Epoxy fillers

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haroldsson

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My boat has had an attack of osmosis, and I have drilled out all the blisters and left it ashore for several months to dry out. I now want to fill the holes before coating with epoxy, etc. In my current location, ie Crete, the local shops have a choice of 2 epoxy fillers. One is Hempel, the other Veneziani Epomast pro.

Does anyone have experience of either of these, regarding ease of application and whether they do the job?
 
Hi have used Hemple on my Sonata and it works well
It also goes off within 12hrs if mixed correcly.
Some of the other fillers take days
 
mitiempo said:
What are they composed of? I would use colloidal silica which may be under another name.
Click to expand...

Some times called fumed silica.

Are you looking for a pre-mixed filler? The suggestion from mitiempo is an additive powder to mix into epoxy resin.

An alternative on the additive front is micro balloons or spheres, these are softer but easier to sand back, if you are going to overcoat with an epoxy shield I would not see this as a problem.

As for a pre mixed filler, I can offer no opinion.

Stuart
 
You can use almost anything as a filler, talcum powder, brick dust, saw dust and the is endless.

However because you want to apply this epoxy filler below the waterline, it Must be of the closed cell type or non porous if you like.

Also keep in mind that 4 to 5 coats of neat resin is the preferred finish on the outside of any below waterline repair.

Good luck and fair winds.
 
Last autumn I did exactly the same. Ground out the pits and on advice used an unfilled epoxy resin, as a primer to the holes. This was a West based unfilled epoxy, followed by an epoxy filler to fill the pits.
Sand to fair with hull and then applied 5 coats of Gelshield 200 ( International)

Your product Hempel is the old Blakes epoxy which is thicker, and requires less coats. I used the International stuff because you can leave between coats for up to six months, which actually was a non starter as we got all the coating on in 2 weeks in September last year.

The Blakes stuff is less tolerant for time between coats, but in Crete you will have better weather and higher ambient temperatures for curing.

I invested in a good two handed orbital sander, which was godsend for sanding down the gelcoat to key it. I would however not like to have to sand down the hardened epoxy - it is much harder than gelcoat.
Good luck
 
Epoxy Fillers

The OP is asking about ready mixed fillers, not the resins to finish with.
Both Hempel and Veneziani are well established marine coating companies and their fillers will be waterproof.
Veneziani are Italian and their product may give a longer pot life at higher temperatures. Check the info on the cans to be sure but both will be suitable for what you want.
 
Both Blakes and International told me to prime the holes with unfilled epoxy before applying the filler. International tech service suggested Wests epoxy. What do the Italian guys say?
 
Epoxy

Well if it were me I would get the epoxy to be used as a coating over all the hull. Just use a bit with a filler to fill the holes.
As said microballoons etc are good but talcum powder seems good enough for me. olewill
 
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