Delamination problem..

[Hoot]

I have had to put project on hold for a year...long assed sad story.....

Have had hull bottom finished but waited to flip till ready to really roll on inside.

Just started to glass inside and noticed resin (but not hardener) was more viscous at similar temps. Always thought "crystalization" would only occure if resin is frozen. Dont freeze here...so I may be wrong. Everyone seems to think it cant be product (Marinepoxy) Have had epoxy for a few years..and everyone tells me shelf life is longer etc.

Well... I tried a few seams at transom...the resin seemed to gel way fast..I have used close to 30 gal for seams and glass and never had problem...

The seam lamination pulled right off relitivley easy puling on biax with plyers..never did this before...plus I noticed that when cleaning off set rsin from application tool (squeegee) the resin was way more brittle than my experience.........real big bummer till I (we) figure this out.

Hoot

[jacquesmm]

Epoxy has an unlimited pot life, that can not be the problem.
If the resin froze at some point, it may help to warm it up to around 120 degrees by putting the jugs in hot water for a while.
I donlt think that is the problem but it is worth a try.

If it peels off, that is often amine or some contamination.
Lightly sand then scrub and wash off the surface with a wet towel then try again to put a layer of tape and see if it bonds better.

[ks8]

Of course, after a water wash, even with only a damp rag, the surface and any exposed wood must thoroughly and completely dry before trying another epoxy lamination...

also, consider that the forces from the pliers yanking off the tape are not typical vector forces that the lamination will experience in actual use... well, I don't know enough about exactly how much force you used to yank the lamination off.

Hope this resolves quickly for you.

[Hoot]

I would agree with both...but like I said never have seen it become brittle like this..also tried same pull test on outside and it passed without peeling..also was hard saturating weave..so might just be crystalized..and also like I said never freezes here...we'll see

Will try heating to higher tem and let cool to 75-80f and test laminate...and check in

Thanks

Hoot Howell

[ks8]

The resin does not need to freeze in order to crystalize, at least not freeze in the sense of water freezing below 32F. I've had some System Three General Purpose resin crystalize much stored in a basement at around 50 -55F during winter. When that happens, I put the bottle in a bucket of hot (out of the faucet) water, and maybe every half hour replace the hot water again. Three or four of these hot water changes and I am confident all crystals are melted (visual swirl test). Then it cools down for an hour or so. I have MarinEpoxy also but have not have that problem yet. Even if it crystalizes differently from the System Three, the hot/warm water baths can't hurt... unless you get water in the bottle.

Is it possible that you might be getting dew or frost on the laminates during the night? Such water contamination during the cure may do evil things to the final strength.

Curious... what is the temperature of the work surface itself?