should I bake the flowcoat??

[DonMacN]

Folks,

I need to flowcoat about half of the deck of the boat as part of a re-rig before the console goes back on. The boat lives in a tin shed ( an new-ish tin shed, but still a tin shed!) and the temperature can fluctuate a lot. Just come in and it's falling below 5dgrees. I'd like to do it this weekend, but I don't think the forecast is wonderful.

Will flowcoat 'go off' at low-ish temperatures - let's say 8-10 degrees - and how long would it take?

I have a friend with a car bodyshop, including a car 'oven'. Would it be worth going down and using that? what would the optimum temperature be?

How long would flowcoat take to go off at the right temperature? Would it be an evening, or 'all day' job? Anything I'd need to consider in driving from the 'oven' back to the house?

Just got over my first experiences with resing and csm, so flowcoat is still in the realms of the unknown!

Thanks for any advice.

[chewy]

Would depend on how much catalyst you put in.

The oven would be fine at a steady 20-25 degrees.
I did some flowcoating in the front room at roughly 20 degrees and it was still tacky the next morning.... the house stunk for a few days too!

[doggypaddle]

If you have access to an oven it would be good at this time of year.
I did some flowcoating last week at 12 degrees and it took for ever to go off. we ended up covering the boat and a 3kw fan heater to speed it up.
wait a month and it will be warm enough.maybe.....

[Matt]

I'm not sure of the lower temperature limit of flowcoat, but it is quite important to keep it warm enough, otherwise not only does it take an age to go off, it never cures fully.

I know standard wessex epoxy's minimum temp for a good cure is 5C, but think polyester based resins are higher - a quick google will probably find it.

[stevetheboat]

Don, flo - coat will always retain a degree of surface "tackiness" unless you add approx 1-2% of liquid wax (which your resin supplier should have) make sure this is well mixed into the flo-coat before adding catalyst.

As regards the temp 15deg - 20deg is ideal and should give you a working time of 30 - 45 mins and a drying time of 3-4hrs.

Obviously the area you are flo-coating needs to be clean & dry and ideally brought up to the "room" temp before applying the flo-coat - this prevents condensation forming under the flo-coat, not a good thing.

If in doubt try a small mix (say 1/2 a tea cup) to get a feel for the timings and rate of coverage.

Good luck - its not rocket science so you should have little trouble.

Regards,
Steve

[Matt]

Doesn't flocoat already have the wax added?

[chewy]

Yep.

[slimtim]

google cfs net and request their free guide. They are a supplier of all these things and they seem very knowledgeable about the products they sell. They will supply flo-coat with the wax added, otherwise its just gelcoat which needs to isolated from the air to cure.

[Matt]

On gel, I waited until it just started to cure, then just sprayed a pva solution to seal it in. Once fully cured, washed it off again.

[Dirk Diggler]

Originally Posted by stevetheboat

If in doubt try a small mix (say 1/2 a tea cup) to get a feel for the timings and rate of coverage.

I've never found that a very sucessful way of experimenting with gels and flowcoats, as the temptatation to add a little extra cat has a much greater reaction on small amounts of gel.

Buy it as Flowcoat, follow the reccomended ratio for catalysing and you won't go wrong. A fan heater is pretty useful.

[doggypaddle]

certainly not if you leave it in the cup! its an exothermic reaction so it will cure faster in a cup as it self heats.

[DonMacN]

thanks for all the replies - looks like the oven is a good idea. We've got high routes affected by snow today so I don't think we're going to hit 20degrees any time soon!

The boat's booked in to get the new engine fitted on Easter Monday, and the console needs to be on by then, so I can't afford to wait for 'mother nature' to warm up the shed...

I'm waiting for the colour matched 'flowcoat' to come up the road (hopefully it'll get here today) but it occurs to me that I need to check whether it has the wax added. Never thought to ask.

thanks again.

[Matt]

If it's called flow coat, it should. If it's called gel coat, it shouldn't.

[chewy]

Originally Posted by Matt

If it's called flow coat, it should. If it's called gel coat, it shouldn't.

Thought I was cracking up reading others comments.
All flow coat is is gel coat with wax added.

[stevetheboat]

Originally Posted by Matt

Doesn't flocoat already have the wax added?

It will if you buy it pre-formulated but we, as builders, knock up our own from resin & gel/pigment, hence the need to mix in the wax.

[Matt]

So you're not buying flowcoat then - you're making it by adding wax to gelcoat?

[chewy]

If you buy flow coat from the likes of cfs or ecfs then all you will need to add is the catalyst. If its clear flowcoat then a pigment too, simple.

[DonMacN]

checked this afternoon, and in my case at least it's the 'simple' option.

It's coming up the road as a gallon of pre-prepared and colour matched 'flowcoat' with no need to add wax, just the catalyst.

With any luck I'll get it tomorrow or Monday and get a shot of the oven some time next week.

In the glassing I've been doing I've been mixing in the catalyst at somewhere between 2 and 3%, which seems to have been setting ok. For flowcoat (at 20-25 degrees C) would the same % be OK?

[chewy]

It tells you on the instructions.
Not sure if it varies between companies?

[JSP]

I could do with flowcoating my hull but have been told that it could sag off the hull due to the cold? Is there any kind of primer that can help with this or am I going to have to wait for the warm weather of August the 19th, around 2 o'clock till 2:30?