Reflector: EZ-Poxy Hardener

Fri Nov 11 14:17:40 CST 2005

Thanks for the info Al.
My epoxy box temperature varies 10 to 12 degrees (or more) because I 
have a difference of 30 to 35 degrees between day and night. My garage 
room temperatures may go from the 100s to the 60s in a summer day and 
50s to the 20s in a winter day. Also, relative humidity may vary 60 - 
70% in 24 hours. Today, 95% at 4:00AM and 22% at 1:00PM. Normally, it is 
very low here (desert). This doesn't help with the hardener clogging the 
dispensing tubes. Just a nightmare to deal with liquids here... but 
there are some good things too... like an annual average of 360 days VFR 
conditions. No wonder they chose Edwards Air Force Base as one of the 
prime locations for testing :-)
Plan:
Further insulate the box to maintain a lower and more stable temperature.
Less material in the pumps
Cap the dispensing tubes.
Insulate the pump containers from the heatgun and heat dispensing tubes 
every day, before use.
Heat new material before filling pump.

Let's see how this works. Thanks again.

Al Gietzen wrote:

> I used my epoxy pump from early 1997 until just recently when I 
> emptied it and flushed it with acetone because I expected to need it 
> no more. During that 8 year period I never had to clean it, and it 
> worked reliably.
>
> Other than when I was adding material to the pump, I would keep it 
> sealed and at room temp. I had hardener in the containers for more 
> than 2 years at times, and as near as I could tell by my qualitative 
> ‘pull’ tests on samples the cured strength was fine.
>
> What worked for me was keeping the pump at a moderate temp, say about 
> 70 F, and maintain the temp as constant as you can. Lower temp means 
> less rapid loss of volatile components, and less oxidation of 
> components. A constant temp minimizes the moisture entering the pump 
> containers. I tried to keep the amount of material in the pump 
> containers to what I expected to use in a few days to a week.
>
> If the pump had not been used for a period of time (and there may have 
> been times as long as a year), and the hardener was getting stiff, or 
> the resin plating out some of the ‘white’ stuff, I would heat the new 
> materials in cans to about 105 -115 F before adding to the pump 
> containers; then heat the pump cylinders with a heat gun until they 
> were nice and warm to the touch; stir the materials in the containers, 
> and pump a few strokes through the pump. The warm material would 
> dissolve the crystals, and was a good ‘flush’ for the pump.
>
> It worked for me; your results may vary.
>
> Al
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] 
> On Behalf Of Jorge Bujanda
> Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 6:16 AM
> To: Velocity Builder's Forum. Reflector
> Subject: Reflector: EZ-Poxy Hardener
>
> I've noticed that the EZ-Poxy hardener becomes grumous at the bottom of
>
> the container in the pump, even though the inside of the epoxy box
>
> maintains between 80 (night) and 90 (day) degrees. These grumes tend to
>
> dissolve with increased temperature and specially with stirring. The
>
> problem is, I need to unclog the pump, and go through the
>
> heating/stirring process almost every day. I have kept two unopened
>
> bottles inside the house since I got them with the kit and found they
>
> were in the same condition.
>
> If I expose the bottles to early morning sun to dissolve, will this
>
> damage the hardener? Is the hardener already bad and what is the
>
> cause? If I get rid of it, how do I keep this from happening to the
>
> new one?
>
> I welcome your comments. Thanks
>
> Regards,
>
> Jorge Bujanda
>
> XL FG (under construction)
>
> Palmdale, CA
>
> "Make your best case... not the best case."
>
> "Spare the noise... convince through silence."
>
> Website: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/jbujanda/
>
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