Cold Weather Repairs

[JimS123]

The 8' fiberglass dinghy I bought last fall is upside down in the garage. My winter project is to make some repairs to the keel. Just laying down one layer of glass cloth over some gouged out spots. The repair needs to be functional not pretty. The "kit" I bought is polyester and the directions don't specify temperature requirements.

My question is what's the lowest temperature I can do the work? Usually the garage will be in the 40-50 degree range. I'm not concerned how long it will take to fully cure because it will sit there now till May.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

Above 60 until fully cured...

The resin, cloth & dinghy repair site all need to be above 60. You can keep the resin & cloth inside until you're ready to mix, setup a heater or heat lamps to warm the boat's surface.

Halogen work lights would throw some heat too... If the boats upside down, setup the lamps underneath shining upwards. Don't overheat the boat or the repair once you've made it. Too much heat also adversely affects the cure/bonding/durability of a repair..

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

Get a hair dryer .. baby it till the repairs are kicked off.

If you have a heat gun .. dont get too close too slow. .. just move it around. You will get the feel for it .

YD.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

Why not just do any grinding and clean-up now, then wait for warmer weather to lay in the fix. It shouldn't take long at all to do the repair, not like it's a weeks or months long project.

Resins, adhesives, and paints just work so much better in warmer temps.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

It was a suggestion, just like your hair dryer method... nothing more.

Your right on. I give a simple (proven) method .. while suggestions dont give one iota of data one way or another .. just kinda .. suggestions .. no helpful information ( yes I think Jim is completely aware of the way temps work with Resins/glass repair or he would not have made this thread ).

Why not just do any grinding and clean-up now, then wait for warmer weather to lay in the fix. It shouldn't take long at all to do the repair, not like it's a weeks or months long project.

Resins, adhesives, and paints just work so much better in warmer temps.

Dont even bother to prep/grind/sand anything until your ready to replace the substrate.

Grinding/sanding/prepping something and then leave it for a few months will only add to contamination. You will have to reprep it in some way Again before you start adding your strata ( build ups ).

So grind and fix now .. or leave it till your ready to mix up some resin and lay down some glass.

Again .. a cheap heat gun or hair dryer Will work for your Small repairs ! .. Period !

YD.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

I built my fiberglass dinghy during the winter in the garage . . .

In the northern areas, it is sometimes almost a necessity to be able to work in colder temperatures, because there are so many other things to get done in the limited amount of time between "Spring time" and before boating season really kicks into gear. So, I can relate.

Anyway . . . a few of my techniques to work in my 45-50 degree garage were . . .

Pre-heat the resin to about 75 degrees by placing it in a warm area in the house.

Pre-heat the areas to be glassed with a space heater or similar thing.

2% catalyst instead of 1% (for poly) 3% for Vinylester

As YD stated, I usually kept my Wagner heat gun handy in case I needed to kick the resin.

I even tented the boat (Dinghy) and blew hot air into the tent to cure the resin.

So, there you have it a few ideas to be able to work in sub-standard temperatures. Bottom line is that the resin and application area need to be warmer than the rest of the garage, and stay that way for about 1 hour or so to make sure the resin cures.

Of course, there were the opposite times when it was fairly warm and I pre-cooled the resin to get it to kick slower. . . .

 

[JB]

Re: Cold Weather Repairs

Sorry, guys. this is out of control, therefore closed