Sticky situation

T

Tiger Rag

Joined
27 Nov 2002
Messages
388
Location
Whiteley, Hampshire.
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Have spent this week painting bilges in one of Plymouth's finest motorboats and would be interested to hear from some fibreglass experts. Is it normal / acceptable for the resin to still be quite tacky to the touch even after five years?!

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Sorry your wrong. Mucky Farter is the finest motor boat in Plymouth. Thought every one knew that!../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue>No one can force me to come here.<font color=red> I'm a volunteer!!.<font color=blue>

Haydn
 
You really can be exasperatingly pedantic at times Haydn.
He said 'one of' Plymouiths finest which leaves plenty of scope for you to be in there as well.
Now go and answer my post about pot noodles /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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Nope, definately not, sounds like poor catalysation to me. Poor catalysation has been know to cause osmosis in less than 2 years. Unlikely to be a major issue inside the hull. I'd reccomend getting someone in the know to look at it if youre concerned.


<hr width=100% size=1>Sod the Healey - I think I'll buy an E-Type.
 
No, unfortunately it isn't normal. Prolonged exposure to hydrocarbons (petrol & diesel - but much more so petrol) causes fibreglass resin to go jelly-like. Has this been the case?

<hr width=100% size=1>Madoc Yacht Club
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But is the bilge internal face really the hul material? - usually it's a resin sloshed on afterwards. I bet if you used a heavy duty scraper you could rip off that layer and the hull underneath will hopefuly be hard. I mean, it must be mustn't it, otherwise the boat would've sort of glooped into a coracle shape if it was soft all over.

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as tcm says, bilges are usually painted out in coloured resin after the hull is moulded. This should be done using a special purpose resin however people often use gel coat which never dries on a surface exposed to air. The correct product to use is gel coat with a wax mixed in (sometimes the product used is called flowcoat). The wax comes to surface, and creates a barrier from air, so the resin dries. You can buy the wax sepretly and diy mix it so possibly on your boat they didn't mix in the wax correctly or enufly and therefore the tacky surface remains? Also the presence of some other chemicals prevents resin curing at the surface as said above - pvc vinyl has this effect

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The interior of the hulls made by Plymouth's finest (sail as well as power) are often tacky and is nothing to be worried about.

To avoid a tacky interior surface requires the last coat/layer of resin to have a wax additive. This is a cost to boatbuilders and does not add to the strength. Plymouth's finest gelwash the interior of their hulls where they consider it to be necessary - ie engine rooms and lower bilge sections.

Duncan

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