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Epoxy not curing?
By:Gerard Dolmans
Date: 4/11/1999, 12:07 am

O.K bear with me because this problem has me freaked.

Last fall I finished installing the deck, coaming, etc on my CLC Mill Creek. I worked in the living room at 70 degrees (roughly old house, badly insulated, but never really below 65)and the Matrix Adhesive System Epoxy was well mixed, 3+ minutes, per batch. The kayak sat in the living room for almost a month after I stopped working (time and my unwillingness to take it outside to sand, so I could start painting and varnishing; the two most loathsome chores on the planet)and the epoxy had every opportunity to set up, cure, and solidify which it had seemed to do. Right before Xmas (at my wife's prompting) I moved the unpainted, unvarnished kayak downstairs into a damp unheated basement. Everything seemed fine. I would go and look wistfully every time I did laundry (no sexist remarks please that is at least once a week). The basement temp is a constant 48. Today as I was hauling the kayak out to sand it I noticed that one sheer seemed wet and mildly sticky. Suffice it to say the fluid which had run from the deck hull sheer joint down the sides and collected on the joint with the bottom smelt and felt like uncured epoxy.

You can imagine that serious panic ensued. Luckily my homebrew stash is right next to the kayak. Had a cold one to calm down. No nothing had dripped into the kayak from above etc.

So what do I do? I think that I can remove the epoxy like material with paper towels and paint thinner or something similar(???!). The deck seems to still be well fastened and is not loose. The coaming is not suffering from a similar problem and the problem is pretty much confined to one area of the kayak. Namely the section that was lowest as it hung in its loops suspended from the ceiling. HELP?

Should I bring the kayak back upstairs? Inject newly mixed epoxy into the effected area? Ignore everything if it seems structuraly sound and get on with painting after I have cleaned it up?

All hints, solutions, questions and advice will be greatly appreciated. I don't want to see my work go to waste. Thanks in advance.

Messages In This Thread

Epoxy not curing?
Gerard Dolmans -- 4/11/1999, 12:07 am
Re: Epoxy not curing?
Gerard Dolmans -- 4/12/1999, 12:07 pm
Re: Epoxy not curing?
Stan Heeres -- 4/12/1999, 12:58 pm
Re: Epoxy not curing?
Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks -- 4/11/1999, 11:05 am
Re: Epoxy not curing?
Pete Rudie -- 4/11/1999, 3:38 am
Start sanding
Paul Jacobson -- 4/11/1999, 2:10 am