Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a follow-up to a post from a few weeks ago. A couple weeks ago I applied the Glaze Coat epoxy coating to the flooring of a wood cage. I turned on the ceramic heater and close the cage doors, thinking it would cure it faster like polyeurithine(sp?). However, it never fully cured and the portion under the heat emitter is sticky still. I took a paper to dap it and the paper towel just stuck to it. By the same standard I did the first few inches of the sides of the cage a couple days after the floor, and let them dry at room tempature and they're perfect. I'm guessing it's the high heat that caused the bad cure.

I bought another box of Glaze Coat from Home Depot today but haven't opened the box yet. Is it worth applying it to the sticky portion... will it cure over that? or am I S.O.L on the cage bottom?

This does not sound good and I think a call to the manufacturer might be in order. Tell them exactly what you did, including leaving the heat lamp on. Don't call it a ceramic heat emitter, they won't know what it is. Instead just say a very hot heat lamp.

I have not used Glaze Coat specifically but understand it is nearly identical to many other polymer based bar top epoxies on the market. I have mixed up over a dozen batches of Envirotex Lite and have never had this problem.

The one issue that can't be stressed enough with these products is that they absolutely have to be mixed thoroughly. They are used extensively for underwater applications such as coatings for fish lures and even spear guns. If you go to forums dedicated to either craft you'll find they recommend mixing the heck out of the stuff. They go as far as to recommend doubling the mixing time. This is what I do.

You also have to be very careful to mix equal quantities.

Regarding your floor, is the epoxy still sticky away from the heat lamp? If those areas are fully cured you may be able to cut out the effected area, floor and all, and do some patching.

But you really need to call the company first.

Yep, the rest of the area away from the heat is fully cure and smooth. The area directly below the heat is what is sticky and then it gets less sticky as you move out from "ground zero"...

It looks cutting is going to be a pain.

There are many gel coat polyester resins which do not fully cure, and will continually offgas/remain tacky. Perhaps the compound you used is some form of polyester gel coat? Was this an epoxy or a polyester resin, as home depot sells both.

When choosing to use resins, epoxies, elastomers, etc., it is important to make sure the finished product is inert, and cures completely, as many do not- there are many different epoxies and resins out there(thousands), all for different uses and applications. Only a few of those match the requirements that we need for our situations regarding our captives..
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Treemonitors.com

Bob,

>>Was this an epoxy or a polyester resin, as home depot sells both.

It's a polymer based epoxy. Solvent free.

Myself and a handful of other posters on this forum have used this type of epoxy for years. One guy has had this specific product (Glaze Coat) in a boa cage for 9 years.

I talked to an engineer from a company that sells this and dozens of other epoxies and he recommended these types over all others for our application. But he did stress proper mixing.

I have never exposed to high direct heat in any of my previous applications. But I did spill some by accident on top of my Bearded Dragon cage which gets quite hot. It flowed out a lot but cured perfectly fine. Can't get the darn stuff off to save my life, LOL.

At any rate, sorry to chime in. But I thought I should since I'm one of the people who recommended these types of products to Wayman.

ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up. My other suggestion that I failed to post was that it could be due to improper mixing. While some two part systems are somewhat forgiving, and tolerate some margin of mixing/proportion error, some are absolutely intolerant to error.. Perhaps this could be the cause of his problem.

I wouldn't think that the heat would have caused this, as most of these two part systems cure through an exothermic reaction, producing heat as a biproduct. Also, when exposed to warmer conditions, the compounds cure faster, than at cooler temps.
So my guess, now knowing the composition of the product, is that it has to deal with improper mixing. This could be problematic, as getting the uncured area to cure is nearly impossible; I can't imagine an effective way to get it completely cured, now that it is plastered to the cage...

Anybody have any ideas? SImply applying the hardener/catalyst to the top will not do much to cure what is underneath...thus leaving only the surface cured..
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Treemonitors.com

As I mentioned in previous posts, I suspect improper mixing. When I use this stuff I use extreme care when measuring and mixing. Some companies who carrry these products won't sell them to just anyone as to avoid returns and/or warranty issues. I did a bit more reading this AM and it does sound like even the pros can screw this stuff up on occasion.

This epoxy has a very low endothermic reaction compared to other stuff. As such, it is more heat senstitive than other epoxies and has a lower melting point.

I guess I should use a bit more care when recommending it and be sure to warn about proper mixing every time.

>>This epoxy has a very low endothermic reaction compared to other stuff.

Just woke up from a nap (home with the flu) and found my mistake.

These epoxies have have a very low exothermic reaction compared to other products. They do give off heat, just not as much.

Thanks for the suggestions. I thought I mixed properly with equal parts. I had to prepare the mix 3 other times for the lower back of the cage, and lower two sides...and they cured fine.

Even if a second coat would only cure the surface, I'd be happy with that, as I use bed a beast substrate and it dries out on the kinda quickly anyway.

I would be more concerned with the offgassing of the epoxy that isn't cured. Those fumes are pretty nasty and can be quite devastating neurologically.
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Treemonitors.com

Bob,

Glaze Coat does not contain any solvents so those concerns are not as important. This stuff is totally different than any other epoxy I've ever worked with.

But I still don't like the idea of pouring a new mix over the top. I would rather see the poster cut part of the floor out and install a patch. Then epoxy over that.

I'm going to take a recent (non-reptile) project where I used this epoxy and heat it up slowly. Curious to see how soft it gets now that it's cured for 6 weeks.

The bottom is melamine. What should I patch it with? What do you cut that stuff with? It's like clear tar! ;-0

I'm almost ready to just install the vinyl tiles like I was going to do originally.

You would have to cut the floor out past the soft area and then tie in another piece of 3/4" material, whatever it may be.

Have you called the company yet?