gelcoat or no gelcoat

[jiffyboat]

hi, I just re coated the deck of my boat, and it feels very dry to tack and no sticky , but I try to clean a spot that was dirty with grease and I used break cleaner, and I notice that the spot became sticky like melting,..my question is ..is that normal..will the gel coat after been hard melt, I got this gel coat in ebay and I got the feeling that I didn't got a good gel coat, or may be mixed with something...any ideas, thanks

 

[MTribe08]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

Was the Gel Coat mixed with wax? Or did you add that? That seals off the air to let it cure.

 

[jiffyboat]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

yes the gelcoat had wax,at least is what the ebay description said and it look bright

 

[saildan]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

I try to clean a spot that was dirty with grease and I used break cleaner, and I notice that the spot became sticky like melting,..my question is ..is that normal..will the gel coat after been hard melt

What's in that brand of brake cleaner? Methylene chloride, dibasic ester (DBE), and propylene carbonate will break down gelcoat (polyester resin) if they are allowed to sit for awhile. Gelcoat that was thinned for application with acetone instead of styrene will have it's chemical structure altered and be more suseptable to other solvents.

 

[jiffyboat]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

the cheap one from waltmart, but it works very strong cleaning the carbs ,you most be right , and it does brake down the gelcoat

 

[oops!]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

use acetone on gellcoat.

if the gellcoat is cured and not sticky at all....it was waxed.
unwaxed will be sticky for weeks and will be hard to clean and attract any kind of diry immeadately.

cheers
oops

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: gelcoat or no gelcoat

Hello Jiffy..

Erm why would you use brake cleaner ?

Tell ya what.. take a soaked acetone rag ( might require more then 2-3 or even 5 lbs of rags for the whole thing ) but just wipe one corner Real well to wipe off any uncured gel..

Wipe again with soap/water ..

If its fine after that then wipe it all ( with a Resporator of cource ).

YD.