Kool Glide Discussion

[Daris Mulkin]

I haven't heard of any larger Koolglides but I have heard they are trying to make a more economical tape{narrower}.
They are also trying to make a tool for the rubber roofing people.
Lyn Perkins is one of 3 partners I believe.

Daris

[Darian Brown]

I think the seam tape is very reasonable for what you get.
I also see a need for it with the new generation that can’t make decent seams. At lest with the sich tape it can be fix at a lower rate for the store when that bad installer leaves.

[Harry Myers]

I also met Len and got certified by Robert Varden. I have 2 kool glides and they are a great tool ,great tape.

[The Carpetologist]

FYI, Robert K. Rothfuss President of Impax Technology sent me some very nice gifts!
Thanks Kool Glide!

[Al Gladden]

i had to make a repair today... customer caught a snag on berber with her vacuum....about 2 inches wide by 1 ft long..no way a regular iron would have worked..a gluegun would have been messy so i used the koolglide. and it made a beautiful patch that was 100% invisible..thanks, koolglide.

[The Carpetologist]

Well, this has happened three times now.

Cheep apartment grade carpet, and cheep frieze carpets seaming with the Kool Glide, using my finger as always as the mark to move the iron forward as per instructions...

On these cheep, thin carpets you have to move the iron a bit further then normal (about 3/4 of an inch) or it will melt the carpet, causing it to shrink. In each of these cases, the tape was not burned, but the backing got hot enough in a about a one inch to shrink it.
I had to remelt off a section and patch it in all three cases.

Have any of you experienced this with cheep carpets?

[Dobby Tappet]

Earlier this week we had just finished installing 86 yards of loop pile wool Kara-Loc with a small scale, three color pattern. It was 8:30 pm and as the final vacuuming was being done, most of the furniture had been returned into the room and the tools were already loaded in the truck when we realized the two electrical floor outlets needed to be cut.

As I finished cleaning up, my sweet bride made the cuts and reinstalled the brass cover plates. However, the hole for the second outlet was about a 1/4" larger than the plate cover and, much to our surprise, the difference was not realized until the plate was positioned for attachment.

Generally speaking; attaching a floating piece over an outlet hole in the center of room with a woven wool carpet would present a whole set of challenges. No problem! {{To be honest, I was almost excited}} let's get a pair of shears, latex and the Sinch iron! In a matter of minutes an invisible and durable repair was made and we were on our way. Most excellent!!

Listen, I know there has been much discussion about the Kool Glide seaming system and I too was skeptical. Truth be told, mine set on a shelf for a few months before I began to even try it. However, little by little, with practice, experimentation and testing the tool has now become our taped seaming method of choice. So much so, that the traditional hot melt irons don't even get loaded in the truck. In fact, we recently purchased a second Kool Glide as a back up.

Can basic seams be made just as well with a traditional hot melt iron as the Kool Glide? Sure, but when you need to go beyond basic, when you need flexibility and the ability to work creatively, that's where the Kool Glide becomes a gotta have tool and makes the thought of using a traditional iron a dreadful one.

Respectfully,

Dobby

[Daris Mulkin]

Carpetoligist---- Do you have the Pro model? What setting are you using if you do? Are you seaming on a board or over pad? The reason for asking is different settings for different applications. If over pad the low setting is suffient. If over a board use the medium. If over bare concrete maybe the high but I haven't used that setting yet in a couple of years. Also are you sure you aren't hitting the same spot more than once? I've done that thinking I moved the tool and hadn't.
I've used the tool on some real cheap read the newspaper through carpet and have not had the problem you have. Just playing with it we started a fire once by hitting the button as soon as the light went out. I think about 5 times did the trick, got the pad to smoking.

Daris

[The Carpetologist]

Originally Posted by Daris Mulkin Carpetoligist---- Do you have the Pro model? What setting are you using if you do? Are you seaming on a board or over pad? The reason for asking is different settings for different applications. If over pad the low setting is suffient. If over a board use the medium. If over bare concrete maybe the high but I haven't used that setting yet in a couple of years. Also are you sure you aren't hitting the same spot more than once? I've done that thinking I moved the tool and hadn't. I've used the tool on some real cheap read the newspaper through carpet and have not had the problem you have. Just playing with it we started a fire once by hitting the button as soon as the light went out. I think about 5 times did the trick, got the pad to smoking. Daris

Yes, I have the pro model.
Using the the low setting.
Going over pad.
No, I did not go over the same place twice.

Maybe I need to take the iron in and have it looked at.
One of the things it is supposed to do is flash the light when you are over the tape, and my iron does not do that.
Perhaps there is something not quite right with it, but since this is the first one I have ever used, I do not have a good point of reference.

I did however do a test over a medium grade builders carpet and hit the button twice in one spot to see what it would do....
It burned the pad immediately, burned the carpet (shrunk it up) but that was the whole distance of the iron.
What I am talking about is a 1 inch area, only on the cheep carpet which moving the iron an extra 1/2 to 3/4 inch seems to have solved the problem.

I will take it in for a "check up".

[Daris Mulkin]

Carpet -- the iron will flash if NOT over the tape not when over it. So I would say t is working correctly. Also the setting do not change the heatsetting, it just changes the amount of time the tool is activated.

Daris

[Danny Ferguson]

To make a long story short, we ordered a Kool Glide Pro and they sent us the old version with no directions in the box. We had rugs to make, so we made due with the old version. We played around with it for half a day, and found that seaming directly over concrete didn't heat the tape enough to get a good bond to the carpet backing. We then tried using 1/4" luan under the tape, and that seemed to bond a little better. After talking with Rowland, he suggested using pad under the tape and zapping it twice in the same spot, which ended up working the best, and we never had any problems burning the tape or the carpet. It sure would have went a lot faster if we had the pro model.

[Al Gladden]

roland turned me onto koolglide, many years ago..the thing is roland gets to use all the new stuff...lucky dog...i sent my old version in for a update and it was one of the first to come out....i recently had to redo one of my seams as i let my dad make it and it was his first time using the koolglide.when he got through he had one spot that was indented bad.. well he zapped it 3 times and it burnt through the pad, i had to take the seam apart and replace a piece of pad and redo the seam...thanks dad.

[The Carpetologist]

Originally Posted by Al Gladden roland turned me onto koolglide, many years ago..the thing is roland gets to use all the new stuff...lucky dog...i sent my old version in for a update and it was one of the first to come out....i recently had to redo one of my seams as i let my dad make it and it was his first time using the koolglide.when he got through he had one spot that was indented bad.. well he zapped it 3 times and it burnt through the pad, i had to take the seam apart and replace a piece of pad and redo the seam...thanks dad.

I'm going to do some testing today with mine and hit it 2 and 3 times to see what happens.

[barrycarlton]

I used mine on the wool level loop I installed this weekend. It was thin but was 1/4 inch thick. On the smaller rooms I used seaming boards (laminate flooring) over wood and conc. , on the big room I used it directly on the pad (over conc). The seaming boards scorched a little, the tape scorched, the pad (wool) scorched. The setting was on low.

Am I missing something???

The carpet is white, and did not discolor.

b

[The Carpetologist]

I have also used the Kool Glide on woven goods, over pad.
Generaly speaking, I usualy get a minimum amount of scorching on the begging and ends of my seams. It has not given me any problems.
Seams held well, and no discolorations.