Carbon Fiber stuff

Not a question, but I thought I'd share my first experience working with carbon fiber. I needed to do a few samll repairs, so I scoured the internet and wound up buying some West Systems Epoxy Resin. Looking at the directions the hardner I chose said a working time of about 15 minutes, so I'm thinking that sounds about right. So I get my stuff and I mix it up according to directions and get started. My first few strips went on nicely and I was brushing the resin onto the surfaces before I laid the strips. I dunked the strips into the resin and laid them out as needed. About my 4th strip I noticed the mixture was getting a little warm. I then brushed a little more on and dunked my 4th strip and to my surprise it was about 900 degrees!! I hastily aid that strip out and grabbed my brush to apply some more resin. When I went to dunk the brush, it bounced off the top of the resin. Then the resin started smoking and within 2 minutes the whole container (about 1 cup) was completely solid! When they say working time, they mean it!!!!

 

West Systems is the good stuff.

What is the number on the can of hardner you used? The working time should be longer than 15 minutes.

RG

 

i dont know what kind of resin you are using but for repairs i use epoxy resins and they are mixed 1/2 and 1/2 and does not dry that way ( like regular resins ) it takes a lot longer to dry when repairing carbon fiber i use carbon fiber cloth and epoxy resins if you use different resins its not as good of repair and even fiberglass can be used if you use epoxy resins and when mixing epoxy resins it must be stirred a couple of miniutes to make sure its mixed good

if i can help let me know thanks jim 812 228 7683

 

Yep that west epoxy builds some heat
melted a few plastic cups with that stuff

 

Sounds more like polyester resin from the little bit I know. Since he's nice enough to offer his help give Jim a call.

 

I used the 205 hardner and mixed it 5 to 1 as per instructions. IT IS EPOXY RESIN. here's what i used. http://www.westsystem.com/ss/epoxy-resins-and-hardeners/
Actually it says the pot life is 9-12 minutes, guess I should have used the 206 the resin on the piece actually took a few hours to harden, but not the stuff in the pot!

 

Dan, not realated to this thread so sorry to hijack. I LOVE your car, it's freaking insane, very well engineered. I noticed that you incorporated a wastegate off the manifold.. I was thinking about how this would or would not work before I saw yours (someone on YB pointed it out) care to give any input on how that works out for you? are you able to pour the nuts to it, and just let the wastegate control the boost for you.

 

Danny,

I use West sytem epoxy every day for both Boat and car projects . I live in the tropics so I usually work at 80 to 85 degrees temeperature.

I always use their mixer pumps for the right ratio and I use the extra slow hardener that has a full cure at 24hrs that way i can work on it for an hour and have an excuse to get a couple of beers after layup.

 

West system

Did you get the pumps for your west systems? With the pumps you use 1 squirt of epoxy and one of hardner stir well like Jim said and I have never had such short working time with 205, and cure time is 24 hours @ 70 deg, I have used this product allot and only gotten the results you got when I added extra hardner. Learn how to vacum bag your repairs and they will be allot stronger.

 

The best way to fix it is........... send it to Jim..also there is no clean up.Dave

 

West system is decent system. Sometimes if your resin is warm to begin with the mix will cure rapidly. Also the larger batches will make more heat and cure faster. I always measure my catalyst on a gram scale (don't think this was your problem though). It sucks when you vacumn bag 18 plys of 22' X 3' carbon fiber and the pumps have screwed up and mix at the wrong ratio. Epoxy doesn't necessarily cure faster with more catalyst, sometimes it can even inhibit the cure. Try to mix only small batches and dependant on the working temp use appropriate catalyst. Hope this helps.
Ro

 

Epoxy resins mixes 1/2 and 1/2
epoxy resins mixes 1/2 and 1/2
epoxy resins mixes 1/2 and 1/2

regular resins for fiberglass you can add more hardner and it will kick in the cup before you can quit stirring it if you put to much in catalast (hardner )

and you cant use these resins on carbon fiber it wont stay stuck the way it supposed to

 

I went to west systems and looked at what you used i have never seen that type of epoxy resins it my work for some things ok but i think you got the wrong stuff for what you are doing

all i know is what i know as epoxy resins mixes 1/2 and 1/2 you cant add more hardner it will mess the mixture up and wont dry right

i was taught by who i think is one of the best if not the best guy in the country whos been doing it over 40years i heard when companys want to know about resins and molds and how stuff works the call him and he just happens to be a former alky and nitro funny car owner and driver joe godwin from fort branch indiana if i dont know the answer i can get it for you

good luck

 

I have had the same experience with the West products, that is that once the stuff starts to heat at all the line between some warmth and a runaway reaction is really small for the pot.

It seems the larger the pot the angrier it gets I mix it in a flatter container to lessen the heat buildup.

Richard Gavle

 

you can get epoxy resins made by evercoat at your local auotmotive paint supply store

is the resins that you are using thin are a thick mixture

try this company www.fiberglast.com this is where i buy all of my stuff tell them what you are wanting to do

 

Thanks jim, I'll check them out next time. They were fairly thick, thicker than gear oil for sure. i used a gram scale to measure my portions and mixed up a total of 12 oz. So not a huge batch.