Cold weather,epoxy sealer. Concerns and questions

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So now that we are coming into the colder months and I've been loving use the reduced epoxy as a sealer for the entire summer and early fall. I have some concerns with the colder weather.

I am nearly ready to lay paint on a 54 Chevy restoration, the cab has been shot with epoxy, topped with 2 coats of urethane and blocked down a few weeks ago when it was in the mid 70's. There is no bare metal showing after block and prep so its ready to go. My concern is now the average temperature is in the 50's, low 60's and sometimes colder. There are some days where it pops back up into the 70's but that wont last much longer once we get into December and even if it does there's no guarantee I'm not working my other job that day to where I could spray this truck. I have no heated make up unit in my booth. When I am doing anything into epoxy primer I bring a small heater into the booth and heat the metal up, shoot the primer, let all the fumes evacuate for a bit than turn the heater on to keep the metal really warm for a few hours cause the booth heats up real easily, usually bring the part inside the house or put it in the sun if I run out of heater fuel since I know per the tech sheet the metal needs to be kept at least 65 degrees for the epoxy to work correctly, and reheat the next day for a few hours if the temp got to low that day.

My main concern is will I have an adhesion problems spraying in colder temperatures using the reduced epoxy as a sealer if I'm not able to keep it at 65 or higher for an extended period of time ? like I stated the cab has already been epoxied, covered in urethane than guide coated and blocked down. I'm nearly ready to shoot this cab and want to avoid any potential pitfalls. Last winter I was using the spi 2k high build urethane primer and sealer and had tons of soak up issues. Ever since switching to initial primer with epoxy, covering with urethane and using reduced epoxy as a sealer I have had zero recurrences and I am very happy with that result and the product. Just want to make sure I stay on the right track. Now that were coming into winter I'm a little worried about what will happen. This is a high metallic darker burgundy color so obviously any soak up or flaws will be highly visible. I really don't want to go back to shooting urethane sealer if I can stick with the epoxy because I have just had much better results using the epoxy, but if the cold is going to be an issue that I guess I don't really have much choice in the matter.

Any input will be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot.
 
I would like to answer the main question here as the cold has been preached by me over and over and I know you know the answer.

The question, will the cold cause adhesion problems.
YES!!! Not always but a good chance.

I'm speaking for the epoxy, 2K primer, urethane sealer, base and clear.

Some of the worse peel comebacks, I've seen has been in the spring where shop owners, just refuse to pay to heat their shops like they should be in the winter.

This is nothing to gamble with on a restoration.

99.999% of all problems are trapped solvents.
 
copy that, I didn't know if the circumstances had changed since the reduced epoxy sealer would be going over the cab, which already had the epoxy primer and urethane primer applied at acceptable temperatures. What I'm understanding is the 65 degree temp minimum still applies to the reduced sealer.

unfortunately for me, there's no possibility of heating the entire shop, its just too big and well out of my possibility of purchasing. Ill have to stick with just getting a unit for the booth.

Barry here is my next question. Until I can get a heated make up for the booth, will I be able to stick with the way I've done the epoxy primer in the past and apply it to the sealer ? Heat the booth/metal up for about an hour to get it real warm, spray my sealer, let the booth evacuate for a few minutes, than heat the booth again for the 2-3 hours the epoxy sealer requires before base, spray my base, repeat with the heat, let the cab sit overnight, come back in the next morning and heat the booth up again for a few hours, than go about laying the clear down. Is that 2-3 hours of the sealer being nice and warm, than the extra time after basecoat, and the few hours the morning after satisfactory to promote the adhesion. Like you said I don't want to have any problems with peeling or adhesion for any reason and don't want to take any chances on this restoration as Ive put well over 300 hours in this thing so if I have to spend a couple hundred dollars on propane to keep the booth nice and warm for hours and hours I will. I use all spi products minus basecoat.
 
Yes on the heat! Here is something I say all the time to people doing these big jobs at home.

You have 300 hours into this thing as you say, so if you cant get the heat right, it is not worth the gamble let it set to spring, this pisses a lot of people off at me but I don't want to hear from you on the first full hot day in the sun asking why this thing blew up.
 
no argument here, tech sheet says the temperature very specifically and you've made it very clear. Customer is going to be here in the middle of December to pick this truck up so looks like ill be getting a 100lb bottle of propane and letting it get nice and warm in between applications and just leaving to maintain temperature. Thanks for the info and looks like the propane guy is gonna really like me this winter ha, or I may just not take on any more jobs until the spring.
 
The cost of the heat is nothing compared to the cost of a massive redo. I use 240V space heaters in my booth now because even though they are more expensive to run, I feel they are safer especially because there are no combustion byproducts to worry about and they will never run out of fuel. In fact, when the weather gets cold I will leave one going in the booth all night long. Even when temps outside are well below freezing and the shop heat is set low, the booth will be over 80° when I come in the next morning. Just set it and forget it, I like that.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dimplex-...QfyUmhsEiOkU4mPsS5bCZsDV6CUux0hiYTBoCmsvw_wcB

http://www.drillspot.com/products/5...6w4BtFt_w_I1e9943-H_3eGhg0qz82XjlKRoCuJvw_wcB
 
I went and bought a 125k btu propane heater and a 100lb propane tank today, spent a bunch of money so there goes even more profit, ha, but definitely worth it as I do not wish to ever have to redo this truck. Its been a long road on this one and I didn't charge nearly enough since it was a friend and well I'm sure you guys all know how that goes. He did go big time though and buy new doors, fenders, hood, bed, rear fenders, floorboard, firewall and everything. So as you can see I do not want to ever have to see this truck again unless he wrecks it and is going to pay.



after the new floor board, firewall, cab corners, inner to outer panels, cowls, lower jamb pieces, new hinge mounts and the like.




I was able to get the bed and rear fenders painted the other day when it was in the upper 70's.





Then put them together. The UV clear doing its thing.





Thanks a lot crashtech, I am going to go to home depot tomorrow and see if they have one of those in stock.

Crashtech this is my booth. 30 ft long x 14 ft wide x 10 ft tall. Will that 240V be able to keep the temp up between coats or is that more for preheating the booth before sealer/overnight before clear type heat. Just wondering cause I know the electric ones usually don't force out the heat like the jet heater types do and I am going to want to get the temp up quick once I spray sealer and base. Thanks for the help.

20131121_140240_zps1d8ff35c.jpg
 
I bought these to keep everything warm and it works great!! On a 45 degree night the inside of the carport was almost 90....and I could have gone hotter too.
image_20622.jpg

dr-966-2-l.jpg
 
I'm sure that booth has too much airflow for any of these heaters to do a whole lot, maybe if you parked one at the air intake if might raise the air temp a few degrees. No, the electric heaters I pointed out are for preheating and for curing, though they also will help cure the base prior to clearing.
 
yea I wouldn't be using the heaters while the booth was on. Ill pre heat, spray whatever material, let it evacuate for a few mins, cut the booth off and resume heating. I was just wondering if I should use the gas heater to get the temp back up quickly or if in your experience the electric one can get the temp back up relatively quick.
 
i have a 150k btu torpedo heater that sets outside my booth . it will keep the booth above 70 degrees even while painting at 30 degrees .
 
I think your propane one puts out more heat by far. The electric ones are easier to leave unattended and emit no toxic gases. You may find a way to put both kinds to use.
 
Couldn't find that electric one at the store so going to order it and yes ill be using both. Its 61 here today and I need to prime the fenders so ill be putting that new heater to use today.
 
I heated the booth up for 2 hours before laying epoxy. Metal got nice and warm. Sprayed a coat, heated booth back up, waited 45 mins than sprayed another coat and reheated booth for another two hours.




Came in this morning and heated booth up for an hour, sprayed 2k urethane, heated booth back up and let flash 30 mins, sprayed another coat than put the heater on 2, man it cranks out some heat. I left the heater on for 2 hours. It got done right hot in the booth.



Ill be going in friday to spray the dash board and put some bedliner on the floorboard and firewall so it'll have more time getting hot. IIll repeat the process until I clear. Ill do it again when I come back to paint it so hopefully I don't have any adhesion issues with how hot the metal is getting and how many times its getting warm. Will definitely be worth the cost of propane if everything is kosher
 
I'm sure you know but I want to put it out there for everyone else; the most important thing is not how hot you can get the surface, but that you can maintain surface temperatures above 65° at all times during the first critical 48-72 hours depending on film thickness. That means 24/7, heat on all the time.
 
Yes, you of course are right, its just not an option for me, I was not able to get the electric heater at the store so using the propane one is my only option until it comes in after the holidays..I won't leave the jet heater on when I'm not there. I'm sure everyone understands why. Its had heat on it for about 8-9 hours beetween yesterday afternoon and today and it will have heat again tomorrow and the next day. Unfortunately its all I can do, the building is double insulated so it doesn't get super duper cold in there. I wish I could keep it on all night or had a heated shop air but well, thems the bricks I guess.going to get heat back on it asap.
 
crashtech;41249 said:
The cost of the heat is nothing compared to the cost of a massive redo. I use 240V space heaters in my booth now because even though they are more expensive to run, I feel they are safer especially because there are no combustion byproducts to worry about and they will never run out of fuel. In fact, when the weather gets cold I will leave one going in the booth all night long. Even when temps outside are well below freezing and the shop heat is set low, the booth will be over 80° when I come in the next morning. Just set it and forget it, I like that.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Dimplex-...QfyUmhsEiOkU4mPsS5bCZsDV6CUux0hiYTBoCmsvw_wcB

http://www.drillspot.com/products/5...6w4BtFt_w_I1e9943-H_3eGhg0qz82XjlKRoCuJvw_wcB
Click to expand...
Those look pretty handy.
 
No sir, those are brand new from classic industries if I recall correctly.
 
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