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catacls
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Hello. Sorry for opening a new topic, i have not found a similar issue anywhere else.
The problem occurs when I m mixing the resin with the combined slow and fast hardner. After thorough mixing, some white flakes start to appear in the cup that float arround. If i mix them separately, the mixing is completely clear. I have tried putting the hardners in the cup firstly and mixing them thoroughly before adding the resin, but with no result, everytime the hardners are combined it is like the resin starts coagulating when mixing.
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Matt (Staff)
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+xHello. Sorry for opening a new topic, i have not found a similar issue anywhere else. The problem occurs when I m mixing the resin with the combined slow and fast hardner. After thorough mixing, some white flakes start to appear in the cup that float arround. If i mix them separately, the mixing is completely clear. I have tried putting the hardners in the cup firstly and mixing them thoroughly before adding the resin, but with no result, everytime the hardners are combined it is like the resin starts coagulating when mixing. Hi, No problem, let's try to figure this out because there certainly shouldn't be any problem mixing fast and slow hardeners with the EL2 or IN2 epoxy resins. So, the most important questions (and I'm sorry if these seem like really obvious ones!) but firstly, can you confirm the following: 1. Two hardeners that you're trying to combine state "AT30 FAST" and "AT30 SLOW"? 2. Both hardeners are within shelf-life (they are less than 12 months old)? 3. When you mix FAST and SLOW, the mix ratio you add them at to the EL2 resin is still 100 (parts by weight, resin) : 30 (parts by weight mixed hardener)? To elaborate on point 3; when you mix FAST and SLOW (at any ratio) the blended hardener should still be added to the resin at a ratio of 100:30. For example, a 50/50 blend of hardener would be 15g of FAST, 15g of SLOW and this would give you 30g of blended hardener that you would then mix with 100g of EL2 resin. We have had customers in the past add 30g of FAST and 30g of SLOW to 100g of EL2 (thereby achieving a resin to hardener ratio of 100:60). Please confirm the above points and then we can continue with the diagnosis.
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catacls
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Group: Forum Members
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Hello and thank you very much for your reply.
I can confirm all the above questions. I keep all my working conditions pretty strict, temperature 23, humidity 45, as this is not a hobby project, it is my occupation. It is just the first time I am using this product. This resin was purchased last week(the 5kg pack with combined hardners), and I did understand the way it is supposed to be mixed, which by the way, i find it genious and helpful that you can control your pot life, according to your surfaces you laminate.
The mix i was using in my case was 40(20+20 slow and fast) hardner + 133 resin, but i have tried others just to see if there is any difference. The flakes that form are pretty solid, an can be picked up after brushing the resin from the flat surface, I will try to make some photos later if i m making a new mix, but to give an ideea, they look like very small pieces of paper soaked in resin.
Thank you once again for your help.
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catacls
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Group: Forum Members
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Also, I encounter another problem with the resin, so I will post it on this same topic. In combination with the fast hardner, the resin cures rock solid but with a form of amine blush. The surface remains sticky to the touch after curing, which won t be an issue on the surface layer because it can be easily washed with water i noticed, but sanding the component heavy delamination between layers occurs, which requiers the component to be thrown away...
I have made a test: in a closed working area with 45% humidity and 23 degrees temp I laminated 3 CF components. 1 with 50/50 fast and slow, 1 with slow and 1 with fast hardner.
The 2 components containing fast hardner cured with a very sticky finish and a surface imperfection, and the one with slow hardner cured perfectly.
I am running out of options, I don t see what is causing all this issues and I honestly don t believe EL2 is a bad resin, as it didn t get bad feedback from other users.
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Steve Broad
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catacls
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Group: Forum Members
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Steve Broad
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I am just clutching at straws thinking that weather conditions could be a factor.
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catacls
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indeed could be, but i have them excluded as in the space I work with resin the temp and humidity are controled.
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catacls
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After 2 weeks of testing and many many hours of labour, I have concluded that the fast hardner of the resin is defective. It has caused me to rebuilt from scratch 2 very large components, because it was delaminating between the multiple layers applied when sanding. The slow hardner seems to be working though far from perfect, if your enviromental conditions are spot on, but the fast hardner simply is to be avoided with all costs.
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Steve Broad
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I use the fast hardener fairly regularly, and not in the best environmental conditions (old barn). I have had no issues, either on its own or mixed with the slow hardener.
Are you using Easycomposites hardeners and are they newish? If not kept in a completely sealed container resin hardeners can deteriorate quickly when exposed to air.
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