West marine offers everything you need for cosmetic gel coat and structural fiberglass repairs.
Vinyl ester resin boat repair.
Vinyl ester boat hulls become nearly impervious to the blistering and osmotic problems commonly encountered when polyester resins are used.
This will add additional corrosion protection to these weakened areas.
If your cosmetic repair is following a structural repair it may be necessary to level the structural patch with the solid.
Selection includes resin and resin hardeners fiberglass cloth and tape gel coat repair kits resin additives fillers putties resin tools and vacuum bagging kits.
Not an actual resin styrene is used as a thinner for polyester and vinyl ester resins and gel coats.
Try to store the resin in a cool dry place or refrigerate do not freeze it to extend the life of the resin.
In terms of physical properties and cost vinylester resin is a compromise between low cost polyesters and epoxy resins.
Water resistance isn t that big of a deal on stringers and while ve will bond better you will rarely have an issue with the bond unless you do a sloppy job.
Epoxy resins epoxy resins are different from polyester and vinylester resins in more than a few ways but the easiest to recognize is the way in which they re catalyzed.
Shop the best in fiberglass repair materials from west system evercoat and 3m.
Vinyl ester resins are also becoming more commonly used in all areas of modern high performance composites.
When filling blisters such as in a fiberglass boat hull repair be sure to use vinyl ester resin with your milled glass fibers to make your putty.
Vinyl ester has a shelf life of 3 months.
Epoxy resin should be used.
Polyester resin ve is better but the answer to the question about it actually making a difference you may notice in doing the repair is a little more difficult.
The west system 105 k fiberglass boat repair kit includes detailed instructions for diyers and the packaging can be stored on your vessel.
Resin has a short shelf life.
Polyester resins contain styrene monomers.
The styrene in the polyester or vinyl ester resin will melt it.
With epoxy resins it s always a 2 1 ratio of resin to hardener but you use different speed hardeners to make it cure more quickly or more slowly.
Its use is limited to the construction of high performance power boats where vinylesters increased bond strength has helped eliminate bonding problems with core materials vinylester resin is also used as a great water barrier when mixed properly with glass.
