Peanut Butter PB mess

[edfishing2]

My peanut butter repairs are for two purposes. Leveling out the hatches as they had dished in void areas around the plywood stiffeners (these recesses are as much as 1/2 inch deep). Filling holes in hatches as I plan to change from top hinge to piano hinge and holes around the cap to hull at the rub rail (I would loose count on the number of holes around the overlapping lip).

I plan to level hatch, one layer of poly/glass over top and layer around the edges cause that had very little glass and has cracks in corners. Then gel coat undersides then recover with carpet.

Ok my first mix of peanut butter was with qcell and i measured the right amount of catalyst for the outside temp. I mixed too much ( I now find out) of the qcell in this stuff and it has only slightly hardened where it was very thin. Where it was 1/2 thick it has never hardened a week later. I have scraped off as much as possible on two of the hatches. I tried lacquer thinner, acetone to clean of the rest of the white goo but nothing seems to cut the semi dried stuff. I even tried heat gun to cure the thick areas no luck. Any suggestions on cleaning off this goo would be appreaciated but if anyone knows a trick to curing it out that would be even better. The thick areas are like the consistance of cheddar cheese. I did all hatches but one with this batch.

My second batch of PB on a the last hatch was with cabosil and it worked out great.

 

[fngboater]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

If its still gooey may be able to scrape it off with a stiff putty knife
And then some acetone. If its hard then grind it down with a flap disk. I prefer the 24 grit but be careful because its real aggressive and can leave you wih a hole in your hull lol

Another thing is make sure you mix in your catalyst first or else you wont get it mixed thoroughly. Then add the cabosil to thicken it up

 

[edfishing2]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

Thanks for the tips. I did mix the catalyst first and mixed it very well before adding the filler and after. I have scraped this pladough off of all but the last two hatch covers. Do not use too much qcell guys as it will not harden up is all I can come up with as the reason it nevered cured.

 

[oops!]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

what is qcell?

as long as the filler is properly mixed with the cated resin. it should cure.

how old is the resin? and is there any contaminates in it?

 

[edfishing2]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

It was a brand new gallon.

The same resin and same hardener was used for the second batch of PB and it started to harden up in like 30 minutes and is now hard as a rock(cabosil filler for 2nd batch). I just can't figure out what happened with the first batch of PB where I just used the qcell filler. Is it possible that the fresh gallon of resin needed mixing it is possible I just dipped out of the top and did not stir resin for my first mix. Other than that it has to be the qcell filler because the other fiber filler cabsil worked out perfect. Down to two more to scrape off the uncured playdough stuff.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

q-cells are typically used for "Fairing" material not for structural Peanut Butter. Not saying it can't be used but it is typically not. For what you are wantint to do the cabosil is a much better choice.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

If its the stuff Im thinking about ... it will never cure. Its made to be flexible ( if its the stuff Im thinking of ).

I have seen it used in stringer/bulkhead applications as a flexible filler ( sometimes hull deck joints have the same putty crap that is softish ).

If you want Killer putty use cabosil..if you want something a little more sand friendly then you can mix like 50:50 cabosil and red micro balloons .. if you want Fairing compound you use Micro B's.

You can try a regular paint scraper to shave it off. Have plenty of acetone to clean the blade.

YD.

 

[edfishing2]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

Got almost all of the "cold playdough" gunk off. Now back to using only cabosil for low spots and I may mix in a little chopped fiber for the holes. Then basic glassing if there is such a thing. Just working on all of the hatch covers. ie ski locker lids or fish box lids. Changing them out to piano hinge style instead of surface style and filling in low spots and some cracks. 8 total lids on my 15-1/2 foot Jason boat.

Red micro ballons? I thought there were only for polyester resin? I may get some 3M microballons. Is there a limit on how much you can add of these fillers(wood flour, chopped fiberglass, etc)? I either exeeded the recommended amount of qcells or lack of mixing resin cause my gunk issues.

 

[oops!]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

i still dont know what a Q cell is.

but.....if you mixed the resin properly......and then mixed in the filler properly....there should be no worries.

if you mix it wrong or not long enough ....the stuff will come out like lumpy gravy.

but like putty????.....that is inconsistent with the properties of resin.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

Just for informational purposes...

This is a page from US composites...

http://www.uscomposites.com/fillers.html

Talks about red/purple micro ballons and Q-cells, among other types of fillers...

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

Hard to imagine the qcells causing a problem. Are you absolutely sure you mixed the hardener in the correct amount.

Just for info, out of the 100 or so PB mixes I've done, I've never had a hardening problem and I always mix the fillers first and the hardener last. Gives me a bit more working time. I do always use an electric drill with a mixing tool.

 

[oops!]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

thanks for that gt.......we dont use them here on the west coast......micro balloons will do the same.

there was sonething funky going on there with the mix

 

[edfishing2]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

I am very sure I measured the correct amount of catalyst to the volume of resin only (not counting the filler!). I doubled the volume by the time I finshed adding filler. The only other possiblity is this was the first time the gallon of polyester resin had ben opened and I don't think I stirred it before I dipped out some resin into a measuring cup. This first mix was like only 6 oz. Can the top layer of resin separate? Can you add qcell until mixture is really like peanut butter thickness or is there a limit on volume? Like I said the second PB mix did great with cabosil and I know I stirred the resin before putting it in measuring cup.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

I now always mix the resin a bit when I open a new gallon because mine do separate. Before I realized this I used, a bit off the top, but had no problem. However, different resins may react differently.

Try a small batch with you qcells. Don't put it on the boat, just on a test board. See what happens.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Peanut Butter PB mess

Red micro ballons? I thought there were only for polyester resin?

I thought that you were using Poly..

I have used Micro Bs with poly and epoxy..

YD.