epoxy not setting up
 

Is there anything I can do now. It is just sort of sticky.

Thanks.

Bill

If it's been mixed off-ratio, it'll never set up.

To take a last quick test, scrape a small gob off the patient, subject it
to the heat of a heat gun ot heatlamp for ten minutes or so. If it still
hasn't solidified, the gooey stuff has got to come off.

In order, i'd try:
- white vinegar and a coarse metal pot scrubber
- white vinegar and a scotchbrite grill scrubber
- acetone and the pot scrubber
- prayer
- many coarse sanding disks

..
"Bill" wrote in message
...
Is there anything I can do now. It is just sort of sticky.

Thanks.

Bill

If it has been mixed with hardener it should setup eventually. Heat and time
will eventually harden the mix. The more heat (up to a point) the less time.
I miscalculated the mix ratio on a batch I used for a repair patch last
year. It was very sticky for a long time, then after several weeks in the
hot sun it eventually cured.


"Bill" wrote in message
...
Is there anything I can do now. It is just sort of sticky.

Thanks.

Bill

Yeah but ...given the time of year, it could be nothing more than shop
temperature biting him. The original poster didn't say. I'd vote for some
incandescent shop lamps or other heat source focused on the sticky epoxy to
warm it up to 70 F or so for a day or two, then decide if it's going to
cure. Every epoxy in the book will cure hard to touch within 24 hours at 70
F, so if it's still sticky after that ...sigh, then I'd remove it and try
again.

Brian D



"Sail-n-Dive" wrote in message
...
Epoxy is not catalyzed ( i.e., no "hardener" is mixed at all) like many
other plastics and the correct amount of each part of the components must
be there for the "curing" to take place. If will have to come back off if
it was not properly mixed.

"Paul Winchester" wrote in message
...
If it has been mixed with hardener it should setup eventually. Heat and
time will eventually harden the mix. The more heat (up to a point) the
less time. I miscalculated the mix ratio on a batch I used for a repair
patch last year. It was very sticky for a long time, then after several
weeks in the hot sun it eventually cured.


"Bill" wrote in message
...
Is there anything I can do now. It is just sort of sticky.

Thanks.

Bill

Yup, Brian is right.. A lot of epoxy will "activate" (get pretty hard)
down to the high 30's (F), but will never really finish off until it
gets a good 24 hours at above 70-75 degrees F. Because epoxy is itself
overkill for most of what we do with it, for practical purposes, we can
call it "cured" even before that heat period and final cure, the
overkill is also what makes it possible for almost anyone to build a
boat.
To the origional poster, build a small tent, in a garage or something
if you can, and put a couple of incadecent light bulbs in there
overnight, you will probably be pleaseantly surprised. Don't go
overboard, 75F is plenty and in this case, higher temps are not
necessarily "better". Be cautious of fire hazard of course. I crank up
a 65,000BTU furnace in the 12 x 20 shed, more overkill, try the light
bulbs ;)
Good luck.

Bill wrote:
Is there anything I can do now. It is just sort of sticky.

Thanks.

Bill

Wash out with a solvent, as others have suggested, of course; but I
thought you might be interested in this experience. A coat of epoxy on
the interior of a Goodboad failed to cure, but not from wrong mixing
ratio. As Kern Hendricks of System Three determined with me over the
phone, it was from an unvented kerosene heater being used to heat the
closed shop when the furnace was broken down. Kern figured that the CO
was reacting with the hardener, I think; no chemist I.