you are in:
Conventional sealants used for the production of insulating glass units inevitably come into contact with a multitude of other materials when the glass unit is being installed in its frame. Often a variety of materials are used, underestimating the chemical interactions that may be generated which can lead to significant negative effects on the life of the system in terms of performance (humidity penetration, gas seal) and, in the worst case scenario, with the rapid appearance of visible defects.
Clearly a preventive evaluation of sealant compatibility, carried out with recognized and reliable methods, has been and continues to be one of the major problems in the field of insulating glass production and installation.
For this purpose, a working group involving the most important sector operators was created at the end of 2005, coordinated by the prestigious German institute IFT Rosenheim (http://www.ift-rosenheim.de). Fenzi S.p.A., well-aware of the problem, has always provided its own customers with the technical support necessary for assessing, testing and selecting the most suitable materials for the specific purposes, although with internally developed methods. Thus Fenzi S.p.A. simply couldn’t miss this opportunity to share its accumulated know-how with others.
Two years of meetings and joint tests (“Round Robin Test”) were required before finally being able to define the best methods for verifying the compatibility between materials according to their intended use, the conditions of exposure to typical external agents and potential risks.
Once the works were completed, IFT Rosenheim published two important documents on compatibility, an essential tool for unambiguous verification of the possibility to combine materials with minimal risks.
• Suitability of Sealants (Part 1) Testing methods to check the compatibility of materials that will be in contact with the edge seal of the insulating glass.
• Suitability of Sealants (Part 2) Testing methods to check the compatibility of materials that will be in contact with compound glass and safety glass.
FENZI S.p.A. laboratories are also officially certified by IFT Rosenheim as being qualified and competent to use the aforesaid guidelines, a prestigious honor obtained only after having experimentally demonstrated its ability to evaluate numerous series of samples tested by both laboratories with similar results.
We believe that our customers can continue to come to us, with even greater confidence after this recognition, with any problem related to the combined use of materials, requesting a precautionary compatibility evaluation.
When insulating glass units sealed with FENZI S.p.A. products are installed with other installation sealants, when they are supported inside the frame by support materials or have to contain electrical wires to heat them, an expert's advice is always advisable.
Just one example: the running of the first-barrier sealant illustrated in this article would have easily been avoided if the glazing sealant had been evaluated at the FENZI S.p.A. laboratories with the so-called “Triple Test” procedure.
A list of compatible sealants for the Fenzi S.p.A. system has been available for some time now, and it is periodically updated and reviewed by our technical staff in order to provide a useful and reliable overview for insulating glass manufacturers (www.thiover.com/compatibility)Access is password-protected, please contact info@fenzigroup.com
