g.corey74
Well-known member
I followed all the good threads on the forum about Devoe 224HS epoxy. Also Devoe's spec sheets with added info from from the local rep. My floor area is less than 300 sq. ft. It's a house addition shop. No cars.
I received some good advise earlier, from Fred and Eric with Wolverine Coatings, about a possible moisture problem if I used 100% epoxy. Later with the moisture problem resolved I decided on Devoe's 75% epoxy. I figured with the 6 hour pot life I would have sufficient working time. All conditions were good the day I mixed. After mixing color and converter separately I thinned the first kit with a pint of Xylol. I cut in the floor edges and noticed the mix seemed awfully thick, but I continued with the rolling. From the start it went down thick and tacky and got worse. I finished as quick as possible but every roller stroke left it's mark. The Devoe 224HS absolutely did not flow at all. The next day I emailed the rep. He answered that the 224 can be very "ropey" and to thin the second kit by 15-20%.
So after wasting the many hours on initial prep time I rented a 12" by 18" orbital sander from H.D. and started over. You can't give up. The sander worked great but I couldn't get the surface as good as the first prep.
For the second coating I figured with the extra thinner and not having to cut in the edges I should be better off time wise. The rep set up a free can of T10 at the local ICI store.
I had everything laid out and ready for mix day. I even considered the roller strokes in a corner around a milling machine and a permanent bench to not lose time. The next day I mixed the second kit, let it set 15 minuets, and started rolling. I rolled out the epoxy fairly heavy for it to flow. I could tell it also seemed too thick to be right. After the first roller tray I poured out the epoxy with a pan to speed things up.
The second coating was worse than the first. Again I tried to figure what I possibly could have done different for a good application and I may have come up with a reason. Later, when I explained the mess to a friend, he suggested the same idea. That I was sold some old past shelf life epoxy. It's hard to believe a store would be so neglectful to not check this but what else could cause two similar failures? I still have the 4 cans but only Devoe can tell from the codes when produced. I emailed the rep suggesting perhaps he should make a trip down to Kettering and see the mess for himself. But he bailed and passed me on to the store sales rep who is too busy to return my call.
So now the point of this long write up is this. If the past shelf life issue was posted before, I missed it. Also others may have had bad luck and chose not to post it. If other failures could be due to old epoxy I would like to hear some comments. Regardless of the product brand, it is something for anyone to consider when buying epoxy. To believe, that two unmixed components won't fail because of age, isn't correct. I hope this thread is not another waste of time. Back to sanding, you can't give up.
I received some good advise earlier, from Fred and Eric with Wolverine Coatings, about a possible moisture problem if I used 100% epoxy. Later with the moisture problem resolved I decided on Devoe's 75% epoxy. I figured with the 6 hour pot life I would have sufficient working time. All conditions were good the day I mixed. After mixing color and converter separately I thinned the first kit with a pint of Xylol. I cut in the floor edges and noticed the mix seemed awfully thick, but I continued with the rolling. From the start it went down thick and tacky and got worse. I finished as quick as possible but every roller stroke left it's mark. The Devoe 224HS absolutely did not flow at all. The next day I emailed the rep. He answered that the 224 can be very "ropey" and to thin the second kit by 15-20%.
So after wasting the many hours on initial prep time I rented a 12" by 18" orbital sander from H.D. and started over. You can't give up. The sander worked great but I couldn't get the surface as good as the first prep.
For the second coating I figured with the extra thinner and not having to cut in the edges I should be better off time wise. The rep set up a free can of T10 at the local ICI store.
I had everything laid out and ready for mix day. I even considered the roller strokes in a corner around a milling machine and a permanent bench to not lose time. The next day I mixed the second kit, let it set 15 minuets, and started rolling. I rolled out the epoxy fairly heavy for it to flow. I could tell it also seemed too thick to be right. After the first roller tray I poured out the epoxy with a pan to speed things up.
The second coating was worse than the first. Again I tried to figure what I possibly could have done different for a good application and I may have come up with a reason. Later, when I explained the mess to a friend, he suggested the same idea. That I was sold some old past shelf life epoxy. It's hard to believe a store would be so neglectful to not check this but what else could cause two similar failures? I still have the 4 cans but only Devoe can tell from the codes when produced. I emailed the rep suggesting perhaps he should make a trip down to Kettering and see the mess for himself. But he bailed and passed me on to the store sales rep who is too busy to return my call.
So now the point of this long write up is this. If the past shelf life issue was posted before, I missed it. Also others may have had bad luck and chose not to post it. If other failures could be due to old epoxy I would like to hear some comments. Regardless of the product brand, it is something for anyone to consider when buying epoxy. To believe, that two unmixed components won't fail because of age, isn't correct. I hope this thread is not another waste of time. Back to sanding, you can't give up.