I am adding a second battery to my boat. On Saturday I fiberglassed the battery housing I built for this new battery. I followed the directions on the resin. Since then, the nights have been in the mid 30s and days have been mid 60s high. Tonight I checked the boat to move to the next step I need to do to install this new battery. The fiberglass resin was still tacky. My question is = How big a problem do I have? If Wisconsin ever warms up, will the fiberglass cure? Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do? Do I need to peel everything out and do it again when it finally gets warmer? Thanks for any comments. Bill Leathen - Hunter 23
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Bill , what flavor resin/ polyester, vinylester, or epoxy
polyester resin comes in two flavors , waxed and no wax. No wax stays tacky because you want to apply more layers. Waxed is also called finishing resin. Waxed cures hard and not tacky and can be sanded within hours. If you are satisfied with your work, you can paint over the tacky polyester resin with oil based paint and it will finish curing.
polyester resin comes in two flavors , waxed and no wax. No wax stays tacky because you want to apply more layers. Waxed is also called finishing resin. Waxed cures hard and not tacky and can be sanded within hours. If you are satisfied with your work, you can paint over the tacky polyester resin with oil based paint and it will finish curing.
Sounds like..
Sounds like you may have used a laminating resin. Laminating resins are designed to stay tacky.. Just go over it with regular polyester, not laminating, resin and you'll be fine..
Sounds like you may have used a laminating resin. Laminating resins are designed to stay tacky.. Just go over it with regular polyester, not laminating, resin and you'll be fine..
If it is polyester resin
you probably used laminating resin which will remain tacky due to the inhibiting of polymerization of the surface caused by surface exposure to the air. Temperature will not have much effect if this is the case. The surface is the only part which is not hardened if this is what happened. You will probably not have the option of removing the fiberglass without a lot of difficulty. You could just add a thin coat of surface resin. If you do not have any surface resin, you can add about 3 to 5 weight percent of wax to the laminating resin by gently warming the resin and wax and then mixing them together. That is the main difference between surface coat and laminating resins. If you are up for an experiment, you might just wax the surface and warm it with a heat lamp or heat gun. I have never tried that but it works in theory. If it has not been too long, my guess is that it would harden. If you used epoxy resin, it may have been put onto uncured urethane paint. I have seen that cause problems with epoxy and it will never cure. If that is the case, you may have to start over with a clean surface.
you probably used laminating resin which will remain tacky due to the inhibiting of polymerization of the surface caused by surface exposure to the air. Temperature will not have much effect if this is the case. The surface is the only part which is not hardened if this is what happened. You will probably not have the option of removing the fiberglass without a lot of difficulty. You could just add a thin coat of surface resin. If you do not have any surface resin, you can add about 3 to 5 weight percent of wax to the laminating resin by gently warming the resin and wax and then mixing them together. That is the main difference between surface coat and laminating resins. If you are up for an experiment, you might just wax the surface and warm it with a heat lamp or heat gun. I have never tried that but it works in theory. If it has not been too long, my guess is that it would harden. If you used epoxy resin, it may have been put onto uncured urethane paint. I have seen that cause problems with epoxy and it will never cure. If that is the case, you may have to start over with a clean surface.
My 2 Cents
I am assuming you used polyester. As the others have noted, it may not have been waxed. If that is the case, you can brush catalyzed gelcoat over it and you are finished. Every so often I make a mistake and mix up a batch with not enough hardner. You might try, if it still hasn't cured, mixing up a really hot batch and working that in. That sometimes kicks off the rest. If it is non-waxed resin you used, the other thing to do is give it an air barrier. You can use plastic but I prefer hair spray - it is a water soluble plastic and will block the air. If you used epoxy, you have a horrible clean up job then start again! Been there, done that!
I am assuming you used polyester. As the others have noted, it may not have been waxed. If that is the case, you can brush catalyzed gelcoat over it and you are finished. Every so often I make a mistake and mix up a batch with not enough hardner. You might try, if it still hasn't cured, mixing up a really hot batch and working that in. That sometimes kicks off the rest. If it is non-waxed resin you used, the other thing to do is give it an air barrier. You can use plastic but I prefer hair spray - it is a water soluble plastic and will block the air. If you used epoxy, you have a horrible clean up job then start again! Been there, done that!
Polyester..
Polyester won't kick after a day or so even if you coat it with a wax or seal it. After the MEKP has evaporated off, and the curing is done, sealing it will do nothing. The only way to get a hard surface is to roll on a "hotish" batch of finishing (waxed) polyester resin and then it will cure hard. If you try gelcoat it too must be waxed in order to kick..
Polyester won't kick after a day or so even if you coat it with a wax or seal it. After the MEKP has evaporated off, and the curing is done, sealing it will do nothing. The only way to get a hard surface is to roll on a "hotish" batch of finishing (waxed) polyester resin and then it will cure hard. If you try gelcoat it too must be waxed in order to kick..
More Clarification....
There are primarily 2 types of polyester resin. There is the laminating resin and the finishing resin. The laminating resin doesnt really ever get hard because it was designed for laminating without having to sand between layers. The Finishing resin dries hard. Now, the problem is that some of the less expensive resins DONT tell you whether they are the finishing type or the laminating type. In most cases they are the laminating type. Usually wherever you purchase the laminating resin, you can also purchase a small bottle of wax to mix with the laminating resin. This will in effect change the laminating resin into a finishing resin. What is actually happening is that the laminating resin is cured in the ABSENCE of air which is contrary to most other chemicals we use. When you add the wax to the laminating resin, as the resin cures the wax migrates to the surface and seals it off from air. Thus....a final cure. That is also why someone here recommended using a finishing resin (resin with the wax already mixed in) or gelcoat containing wax. BTW: Heat lamps wont work. Tony B
There are primarily 2 types of polyester resin. There is the laminating resin and the finishing resin. The laminating resin doesnt really ever get hard because it was designed for laminating without having to sand between layers. The Finishing resin dries hard. Now, the problem is that some of the less expensive resins DONT tell you whether they are the finishing type or the laminating type. In most cases they are the laminating type. Usually wherever you purchase the laminating resin, you can also purchase a small bottle of wax to mix with the laminating resin. This will in effect change the laminating resin into a finishing resin. What is actually happening is that the laminating resin is cured in the ABSENCE of air which is contrary to most other chemicals we use. When you add the wax to the laminating resin, as the resin cures the wax migrates to the surface and seals it off from air. Thus....a final cure. That is also why someone here recommended using a finishing resin (resin with the wax already mixed in) or gelcoat containing wax. BTW: Heat lamps wont work. Tony B
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