Baking Epoxy Temp and Time

D

Doubled33

Searched and it seems to be a case by case for heat.

I will be spraying epoxy in a booth with heat.

My goal is to dry the parts enough so they can be handled from the booth back to my shop within a few hours.

How Long and what temperature should the heat be at?

Does this do away with the 65 degree minimum for 24 hour requirement?

when can the body filler process start?

Does heat to dry change any of the other trigger times such as 7 days no scuff and up to 30 with scuff?
 
I'm going to watch this thread and hope that @Barry will help out, because I don't think I have adequate answers to your questions. I do know that for me personally, I will not violate the 65° rule regardless of any brief baking.
 
I'm going to watch this thread and hope that @Barry will help out, because I don't think I have adequate answers to your questions. I do know that for me personally, I will not violate the 65° rule regardless of any brief baking.

My goal is not to be under 65 but here in So Cal we have some cooler days heading our way with lower temps in the AM and PM.
I have heat and AC in my home shop so once back at the shop all would be good but the hour trip there could yield lower than 65 exposure.
 
I remember years ago Barry told me that infrared heat doesn't speed up the cure on epoxy but time is what is required. This was 10+ years ago so maybe it's changed.
I personally wouldn't fool around with temps and time and cause trouble down the road. Imagine putting filler over uncured epoxy that went dormant under 65 degrees.
 
Barry, thanks so much for great products and the support you offer.

Reference to your reply above, I want to make sure that you are saying that the cross linking will be complete after an hour with radiant heat cure.

I really hope that is the case. Living in Colorado and working in a shop that is only heated when I am working (torpedo heater) has really caused me problems with my applying two part epoxy primer. That is a show stopper, as I only put bondo over epoxy primer.

Assuming that I have understood you correctly, my plan for a quick project is to heat the shop as best I can in this fall weather (probably 65 degrees), paint the metalwork areas with the epoxy (probably brush as the areas are rather small) and then apply the radiant heater for probably 5 or 6 hours. My testing suggests that my radiant heater can get the panel to at least 110 degrees.

Thanks Jim
 
Sounds good and i like th 5 or 6 hours but temp of epoxy in can as well as metal temp if not correct will cause problems. Everything must be right temp.
 
Thanks again Barry.

I keep my paint in my garage which is heated. I keep it at 45* unless I am working in the garage. Unfortunately, I can't spray there as the fumes get into the house. So, most of my work is done in the detached shop.

I will make sure that I store the paint in the house prior to applying so that it is at a reasonable temperature.

Jim
 
After getting the metal and epoxy in the can to 70* and spraying epoxy and keeping the metal for 24 hours at 70* to allow the epoxy to cure, will keeping the work at 70* for extra days produce a better bond, or after 24 hours, can I let the shop temperature drop down to the heaters lowest set point of 45* without affecting the epoxy. In other words, am I just wasting money without any benefit by keeping the shop at 70* longer than 24 hours after spraying epoxy.
 
Personally, I would rather spend the money to keep it up at 70 for a few days than to spend a week(s) blasting a not fully cured epoxy off.

I am just wondering if these people afraid of the minimum temperature would be better off mixing the epoxy and letting it "burn in" for a few hours before spraying like you suggest for the people who want to use it as a matte black hood coating.
 
Innocent question, but how much does it cost to run the heater a couple days extra? $5-10 bucks? Sounds like stepping over a dollar to grab a penny when you figure in all the cost of these painting supplies not to mention your own time. I've seen several guys on here worried about that cost, and I get it, nobody wants to just waste money, but I think there's a lot more important things to worry about when doing this work that a few days worth of electricity that a heater uses.
 
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