile guy, too? I was a 31671 myself and worked console maintenance and WSEMs mostly. We might have actually met. Were you ever at Tyndall Wurtsmith, McChord, Da Nang, Phu Cat, or Ubon?

 

[Mike4116]

Thanks to all

Thanks to all who responded. If I can't find the stuff now I must not be looking. So....a couple of old missle guys, eh? As an Air Force B-52 (buff) crew chief I occasionally worked on the Hound Dog SAM's. We used to use MEK to clean cowling and prepare the birds for painting. Of course no one told us to be careful but one sniff of that stuff told me to use gloves and not to breathe it if possible. Still I'll probably get some form of exotic cancer which the government will claim is due to my non-service life style.Thanks again,Mike

 

[Rick Webb]

Fat Fingered That One

Should have been a 7 not a 4. I was a 461 and a 462 on F-4s at Bergstom and Kelly. I have however worked AIM-4s on F-106 and F-94s. But that was at the Air Force Museum at Wright- Pat so it probably does not really count.

 

[patrick]

MEK works great for removing

the dried napalm from the tail fins of Sparrow missiles (AIM-7s). I did some of that too, Rick. I doubt that the AF uses it in quite the same ways now as they did in PACAF.

 

[Rick Webb]

I Did Not Know That

I thought Napalm only stuck to women and children. Guess all the Hanoi Jane followers were lieing.

 

[patrick]

Another thought

The sticky napalm made me remember that you should be careful not to get too much of it (MEK) on the tubes of the zodiac. My friend had an Aquapro which he washed with the cleaner recommended by the dealer and afterwards, the surface got very sticky. I do not know what the cleaner was. The tubes got so sticky that it would pull the hair off of your arm if you leaned on them. They finally had to replace the tubes completely. Aquapro uses a combination PVC / Hypalon material. I think the Zodiacs are PVC which might be more easily dissolved by MEK. I would use it sparingly.

 

[Steve Kamp]

MEK and other solvents

Rick, Patrick,and Mike, in addition to missle guys and BUFF crew chiefs, any 431X1 (A,C or E) who ever cleaned an engine bay during an engine change or phased inspection will have contacted or ingested more of those multiple lettered chemicals than can possibly be good. Toward the end of my service we started using the bio/chemical decon suits out of the crash response boxes since the only other time they were looked at was for Broken Arrow simulations.Seriously, I treasure my memories of working on Uncle's T-33's, A-7D's, and F-4C's, D's, and E's. I wonder how much aluminum oxide I absorbed from constantly compounding/buffing an unpainted T-33?Steve

 

[Pops]

Rick from Niceville

Rick, this is a sailing site.

 

[jmcclain]

Mike ,MEK is a good cleaner for variety of purposes from deck cleaning to stainless. I often use it where acetone may be too strong. It is available at every "box" hardware store, usually in the paint department. West Marine has it.Jon

 

[patrick]

Rick, this is a boating site

so you should not leave out Janes Hanoi twin brother at arms named John. I, for one, am offended.I remember returning from my first tour of duty. My Navy friend told me a small arms story.He was sent ashore (ie: from a boat) with some medics to innoculate Vietnamese children against some of the terrible diseases which were rampant there. The medics were greeted by throngs of happy children wanting candy. They gave them shots until they ran out of medicine and returned to the ship. Next day, they came back to give shots to the children that they had missed.Surprise, no children were to be found. They went around the village to see why. They were astonished to find a large pile of small arms. Not weapons - childrens arms - baby size and up. The VC had cut off the arms of children who had been given shots.I only mentioned it here because Dan R would never tell you about this incident and most of you would never know.I returned home to hear our boating friend John on TV calling me and my Navy buddy murderers. Maybe that is what he was talking about. After all, if we had never innoculated these kids, none of this would have happened. I woke up at 1:30 this morning thinking about this and just thought y'all would like to become more informed. Happy Easter everyone.So Pops, is this relevant enough for you? And Rick, I hope you will correct your errant ways. By the way do you know what a "duck dinner" is? I will tell you in 24 hours or else you can ask your CC.Just to keep it solvent related, my all time favorite solvent is freon. Then comes carbon tetrachloride which actually is a low level carcinogen.