Victoria priced a traditional hot-pour setup and did not like either number: the cost of the melter, or the liability of running material heated past 350°F. They started their program on the 6690 ColdFuze™ System instead. It goes down cold, cleans up with water, and meets the same ASTM standard the hot-pour products are held to.
The problem: the price of entry
A hot-pour program is a capital request before a single crack gets sealed. The melter has to be bought. The crew has to be trained on open flame and material heated past 350 degrees. Then the rig becomes one more thing the shop keeps running.
- Capital before output. Budget the melter, then start sealing.
- Burn exposure. Open flame and material past 350°F carry their own paperwork.
- Cleanup is scraping. Hardened material out of a kettle at end of shift.
The fix: the spec is the rig
6690 ColdFuze™ goes down cold, straight from the drum through a pump and wand. No heating cycle to wait through and nothing hot on site. The program scales by adding material, not equipment.
One pump runs two wands and two squeegees at the same time. An operator lays the bead, someone follows with the squeegee, and a second pair works ahead of them. A hot-pour crew is limited by the kettle. This crew is limited by how many hands are on the pavement.
Start-up is about ten minutes. No routing, no backer rod, no primer. Fill the crack, pull a squeegee over it, and the lane goes back into service straight away. The sealant does not have to cure before traffic returns, so the only thing holding the lane is your traffic control.
Put it on your worst joint.A rep in your area will follow up and have a sample shipped.
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What an independent lab found
An accredited outside lab tested cured 6690 ColdFuze™ against the ASTM D6690 crack sealant standard. It cleared every requirement, most of them by a wide margin.
- Softening point
- 170°F minimum
- Had not softened at 400°F
- Firmness once cured
- 90 max
- 25
- Resilience
- 60% minimum
- 66%
- Bond, three freeze cycles at −20°F
- Pass
- Pass
- Compatible with asphalt
- Pass
- Pass
- Stretch before it lets go
- reported only
- 549%
PRI Asphalt Technologies, Test & Evaluation Report, 19 March 2024. AASHTO accredited, ISO/IEC 17025. Full report is in the submittal package.
Read that softening number twice
The standard asks for 170°F. The lab heated the cured sealant to 400°F and it still had not started to soften. That is where the test stopped, not where the product gave up.
The product information sheet puts it the same way: it withstands high heat “without softening, tracking or bleeding through.”
“We wanted a professional crack sealing program without investing in expensive hot-pour equipment or taking on the safety risks that come with it. ColdFuze gave us a safer and more affordable option.”
Public Works Director, City of Victoria, Texas
“A real program needs a hot-pour rig.”
6690 ColdFuze™ is the only product that meets both ASTM D6690 Type II, the hot-applied crack sealant standard, and ASTM C920 Class 50 for elastomeric joint sealants. It also meets AASHTO M-301 and is DOT approved. The spec is the rig, and the full test data is in the liquid products submittal package.
Questions crews ask
What standard does it meet?
ASTM D6690, the hot-pour crack sealant standard, met by a product you apply cold. Checked by an accredited outside lab in March 2024, not by us.
Will it hold through a winter?
It held its bond through three freeze cycles at −20°F, stretched to half again its width each time, and stays flexible below that. It is rated Type II but performs to Type IV in extreme cold.
Will it go soft and track in summer?
The lab heated it to 400°F and it had not started to soften. The standard only asks for 170°F. It does not track or bleed through.
Does the sun break it down?
After 200 hours of UV exposure its peel adhesion went up, not down. After 5,000 hours of accelerated weathering it showed no cracks, and none when bent at −29°F.
What does cleanup take?
Water, before it cures. The material is water soluble going down. No solvents, and nothing to scrape out of a kettle at the end of the shift, because there is no kettle.
What gear does the crew need?
Gloves and eye protection. That is what the safety data sheet calls for. No burn gear, because there is nothing hot. The material is non-flammable, has no flash point, and is listed non-toxic and non-regulated for transport.
How many crew can run off one pump?
Two wands and two squeegees at once. Output comes from how many hands you put on the pavement, not from the size of your kettle.
How soon can traffic come back?
Immediately. The sealant does not need to cure first. Normal traffic control is the only thing keeping vehicles off it.
What conditions do crews need?
Above 40°F, dry, with no rain in the forecast and no chance of a freeze in the next 24 hours. Limited dampness in the crack is tolerated. Nothing gets heated, so there is no temperature to hold.
Does the crack need routing, a backer rod, or a primer?
None of the three. It bonds to asphalt or concrete on its own. Fill the reservoir completely, then pull a rubber V or U squeegee over it to clear the excess and seat the material.
How much does a gallon cover?
About 100 linear feet of a half-inch by half-inch reservoir per 1.3 gallons. Maximum crack width is 2 inches.
How long until it cures?
It skins over in about 20 minutes and fully cures in 8 to 24 hours depending on weather and how deep the reservoir is. Deeper cracks may want a second pass. None of that delays traffic.
Will it turn into a speed bump or catch a plow?
No. It cures recessed, about a quarter to three eighths of an inch below the surface, so there is nothing standing proud for a blade to catch.
Related
Hand your engineer the report
The submittal package has the ASTM D6690 test data, the SDS, and the application instructions in one PDF.
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