I put SPI EP activator in my urethane SS !

J

Jben

I mixed some urethane SS paint (Limco) yesterday morning, sprayed it on and everything was looking good. I am surprised now after 27 hours the surface is still sticky to touch and not cured enough to handle. The temps have been 70's to 80's the entire time, but the humidity was pretty high. Still something isn't right.

Then I looked at my materials box and noticed I had picked up and used my bottle of SPI epoxy primer activator instead of the urethane activator. The mix was 4:1:1

1. Now I'm wondering if the chemical make up of the EP activator is different enough from urethane activator that the paint is never going to cure? Or, is there still hope to give it another day or two and it will continue to cure, (only much more slowly than planned)?

2. My EP activator bottle had been originally opened back in April, the product was re-sealed then and it looked normal. Does it go bad in a few months after opening?

3. Would putting it out in the direct sun help at all?

4. If I have created my on nightmare and end up having to get a bag of rags and take the paint off to start over, would it be best to use lacquer thinner or reducer?

Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You need to remove it. I would use reducer and take it all the way back to epoxy primer and start over.

Don
 
yes the epoxy is a totally different chemical makeup from urethanes. epoxy activator wont cure a urethane at all. you need to remove every last bit of it and start over.
 
I was afraid that would be the case. I was so focused on getting my final prep work done I just picked up the wrong activator can. Probably something to do with the advanced age coming on.

Is there going to be any disadvantage if I have to wait until the first of next week to remove it all ? Or the sooner I get started on it the easier it will be to remove this tacky paint?

Maybe others will read this thread in the future and remember to get the correct activator off of the shelf.... And, wouldn't you know I only had one run this time.... duh...
 
After almost doing the same thing couple of times, I now get everything I'm going to spray together and move everything else away. That way what I'm spraying is right in front of me. Less mistakes that way.
 
It must come off, will never cure and you cannot coat over it with any product without getting bubbles in next 7 to 90 days in the sun.
 
I made the mistake one time of putting 2k urethane primer into my cup before I had cleaned it out from spraying epoxy ( was priming 2 different things in the same booth cycle), that's one mistake ill never make again, almost instantaneous gelling in my gun, took me an entire day to get it all cleaned out lol. Now I use 1 gun for epoxy, 1 gun for urethane to make sure that doesn't happen again.
 
Damn, I hope you didnt paint too much stuff! Sounds like a mess.
I was helping a friend paint his car this year.. This fancy grey was the color. As the project went on, he got more and more confident and was able to do more of the tasks himself. He would even come over and work on it when I was at work.
One evening I got home and went out to check on him. He was like "man I f___ed up!" He was 2K'ing a BUNCH of parts. When he went to go mix the primer he had a brain fart and, you guess it, mixed and shot all the parts in $500/gallon base coat. The even worse part is that paint was needed for the car, so he had to go buy an extra quart.. and we know how much higher per ounce paint is by the quart vs gallon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top