How to strip off uncured epoxy

[jeepermat]

I am not looking to bash any product here, I am not sure where the screw up occurred, just need to fix this mess...

I laid down 3 gallons of Legacy HD110 Floor Patch mixed at 2 parts epoxy to 1 part washed/dried silica sand, the stuff never setup. It is still tacky 3 days later.
I mixed 2 qt batches at a time, mixed Parts A and B for 3 minutes, then mixed in the sand for an additional minute. Floor temp is 55F, however after the first batch never setup I elevated the air temp to 75, and the floor temp to 65. I have even pointed a torpedo heater at it to elevate the floor temp to 100F where the epoxy is located, this doesn't seem to make any difference.
Here is one of the areas that still has not setup, the floor temp has been 65+ for 2 days now, at application it was 55-60F.

I was concerned after the first batch didnt setup, I consulted Legacy who was great at answering me, he thought that maybe I screwed up the mix, or that the temp was too cool.
For the second batch was extra careful measuring, and mixed for an additional minute beyond what was recommended. The second batch seems a bit worse, it is more tacky than the first. As it "dried" it also turned to a greenish color.

I am 99% sure I have the ratio correct, as once it was all used up I had equal ratios left over of Parts A and B.

The epoxy was new, I ordered it 2-3 weeks ago, I kept it in my house until I applied it, the only way it ever got cold was if it sat somewhere during shipment.

I just want to get this goo off my floor now. Any recomendations? I have taken a putty knife and scraped up some small areas, however I have 3 gallons of this stuff on my floor. I have a floor grinder with dymacerts, however I think that will make more of a mess because it is so tacky.

I did contact Legacy earlier this week, it is a holiday weekend so I figured I would get a better response here. Again not bashing anyone here, I figured I screwed up somewhere along the way, just not sure where.

 

[Armorpoxy]

We're sure Legacy will respond as they are known for excellent service and are probably away for the holiday.

That being said when you have a quantity of epoxy and mix some up and it hardens, but
In another area or mix it doesn't it has to be something with the ratio or mixing or the floor area itself, since if there was defective product nothing would cure anywhere.

In our experience it is going to have to be scraped or chipped off and redone. A commercially available product called Rock Miracle works well at removing and softening epoxies.

Unless Legacy has some unique product to cure this, we have not seen anything that can be added or applied to cure it once mixed and applied.

Just our comments since you were reaching out, but They should be able to guide you on correcting this.

 

[jeepermat]

I should clarify- None of the different batches I mixed setup, it is all tacky, some spots are more tacky than others, in some spots I can just leave a finger print, in other spots it will stick to my fingers.
Ill get to scraping for now, I spread it out over a pretty large area, so this is going to ****.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Breaking down these kits is never a good idea. That is why we provide these kits in 1 gal, 2 gal and 5 gal unit sizes. The few issues we see are always related to bad ratio or bad mixing. Everything we offer goes through a rigorous qc process. If we have an issue it is known before the product is final packaged.

In addition, as a further precaution we keep retains for 12 mos on everything.

You need to scrape this manually, very important that you get all the uncured product up as it will contaminate the next batch. Xylene or xylol is a good solvent to help soften the material as you scrape.


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[jeepermat]

Well, I guess Ill get to scraping, I spent 3 hours today and barely put a dent in it. I fired up the grinder and that just gummed up the dymacerts.

I just cant figure out how I would have messed up the mix, my last batch left me with 0 parts of A and B leftover, so if no excess of either product was shipped, then I would think my mix would have been right on.

 

[Zeke]

I don't do floors but I've worked with lots of different coatings. Epoxy has always soften for me under heat. There are a few ways you can heat the the floor. You mentioned that you have a torpedo heater. Perhaps you can make a deflector for it and pull it along the floor while someone scrapes with a long handle scraper going across so as to not be in the line of the heat.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Well, I guess Ill get to scraping, I spent 3 hours today and barely put a dent in it. I fired up the grinder and that just gummed up the dymacerts.

I just cant figure out how I would have messed up the mix, my last batch left me with 0 parts of A and B leftover, so if no excess of either product was shipped, then I would think my mix would have been right on.

Try a Diamabrush hand tool mounted on an angle grinder. It is ferocious .

 

[jeepermat]

Well, I dont know what to think about this stuff. I spent a good amount of my weekend trying various things. After getting rather ticked off at my results I hosed it down with water to try to clean it up, then I hit it with the floor grinder to try to wet grind it off, this seemed to be the most effective, I think it kept the goo cold enough to solidify somewhat and not build up on the dymacerts.
What is weird is that after I get the top layer of goo off, it is hard underneath, and a normal gray color that I would expect.
It seems like the top layer has not cured, yet everything underneath that has.

Any Ideas what is happening with this stuff?

 

[jeepermat]

Breaking down these kits is never a good idea. That is why we provide these kits in 1 gal, 2 gal and 5 gal unit sizes. The few issues we see are always related to bad ratio or bad mixing. Everything we offer goes through a rigorous qc process. If we have an issue it is known before the product is final packaged.

I spent a bit of time thinking about this over the weekend while trying to get this off the floor and has really left me wondering.
I've been using Epoxy and Catalyzed lacquers for a few years with good results on automotive and wood applications where the mix is critical. I have never heard this type of statement from any of our suppliers about mixing their products, nor have I ever had issues where it doesnt setup.

I also don't think it is feasible to mix and entire 3 gallon batch and apply it within the normal working time. I believe most solids epoxy's have a working time of 15-30 minutes. I believe this is a solids product, as there is no induction time that is common with non solid products.

Am I going to run into the same issues with my floor coating? I am going to need ~30 gallons. I have never heard that I would ever need to mix that entire kit together at once?

This product calls for a 9:2.2 mixture, for 64oz of Part A this would call for 15.64oz of Part B. I have only ever seen 1oz graduations on measuring cups, so 15.64oz would be a guestimate for me to measure. Therefore I bumped this up to 16oz. I cant think of any reason why 2% too much activator would have not allowed the epoxy to setup.

 

[Zeke]

Laminating epoxy requires the ratios to be mixed by weight in grams or ounces. Never seen the product that you used nor the directions. But weight and volume can be two different things.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

If you purchase Legacy Industrial coatings, we supply our 3 gal units in 1.5 gal batches unless we are working with an installer.

Not that you can't move 3gals in the time required, just a precaution to keep folks from breaking kits down or doing a poor mix job.


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[Zeke]

If you purchase Legacy Industrial coatings, we supply our 3 gal units in 1.5 gal batches unless we are working with an installer.

Not that you can't move 3gals in the time required, just a precaution to keep folks from breaking kits down or doing a poor mix job.


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That seems like a convenience to avoid mixing errors. Trying to mix a quart at a time probably takes precision. I know in my work the materials have to be damn close to the factory ratio specs. (I do wood consolidation and repair from architectural to artifacts.)

Just for grins and giggles (I don't mean to hijack the thread), here's a mock up of the process to repair a rotted beam. On the top is the original condition of the wood. Next is the wood having been wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil and soaked with epoxy. The light shaded stuff is epoxy putty and has been machined to match the profile of the original shape. And at the bottom is a piece of new wood attached firmly to the reconstituted wood.

To bring this all back to the thread, I sometimes use silica sand and epoxy to fill large voids. There are other filler materials of lighter weight but sand works fine and has the ability to flow into blind voids when dry. It is then solidified when the epoxy is flowed in behind the sand. For this, it has to be thinned some.

 

[Garage Flooring]

Not to repeat what has already been said here BUT

-- Always PREMIX both individual parts before splitting or mixing together.
-- Read the spec sheet as it will call out the ratio and by weight or volume -- typically weight. When splitting use whatever is called for in the spec sheet.
-- Whenever possible use the full kit at a time -- but still make sure you premix and scrape every last drop out.

 

[Zeke]

Not to repeat what has already bee said here BUT

-- Always PREMIX both individual parts before splitting or mixing together.
-- Read the spec sheet as it will call out the ratio and by weight or volume -- typically weight. When splitting use whatever is called for int he spec sheet.
-- Whenever possible use the full kit at a time -- but still make sure you premix and scrape every last drop out.

Well, that might be the issue here.

 

[jeepermat]

If you purchase Legacy Industrial coatings, we supply our 3 gal units in 1.5 gal batches unless we are working with an installer.

Not that you can't move 3gals in the time required, just a precaution to keep folks from breaking kits down or doing a poor mix job.


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I am super confused here.
I ordered this from you.
I was shipped a 5 gallon bucket with a bit less than 2.5 gallons of Part A, and a 1 gallon can a bit more than 1/2 gallon in it.

I am not an installer, just a guy who ordered this off your website

As for the mix here is what is on the can:

I do now see that there is a # next to the 9 and 2.2, it never occured to me that this indicated mass. I suggest making this a bit more clear.
To me this is a moot point, I ended up with 0 parts leftover of Part A and B. This tells me that the specific gravity of the 2 parts is pretty darned close.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Sorry. I was referring to our coating products. The repair material liquids go out as ordered.

Again, either the ratio was off or the mixing was inadequate.



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[dave89iroc]

9 pounds part A, 2.2 pounds part B, 50 pounds aggregate(silica)

 

[alberto]

I'm confused. Did the OP use Epoxy Mortar believing that it was an Epoxy Coating?

 

[jeepermat]

Nope, I used it as a Mortar.
The product is basically epoxy, you just mix it with an aggregate.

I ended up stripping the stuff down to the concrete, and just used another epoxy floor coating I had, mixed it with sand, and it setup in 8 hrs. No issues at all.

 

[LegacyIndustrial]

Nope, I used it as a Mortar.
The product is basically epoxy, you just mix it with an aggregate.

I ended up stripping the stuff down to the concrete, and just used another epoxy floor coating I had, mixed it with sand, and it setup in 8 hrs. No issues at all.

This is not "just an epoxy". Standard coating epoxy is much more brittle and not designed to be used in this manner. This material is specially formulated to do what we ask it to do.

Hopefully, your traffic will not be on the extreme end.