Curing temp

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Pacfanweb

Promoted Users
I seem to remember it's supposed to be 70 degrees for epoxy to cure and if it gets too cold it'll go "dormant"?

I swear I read that here, but can't find it now.

Anyway, I sprayed a bit of epoxy on my truck bed lower corners tonight. It was low 70's, but has cooled off considerably and had done so before my last coat.

Currently about 64 in my garage, should remain about that.

Early this afternoon, I heated it up with a propane heater next to the bed to warm the metal.

Is mid-60's enough for it to still cure, or should I figure out how to warm it up a bit?
 
A minimum of 65 degree for 24 hours after spraying to lock in the start of the curing cycle.

One of these 500 watt Halogen work lights from Lowes, Home Depot is like $18.00 dollars. It'll keep a panel at 90 degrees. They produce a pretty impressive amount of heat. I have two dual 1000wat lamp stands. Keeps my garage nice and toasty. My garage heater doesn't have to cycle as much when using the Halogen work lights.

work light 1.jpg


work light 2.jpg
 
Ah, I have one of those lights they sell at Tractor Supply for baby chicks that I used to keep my boat engine warm when I hadn't winterized it and it got cold. I can fire that up and just hang it on the bed.

I have the "sunburst" heater for a propane tank, but I'm kind of leery about firing that up this soon after painting, it's kind of "fumy" in there. Not sure fire is a good idea.
 
Just a few tips for spraying epoxy in the cooler months, I spray mid-day so the epoxy will have maximum time at the warmest temps of the day and then I push it out into the sun as the sun will get the panel very warm, even on a cold day. Additionally, the UV will accelerate curing.

Where I’m at in SW MI, if I can get it in the sun for a minimum of 3 hr it’s a lot safer if temps drop to low 60’s or even colder that night.

However just to be safe, after sun I then put my medium wave infrared curing lamp on it for an hr or 2. I’ve never had a problem with epoxy stopping its cure doing these steps.
 
i have a similar situation here about to happen. my shop normally heats with wood, but i cant paint with the stove lit and use the fan or it will fill the building with smoke. my plan is to shoot about 10 am and light the stove at about 5pm for a long over night burn. i should be able to keep it 70-75 at least until the sun comes up next morning.

on the halogen lights, they are becoming hard to find now, every things LED. i dont like LED light, every thing looks grey, and they dont make that much heat.
 
Lizer said:
Just a few tips for spraying epoxy in the cooler months, I spray mid-day so the epoxy will have maximum time at the warmest temps of the day and then I push it out into the sun as the sun will get the panel very warm, even on a cold day. Additionally, the UV will accelerate curing.

Where I’m at in SW MI, if I can get it in the sun for a minimum of 3 hr it’s a lot safer if temps drop to low 60’s or even colder that night.

However just to be safe, after sun I then put my medium wave infrared curing lamp on it for an hr or 2. I’ve never had a problem with epoxy stopping its cure doing these steps.
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Lizer what about dust outside? is the epoxy hard enough dust wont stick by then?
 
Lizer said:
but your epoxy would be cured
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lol, true enough. So would my problem of working on this truck.

I found a big space heater that looks like a radiator my wife uses. Put it under the bed (which is on sawhorses) and put a little fan a few feet in front of it to circulate and it got nice and warm in there. Epoxy is curing just fine, and it's going up to the 70's today, so I'll open the garage door once it gets there.
 
Pacfanweb said:
lol, true enough. So would my problem of working on this truck.

I found a big space heater that looks like a radiator my wife uses. Put it under the bed (which is on sawhorses) and put a little fan a few feet in front of it to circulate and it got nice and warm in there. Epoxy is curing just fine, and it's going up to the 70's today, so I'll open the garage door once it gets there.
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The best thing you can do if you’re able to move the truck is get some sun on it.
 
Lizer said:
The best thing you can do if you’re able to move the truck is get some sun on it.
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Yeah, can't do that though. Bed is on saw horses, and it's heavy. No help here. Wife can't lift it. It's about 70 now, garage door is open. Primer is noticeably harder than yesterday, so looks like it's curing just fine.
 
Pacfanweb said:
Yeah, can't do that though. Bed is on saw horses, and it's heavy. No help here. Wife can't lift it. It's about 70 now, garage door is open. Primer is noticeably harder than yesterday, so looks like it's curing just fine.
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It’s not the outside of the primer that matters, it’s the inside, against the metal. Epoxy that stops cure can still seem hard on the outside. You don’t know until it fails on you later.
 
Lizer said:
It’s not the outside of the primer that matters, it’s the inside, against the metal. Epoxy that stops cure can still seem hard on the outside. You don’t know until it fails on you later.
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I guess that means it's good news that I had that heater beneath the bed because it was warming the bed itself more so than it was warming the room
 
Pacfanweb said:
Yeah, can't do that though. Bed is on saw horses, and it's heavy. No help here. Wife can't lift it. It's about 70 now, garage door is open. Primer is noticeably harder than yesterday, so looks like it's curing just fine.
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i whipped up a dolly mines sitting on. its just an old boat trailer axle and some angle iron. i did it so we can move out for heavy paint removal and blasting and easily move back in. just a suggestion for the future sir. mines just crap from the scrap pile but does the job.
 
If you can get a good 4-6 hours above 65F you will probably be ok... I can neither confirm nor deny where I got this information from... If you sand it in the morning and it is gummy under the skin you where not and it will never ever harden. Like Lizer said sunlight and UV increases the odds of success.
 
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