Geocaching Australia

Has anyone found a glue that sticks to the inside of a Sistema container? Unfortunately the only weeping angel I could find was quite small so I am planning on sticking it to the inside of a container to make it a bit easier to find.

I've tried Tarzans Grip and Superglue so far but neither takes. I could try roughing up the surface with sandpaper first which might help, but thought I would see if anyone knows of something I can grab at the hardware tomorrow that will actually bond with whatever these are made of.

I could try Silastic to see if that will attach but thought I would ask first..

When I was in the Monash Underwater Club back in 1970 or so, we use to make our own underwater torches out of perspex and poly pipe.
To glue the perspex and polypropylene we used to use chloroform, which sort of fused the pieces together.
It might work with sistemas and other plastic.
Don't know if you can still buy chloroform from a chemist these days however.

A good dollop of silastic will work. Best to rough up the surface inside the sistema to improve the stickiness.

Thanks - I have done some research and it appears specialist glues are required for the material. But if the roughing up and Silastic option work that's much easier as I have heaps of that in the back of the work car for my job.

Any other suggestions welcomed, as the specialist products indicated aren't cheap!

Hot glue is reasonably effective, but there's no substitute for mechanical fastening.

What I'd do is drill a couple of small holes, cable-tie the angel in place, then fill the holes with hot glue.

(You can get cheap hot glue guns at $2 shops if you don't already have one. They're wonderful for all manner of crafty projects!)


The outdoor double-sided tape from 3M also sticks well to plastic. I've used that for magnets, covered with duct tape, and they've lasted for years.

What ever adhesive you use will work better if you rough up the plastic surface first. I prefer to use a 100 grit and rub it in a criss cross pattern.

Richary wrote:Thanks - I have done some research and it appears specialist glues are required for the material ...

Sistemas are made of polypropylene (recycling code 5) and, yes, polypropylene does need a specialist glue. I've used Locktite 401 after first using Locktite 770 Activator on the plastic, and the combination works pretty well. I've also seen a newish product from Selleys called "Plastics Glue", which is also a two-part glue and primer and claimed to work on polypropylene. You should be able to get the Selleys glue from any big hardware store, but the Locktite products are probably only available from a more specialised Locktite dealer.

Thanks all. I've gone the cable tie and hot glue gun solution which will work for the purpose. But it's useful to know which glues will work in case I come up with any clever ideas in the future

Richary wrote:Thanks all. I've gone the cable tie and hot glue gun solution which will work for the purpose. But it's useful to know which glues will work in case I come up with any clever ideas in the future

Glad to hear the good news, Richary.

I think many of us have suffered similar problems, trying to glue A to B.

Was an educational thread . . .

I've found liquid nails to be fairly reliable.

Another trick if you are using a Sistema container with magnets glued inside the bottom, is to grind off the base 'ridge'. I just rub it on my concrete driveway until the bottom is flat, that way you have a closer fit for the magnets to grab onto the steel.

As this thread is a few years old now, I'm just wondering if anyone has come up with any other clever solutions on how to affix things to a Sistema in the interim. Prior to reading this thread I tried silicon and waterproof PVA, but not surprisingly they both pretty much peeled straight off. I'm trying to attach some camo and may have to go with the physical fix and plug holes with hot glue.

I find double sided tape is good for sticking magnets on the inside. The magnetic attraction "keeps the pressure on" and the tape only needs to hold the magnet in place when the sistema is lifted off the ferrous surface, which is not asking much.

We've had success with spray adhesive on the outside for attaching fine materials such as wood shavings, powdered rock, bark and sand camo to sistemas and other plastic surfaces

2y'stassies wrote:We've had success with spray adhesive on the outside for attaching fine materials such as wood shavings, powdered rock, bark and sand camo to sistemas and other plastic surfaces

It's also a good base for spray paint.