We went to Namur to meet Eric Thiry, the director of Comet Belgium, and Olivier Malotaux, who is in charge of the company’s design office. This company, which specialises in the construction of hydraulic lifts for professionals, accounts for more than three quarters of the Belgian market.    

How was Comet Belgium born?  

“Comet Belgium was founded in 1972 and used to belong to the FN of Herstal. Since 2018, the company has become completely independent and focuses mainly on the construction of hydraulic boom lifts,” explains Eric Thiry, director of Comet Belgium. With a staff of 26 and a production of approximately 25 lifts per year, the company also provides maintenance and servicing for more than 300 lifts, mainly for electricity, cable TV and telephone network operators and local authorities in Belgium. At Comet Belgium, you won’t find a catalogue product, here it’s all about tailor-made projects. Based on a single truck with driver’s cabin and chassis, the company builds specific lifts for each customer, depending on the use and the purpose. Each project is therefore unique!

The call to Etilux

The company not only assembles lifts, but a few years ago it also developed a range of crates to house professional tools. Each vehicle is then painted and lettered at the time of delivery to provide the customer with a bespoke finished product. When Comet decided to embark on this project, a partner at the time advised them to contact Etilux for advice and explanations on the best products for this type of design. This is how Comet Belgium came into contact with Samuel Scheunis, product manager for adhesives and packaging. Today, Etilux supplies them with no less than 4 different products of the 3M brand, which are essential for the design of their hydraulic lifts. 

Participate in the construction of the boxes

In order for each box to be completely watertight, the company needed to use a product that could not only join the aluminium structures together but also make each box water and weather resistant. They had to find a tape that would fit the structure and resist paint. The translucent coloured 3M™ 4412N sealing tape was chosen and is ideally suited for this purpose as it is waterproof, flexible, thick, fits any structure and is resistant to paint and UV rays. This tape acts as a “watertight seal” to the bodywork and blends in perfectly with the box construction.

 Next, a product had to be found that could join the aluminium roof plates and the body frame, as well as some of the elements in the body such as the ceiling mounted lights. The double-sided 3M™ 4950P is ideal as it is very easy to use, can be installed quickly and avoids damaging the materials by using screws or even rivets.  “This product is really easy and quick to use, it saves us time” stresses Olivier Maloteaux. This double-sided foam is an ultra-resistant and practical product, which offers excellent long-term bonding power.

VHB joining systems are suitable for many industrial applications, both indoors and outdoors. In addition, with adhesive tape, the forces are better divided over the total joining area.

 Dressing the truck

Construction vehicles must be easily identifiable by users. These vehicles must be equipped with statutory adhesive films to be visible by day and night. In order to be in order, Etilux provides Comet Belgium with red and white reflective safety marking placed at the front and rear of each vehicle. Thanks to these marking strips, the company can ensure the safety of its workers.

 Recently Comet Belgium had some problems with some reflective vinyl on the side of the trucks. This problem is due to the powder paint used to paint certain parts of the truck.  This type of paint forms a ‘low energy’ surface and does not facilitate the sticking of stickers. That’s why Samuel Scheunis advised them to use 3M™ 94 primer, which is suitable for a host of different applications. Economical and easy to apply, this primer ensures better adhesion to all types of surfaces.

 All these bonding solutions made the construction of the boxes easy, quick and above all very efficient. A successful Walloon collaboration since 2017!

The solutions proposed by Etilux