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[stonyground]

Hi, new model boat builder here decided to try and build commuter vessel vamoose featured in winter edition of model boats, got frames cut out and planking on (not that pretty), but had problem with polyester resin on interior not setting properly. I am hoping to build boat in my garage with small heater while Im working ,did eventually bring inside when fumes subsided a bit.  I am thinking about using west system epoxy resin for outside of hull found local supplier but cant download data sheet, mentions different hardeners available for different temperatures 105 with 205 anybody know of hardener required to work if I assemble in garage with temperatures in low single figures or do I need to wait till spring or  get shed which I could heat a little bit thanks

[pugwash]

Welcome stonyground - with west system I always have it at least 15 degrees c,  but Im lucky I have the utility room to use in cold weather
and the C H boiler is in there.  If you can't get a decent temperature I would wait - wests costs enough without wasting it

Geoff

[derekwarner]

stonyground......pugwash is correct....it is not simply applying heat to the semi finished hull with the coating of epoxy & resin & glass cloth via a heater.........the mixing of the epoxy & the hardener [catalist] is a giving out heat process = exothermic  so it requires the nominated minimum ambient temperature for the chemical reaction to happen correctly prior to application to the hull

Good luck......Derek 

[StarLocAdhesives/FiveStar]

Many reactive adhesives are generaly timed to work at 25 deg C , for every 10 degrees colder they are twice the time and 10 degrees hotter they halve the set time, but once you approach 5 deg c many refuse to set, there are some exceptions to this rule with some additives

Be carefull using a heater in the room, electric ones are fine ( apart from any fire hazards etc ) but gas heaters increase the level of co2 in the room

With an epoxy excess co2 will add greatly to the problem of amine bloom , amine bloom is the greasy surface on the surface of some epoxys caused by a reaction with co2 in the air causing an amine compound such as amine carbonate, amine bicarbonate, amine carbamate, ammonium carbonate, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium carbamate, amine salts, or carbamic acid salts to be formed on the surface by free amines recting with the co2.

[Subculture]

You can make a 'hot box' up. A cardboard box of sufficient volume with a lamp inside to warm it will do the job. If you really wanted to go to town a foam lined box would stay really toasty.

Take a bit of care with how you place the lamp though, don't burn the workshop down!

One of those digital thermometers off ebay is jolly useful for checking temperatures.

I have found that epoxy resin is almost zero odour.

[andrewh]

Hi, Stonyground

While there IS a winter catalyst, I would not suggest using it.
I, too, work in an unheated outdoor garage and for these conditions I:

• Stand the resin and hardener in a basin of tepid water
  Work Quickly
  when finished - put the whole hull/whatever in a large warm box (cardboard or polythene) with a tiny heater in there (I use a wander light with a 60W bulb)

so - heat the part - not the garage
andrew

[stonyground]

thanks everybody for all the suggestions, strange how we sometimes make elementary mistakes when doing something different, usually take great care warming up aerosols etc when painting but on this occasion left resin in cold garage overnight before using, will put heater in green house and see if I can get it up to fifteen degrees also using zpoxy in future which with low odour may get away with doing small jobs indoors thanks

[StarLocAdhesives/FiveStar]

If you store in the shed etc at this time of year you need to be carefull, Another problem with some chemical based products due to low temperatures

Epoxy resin some other adhesives such as PVA, aliphatic resin and anything waterbased ) , needs to be stored at room temperature never very cold , if it gets too cold it can crystalise , the resin half will either set solid or go `rough and lumpy` looking , it will not set if mixed, to fix the problem you need to warm it to over 40 degres C and then let it cool and it recovers , once crystalised it will often re crystalise over a month or so as it only takes one crystal in the resin to start it happening again, if decrystalised 100% the resin will be like new but its not easy when in a bottle, the hardener is fine with most formulas, just the resin

PVA glues ( and anything containing water ) , should be never alowed to freeze as only some formulas recover from very cold conditions, best to avoid anything very cold as ice crystals start to form a long time before the bottle goes solid

Cyano glues like to be kept cold, they can be stored as cold as you like (they freeze solid about -40C) , but they set slightly slower when cold a problem made worse in dry winter air as they need the moisture condensing on surfaces from the air to set.