Hi All,
I just did my first Resin Research epoxy board and the hot coat on the deck is all white for some reason that I can’t figure out. I noticed a little whitening all over but the deck is really bad. Anybody know why or what can be done about it?
By the way, I couldn’t have built this piece of crap without this web site all the good advice so thanks a lot.
C-Slug,
What temperature did it cure at? My experience with RR epoxy is that if you are at much less than 75 degrees F, it will cure whiteish. Could also be thousands of micro-bubbles. I had that happen a lot too. Of if you used cold additive F, it will have white chunks in it, which are a problem cosmetically.
I read a post a while ago (perhaps under a thread titled gloss coat with epoxy?) where someone (sorry, can’t remember who) recommended straining the epoxy through a paint filter before application. I tried that for my deck, and it worked great.
Anyone else have ideas?
Pat
Thanks a lot for your answer.
Its not flecks. Its like the whole top of the board is white. I can’t even see the stringer. It was a warmish night when I did it (upper 60s/low 70s). One thing I noticed was that it had some condensation on it so I moved it inside. Could water do this?
When I get a chance I’ll snap a photo. Thanks again.
Water could definitely do that. I was just gonna ask if there was any moisture in the mixing bucket, etc. Make sure it’s fully cured and see if it sands off. I’m thinking it’s only on the surface where the moisture condensed.
Hey C,
Is it rough? I mean can you sand it smooth? if you can’t, its condensation. The micro water droplets cause somekind of surface deformity that causes whiteness and roughness. I’ve had a bottom condense and the bottom is rough and can’t be sanded smooth. It’s somewhat white. HTH.
Cheers,
Rio
It is rough. Real rough. Maybe I won’t need to wax it!
I guess condensation is our culprit here. I’ll cure boards indoors next time around. You guys would love to see this thing. It’s the ugliest, most asymetrical, funky looking board I’ve ever seen. A local shaper told me he’d love to see my work–but only if it was really bad, so I’ll have to show him. Good for laughs. Maybe okay for waves too.
Thanks for all your help!
“A local shaper told me he’d love to see my work…”
Take your board to the local shaper , you will be amazed at what you will learn. I’m currently doing repair work for an underground long board shaper from the Carlsbad area and I learn something new every time I talk to the guy.
I’ve glassed three epoxy boards so far. My wood nose block has a white haze all over it. I’m told this is from over working the resin when I laminated the board. You will get the same problem over working the hot coat. Temp is a big factor with epoxy too. Did you read any of the threads from Plus One Shaper? Cold temps will cause problems.
Don’t give up. The board will come out good.
Yo C-Slug,
Consider the possiblity that the surface cooled fast enough that some condensation collected on the surface before it was completely cured.
Mahalo, Rich
Temperature Temperature Temperature
I learned this the hard way also.
get yourself a little fan heater if you will be doing any work at night
If it is really cold build yourself a little pup tent of plastic sheeting put board inside and pump some hot air in there. Careful not to direct the heat on the board. Have an opening on the other side to have free flow of hot air.
It makes working with epoxy drama free.
christian
Again, thanks for replying.
I am still a little skeptical of the temp explanation because it’s been warm here in SD lately even at night. Also, I took the board in and did another tinted hotcoat after sanding the bad one down and it looks great. I placed it in a sitting room with the windows open so the temp would be similar to outside but condensation would be less of an issue. Although this doesn’t mean that temp wasn’t a factor or even THE factor.
I’m actually pretty happy with the board just from looking at it. I haven’t tried it yet but this weekend I’m going with some friends and family to Mexico and will try it out. There might be some sizeable surf. (I’m bringing my back-up board too of course)
Stingray: Yeah, I should take it to the shaper to show him (he’s pretty famous too) and maybe I’ll get to watch a real board get made. I really need help with thinning the nose just right and placing the fins. Those are my two weakest points I think, although the weakest point is always the one you can’t see, right?.
This has been really fun and this web site is an incredible resource. A good community here. Thanks. I’m going to try to post some pics now.
I’m pretty sure it’s not the temperature. It hasn’t been that cold in SD the past few days but there has been higher than normal moisture in the air. I glassed two boards over the past 3-4 days/evenings in University City, San Diego, which is only about 7 miles from North Park and closer to the ocean - thus colder. I’m also using RR Epoxy and had no problem. Pics below - they haven’t been sanded yet so there’s glare and reflections in the pics but I think you can see there’s no white clouding. I glassed with the garage door open, but there’s a big difference between being under cover and out in the open when condensation is concerned. I did have difficulty masking one of these boards outside at dusk (last Thursday I think) due to condensation even with medium-high adhesive tape. Once I realized it was the dew I gave up and let the foam dry over night. The next day before the evening dew the tape stuck fine. how much additive F did you use? I only use about a 1/2 capful and only in the hotcoat. not sure if that has anything to do with it. It could be from overworking the resin as suggested above, but you’ve got so much time to work with the epoxy that wouldn’t be my first guess.
After reading my post. I see that my point was not transfered well to computer.
Moisture or a number of things could be the culprit.
But it you can control the temp and add a little heat at the same time many of these problems can be eliminated. One less thing to worry about.
christian
Did you leave the board outside overnight while it kicked/cured? If so, your board had condensate on it. No matter what type of resin you used, epoxy or PE, you would have problems with resin setting up. Learned that one the hard way…