Inside the Pitch Black® Spec Sheet: What the ASTM Numbers Actually Mean

Contractors who buy Pitch Black® sealer from Summit usually ask the same first question: "What makes this material different from the SealMaster or GemSeal drum I have been pulling for ten years?" The honest answer is that you cannot tell from marketing copy — you have to read the technical bulletin. This post walks through the published Pitch Black® Technical Bulletin, the Slurry-grade Technical Bulletin, and the Safety Data Sheet so you know exactly what you are spraying.

The Specs That Matter (and Why)

Cone Penetration — ASTM D-217 — 340mm minimum

Cone penetration measures how thick the material is at 77°F. Lower number = thicker body. Pitch Black holds a 340mm floor, which is on the firm end of the AEP (asphalt emulsion pavement) sealer range. In the field, that translates to a coating that does not slump out of the pores on a hot southwest-facing lot in Missoula or Kalispell, and a film that holds its build under squeegee pressure.

Nonvolatile Components — ASMA A-1 — 50% minimum

Solids content. Half the drum, by weight, stays on the pavement after the water flashes. That is the bar most commodity sealers fail to hold consistently from batch to batch.

Nonvolatiles Soluble in Tri-Chloroethylene — ASTM D-2042 — 10–35%

This is the portion of the solids that is *actual asphalt* — the glue. Too little and the film is brittle. Too much and the material tracks and stays soft. Pitch Black sits in a deliberately tight window.

Wet Track Abrasion — ASTM D-3910 — ≤35 g loss

Drag a wet abrasion head over a cured film for 5 minutes and weigh what comes off. 35 grams is the published ceiling. For perspective, this is the same test used to qualify slurry seals for DOT use — most commodity driveway sealers are not even tested against it.

Viscosity — ASTM D-562 — 75 KU minimum

Krebs Units. Determines how it sprays, squeegees, and brushes. 75 KU is sprayable through a standard tank-and-wand rig without thinning beyond the published 15–25% water dilution.

Accelerated Weathering — Fed Spec TT-C-555B — No Deterioration

Federal masonry coating spec. Pitch Black passes with no visible deterioration — meaning no chalking, no checking, no loss of black film.

Resistance to Wind-Driven Rain — Fed Spec TT-C-551B — 98 mph

The cured film blocks water under simulated 98-mph wind-driven rain. This is the spec that matters most in Montana, North Idaho, and the Dakotas, where November squalls hit lots that were sealed in late September.

The Number Nobody Talks About: PAH Content

On page 4 of the Technical Bulletin, PRI Asphalt Technologies tested Batch 1071 of Pitch Black under EPA Method 8310 for all 18 regulated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. The result: 0.00 ppm. None of the 18 PAH compounds were detected above the method detection limit.

Why does this matter? Coal-tar sealers — still legal in much of the country — routinely test at thousands of ppm of PAHs and are banned in Washington State, Minneapolis, Austin, and dozens of watersheds. Pitch Black is an *asphalt-emulsion* sealer, so PAH content was already going to be low, but having a third-party PRI report at 0.00 ppm is the difference between "probably fine" and "documented for the HOA board, the school district, and the municipal RFP."

Concentrate vs. Slurry — Which Bulletin Applies to You?

Summit stocks both grades. The difference is in the mix design at the tank:

- Concentrate (standard) — 9.71 lbs/gal density, designed to be cut with 15–25% water and (for moderate-to-rough surfaces) 300–400 lbs of #40–60 silica sand per 100 gallons plus 1.5–3.5% Polytex® polymer additive.

- Slurry-grade — 10.0 lbs/gal density, pre-loaded with aggregate for squeegee and slurry-box application on weathered lots that need a heavier build coat.

If you are running a wand on a tight commercial lot, use concentrate. If you are slurry-sealing a 100,000 sq ft retail center that has not been sealed in eight years, the slurry bulletin is your spec.

Surface Prep and Application — The Parts Crews Skip

Both bulletins are explicit on the conditions that void the published performance:

- Surface must be clean of dirt, sand, oil, and grease.

- Salt, deicing residue, fertilizer, and hard water deposits will cause bond failure — wash and rinse.

- Cracks >1/8" must be filled with hot-applied rubberized crack sealant first and dry to the touch before sealcoat.

- Apply only when ambient air is ≥55°F and rising and surface temp ≥60°F.

- On hot days, fog-coat the surface to pre-dampen (not wet) before spraying.

- Always apply two coats. Heavy-traffic lanes get a third.

Crews who skip the pre-dampen step on a 90°F lot are the same crews who get warranty callbacks 14 months later. The bulletin tells you exactly how to avoid that.

SDS — Read It Before You Open the Drum

The Pitch Black Safety Data Sheet covers GHS classification, PPE requirements, spill response, and storage. The short version: non-flammable in the wet state, asbestos-free, no listed carcinogens. The long version is what you hand your safety officer or what you keep in the truck binder for OSHA compliance.

Where Summit Fits In

We are a Pitch Black distributor for Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington, North Dakota, and South Dakota. We stock concentrate and slurry-grade in 55-gallon drums and bulk totes, with will-call pickup at our Kalispell yard and delivery throughout the region. Contractors who buy through Summit get the published specs above, the PRI test report, the SDS on file, and a phone number that picks up when a batch question comes up at 6 a.m.

Download the bulletins, read them, and then call us at (406) 309-SEAL when you are ready to spec your next pull.