I applied 2 pack filler with insufficient catalyst. What do?

[hooblah]

Not really sure which section to put this so i'm putting it here.

I tried to do some filling on a door frame using car bodyfiller thinking it would be the fastest way to go. I didn't add enough catalyst and now it feels rubbery and is clogging my sanding discs. It's been on for almost a whole day so it's had plenty of time to set. Do I have to get it all off or will it eventually set? If I have to get it off, what's the best way?

 

[steveo3002]

scratch it off with a wood chisel , then clean up with a sander or sandpaper , make sure its all off so it cant come back and cause problems

 

[hooblah]

Good shout thanks. I've got off what I could and then whacked a load of toupret interior filler on.

 

[julianf]

I mixed up a job with the wrong hardener once and it didn't harden properly.

I went over it with the correct hardener and it seemed to make it go off.

It was a personal job, and the panel is still sitting on my landrover with no visible issues.

 

[Keith 66]

The curse of not enough catalyst or out of date!
I learnt my lesson the hard way several times, Doing a fairing job on a 28 ft GRP rowing Gig, I screeded the whole hull with a thin layer of fairing filler, Two days later it still hadnt cured properly, then realised i had not put enough catalyst in for the borderline temperatures. Once its failed to cure it never will. And so it was down to the skarsten scraper & rip it all off, then waste boxes of discs that clogged quickly to sand the remnants off. A weeks work to put right a 5 minute balls up.
Another time i used some old out of date epoxy paint, again it didnt cure, Took days to scrape that black gunge off the bottom of that boat.
Nowadays i wont use old hardener or out of date stuff.

 

[hooblah]

The curse of not enough catalyst or out of date!
I learnt my lesson the hard way several times, Doing a fairing job on a 28 ft GRP rowing Gig, I screeded the whole hull with a thin layer of fairing filler, Two days later it still hadnt cured properly, then realised i had not put enough catalyst in for the borderline temperatures. Once its failed to cure it never will. And so it was down to the skarsten scraper & rip it all off, then waste boxes of discs that clogged quickly to sand the remnants off. A weeks work to put right a 5 minute balls up.
Another time i used some old out of date epoxy paint, again it didnt cure, Took days to scrape that black gunge off the bottom of that boat.
Nowadays i wont use old hardener or out of date stuff.

Funny you should mention that - I got given a 25l bucket of grp top coat. I believe it's out of date, but i've got a new bottle of catalyst. Is that guaranteed failure?

 

[hunter27]

Bought glass fibre bonding from local supplier to bond a new ply deck on a sailing dinghy, after 3 days it hadn't gone off.

I contacted them and they said come in with the bonding I had left. The guy started pouring loads of catalyst into the mix to show me!

Luckily when I bought it I asked the counter staff to write the mix on the can which he did in felt pen and it was nowhere near enough catalyst that was needed.

They replaced it but it caused me lots of lost time.

 

[Morrisman]

Working offshore we used Araldite for some job or other. One time it simply didn’t go hard. After a lot of faffing about we realised it has an expiry date on each tube, and ours was a year too old. Cracked out some newer stuff and it worked as normal.

 

[Keith 66]

Funny you should mention that - I got given a 25l bucket of grp top coat. I believe it's out of date, but i've got a new bottle of catalyst. Is that guaranteed failure?

GRP topcoat is just polyester Gelcoat with added wax in styrene mixed in. When it gets too old & if air gets in the Styrene tends to gas off & solidify above the gel like little bunches of whitish crystals, If its gone that far its junk.
If its still stirring well its probably perfectly OK, Mix a test batch up with new catalyst & if it works you have had a result!

Epoxies are a different kettle of fish, the hardener tends to go brown & smell of ammonia, It isnt recoverable & chancing it with old epoxy can be problematic!