Talk Composites - The Forum for Advanced Composites

can I refrigerate polyester Resin to increase working time

http://www.talkcomposites.com/Topic20810.aspx

By deceased10 - 3/17/2016 6:38:40 PM

The question is in the title,  can I refrigerate polyester Resin to increase working time?
By Hanaldo - 3/18/2016 2:54:50 AM

Sure, as long as you can deal with the increased viscosity. Provided the cold resin isn't too thick to wet out the fibres you are working with then you should be ok. 

Couple of other issues to watch out for as well, such as condensation if your resin temperature is much cooler than your working environment. I've never noticed any issues with the ester based resins and condensation though, epoxy is seemingly more sensitive to moisture. Just something to be aware of. 

You also will want to make sure the resin warms up again after you have finished working with it. Especially if you cool it down to 10 degrees or so and your ambient temp is only around 20 degrees, the issue you can come across is that the resin doesn't warm up evenly and you get the 'surface' of the resin undercuring while the 'back' seems hard. 

Ultimately the answer to your question is yes, but I would always advise other methods such as reducing catalyst levels and mixing smaller batches before resorting to substantially cooling the resin.