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#1
posted to rec.boats.building
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UV Barrier For Epoxy: Tapes?
I've got a 1" seam covered with fiberglass tape/epoxy. Spec surf ski.
I'd prefer to avoid painting it so that I can inspect it for cracking easily. Somebody suggested aluminized reflective tape as being the best UV barrier, but that seems a little too unaesthetic to me. I just tried plastic electrical tape and am having reservations. I can see light/dark areas through it... so I'm guessing UV will pass as easily or more easily than visible light. I thought of colored duct tape briefly, but it seems like the adhesive residue would partially defeat the ease-of-inspection. OTOH, this doesn't have to be forever. The boat in question is definitely on it's last legs - major separations of the hull/deck bond.... mainly I just want to nurse it along until I have the bucks to buy a new one. Anybody have some observations about the tape route? Am I obsessing over nothing? Can somebody ballpark the failure time/mode of the epoxy resin in terms of hours of UV exposure? My mylar windsurfing sails start to get failure-prone after about 300 hours of UV exposure in the mid-Atlantic - and there's no way this thing is going to get 300 hours before being junked. If tape isn't going to work out, will any old black enamel paint do the trick? -- PeteCresswell |
#2
posted to rec.boats.building
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UV Barrier For Epoxy: Tapes?
Stop worrying. UV exposure won't cause epoxy to fail structurally any time
soon. It just turns to an opaque lemon-curd yellow. I'm sure that ANY tape offers more UV protection than the varnish finish on strip canoes. Electrical tape sounds fine if you can get it wide enough. If not, Perhaps a local sign shop can supply strips of the stiuff they do vinyl lettering with. Zippy colors, too! "(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message ... I've got a 1" seam covered with fiberglass tape/epoxy. Spec surf ski. I'd prefer to avoid painting it so that I can inspect it for cracking easily. Somebody suggested aluminized reflective tape as being the best UV barrier, but that seems a little too unaesthetic to me. I just tried plastic electrical tape and am having reservations. I can see light/dark areas through it... so I'm guessing UV will pass as easily or more easily than visible light. I thought of colored duct tape briefly, but it seems like the adhesive residue would partially defeat the ease-of-inspection. OTOH, this doesn't have to be forever. The boat in question is definitely on it's last legs - major separations of the hull/deck bond.... mainly I just want to nurse it along until I have the bucks to buy a new one. Anybody have some observations about the tape route? Am I obsessing over nothing? Can somebody ballpark the failure time/mode of the epoxy resin in terms of hours of UV exposure? My mylar windsurfing sails start to get failure-prone after about 300 hours of UV exposure in the mid-Atlantic - and there's no way this thing is going to get 300 hours before being junked. If tape isn't going to work out, will any old black enamel paint do the trick? -- PeteCresswell |
#3
posted to rec.boats.building
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UV Barrier For Epoxy: Tapes?
On Wed, 17 May 2006 19:30:09 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote: I've got a 1" seam covered with fiberglass tape/epoxy. Spec surf ski. I'd prefer to avoid painting it so that I can inspect it for cracking easily. Somebody suggested aluminized reflective tape as being the best UV barrier, but that seems a little too unaesthetic to me. I just tried plastic electrical tape and am having reservations. I can see light/dark areas through it... so I'm guessing UV will pass as easily or more easily than visible light. I thought of colored duct tape briefly, but it seems like the adhesive residue would partially defeat the ease-of-inspection. OTOH, this doesn't have to be forever. The boat in question is definitely on it's last legs - major separations of the hull/deck bond.... mainly I just want to nurse it along until I have the bucks to buy a new one. Anybody have some observations about the tape route? Am I obsessing over nothing? Can somebody ballpark the failure time/mode of the epoxy resin in terms of hours of UV exposure? My mylar windsurfing sails start to get failure-prone after about 300 hours of UV exposure in the mid-Atlantic - and there's no way this thing is going to get 300 hours before being junked. If tape isn't going to work out, will any old black enamel paint do the trick? -- PeteCresswell Spar varnish will protect the epoxy and let you keep an eye on it. |
#4
posted to rec.boats.building
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UV Barrier For Epoxy: Tapes?
Drew Dalgleish wrote:
On Wed, 17 May 2006 19:30:09 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)" wrote: I've got a 1" seam covered with fiberglass tape/epoxy. Spec surf ski. I'd prefer to avoid painting it so that I can inspect it for cracking easily. Somebody suggested aluminized reflective tape as being the best UV barrier, but that seems a little too unaesthetic to me. I just tried plastic electrical tape and am having reservations. I can see light/dark areas through it... so I'm guessing UV will pass as easily or more easily than visible light. I thought of colored duct tape briefly, but it seems like the adhesive residue would partially defeat the ease-of-inspection. OTOH, this doesn't have to be forever. The boat in question is definitely on it's last legs - major separations of the hull/deck bond.... mainly I just want to nurse it along until I have the bucks to buy a new one. Anybody have some observations about the tape route? Am I obsessing over nothing? Can somebody ballpark the failure time/mode of the epoxy resin in terms of hours of UV exposure? My mylar windsurfing sails start to get failure-prone after about 300 hours of UV exposure in the mid-Atlantic - and there's no way this thing is going to get 300 hours before being junked. If tape isn't going to work out, will any old black enamel paint do the trick? -- ----PeteCresswell --------------------------------- The epoxy will certainly yellow and loss its gloss with UV exposure. But if you don't mind the amber color that will result, the epoxy will still last many years... there are also clear uv blockers you can put over the epoxy to keep it clear..... paul oman progressive epoxy polymers ---- |
#5
posted to rec.boats.building
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UV Barrier For Epoxy: Tapes?
Before I built my skiff six years ago, I epoxied pieces of exterior plywood
together to fit the back of my pickup. I wanted to try a novel method of joining plywood and this seemed like a good opportunity. Since then, the truck has been outside most of the time winter and summer. The epoxy is yellowed but it still has plenty of strength. Amazingly enough the plywood is still in pretty good shape in spite of zero maintenance (no paint) and having had all kinds of junk thrown on top of it. Don't worry. Dave |
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