No idea, I’d probably check with the manufacturers recommendations since all IMC’s are slightly different.
You can wait up to 6 weeks. I have waited 1year on a test mould and it still worked
Yeh I’ve waited 2 weeks with Duratec Sunshield before and it worked fine with epoxy.
Great info here! Thanks you both.
With the IMCfrom German Advanced Composites I usually spray 3 to 4 light layers and wait 5 to 10 min. in between. After appr. 15 min I can use the tacky surface to lay the first carbon fiber layer in the mold. I most often infuse right after I am finished with the setup. The TDS says that you should wait 24 hours before the infusion. I have never waited so long. I most often start the infusion after appr. 4 hours and it has been working pretty well so far. The GAC-IMC is designed to work as a sunshield and weather portector and it provides a chemical bond to the following epoxy layup. So there is no need to sand the surface to provide a better adhesion.
Im having some problems with the IMC. After some good results I dont know what is happening now. There are some severe white spots and the coat seems to be collapsing in some areas. The photos try to illustrate the problem. Anyone has an idea of what maybe causing this?
And when repairing this coat what materials can be used? Before using the IMC for repairs (like pinholes or poor vaccum) i usually sand and apply a topcoat to cover the problems and it usually (with some work) solves the problem.
Can i apply an epoxy topcoat on top of sanded IMC? will it peel?
Thanks in advance for any help. Very disapointed now as I was loving this product.
Wochi, it almost looks like (just guessing) you may have pulled full vacuum on a slightly tacky IMC and then released the vacuum allowing the still soft IMC and fibers to rebound and pre-release from the mold surface… Any chance that happened?
designbikes or DDcommound, Could the GAC IMC be used like a regular clear coat as well for clear coating over 2K automotive paints? Thanks.
That’s interesting… Is it possible you have moisture in your compressor lines? To be honest it doesn’t look exactly like that’s the issue, but it’s the first thing that comes to mind.
it happened two times already.
One of them i only applied the fibers after a week so i doubt it´s a soft IMC.
As for the moisture i try to be carefull with that but it´s possible. But shoudnt it be visible even before applying the fibers on top? something like fisheyes or imperfections? The IMC seemed perfect before applying the fiber.
Nah fisheyes are surface contamination. Moisture causes little issues like this, but it usually a bit more wide spread, more like cloudiness. The reason I mentioned it though is because I’ve seen it present itself in weird ways like this (though not exactly like this), and often not for days after application.
We often use the IMC also as clear coat. Very nice to spray and it flows perfect.
The issue for the surface problem looks like a release problem, moisture would make it cloudy white. I have never seen that before.
Its not cloudy. Some parts its like “cracked” and other is colapsed. Imagine a water drop on top of a surface. But the inverse. it goes down. Difficult to explain :S
Release? What do you mean by that?
thanks for your replys
How did you cure the part ?
Infused and next day into the oven 6h at 60°
In the mold or postcure ?
In the mould
Wochi could you answer a question please?
I have purchased the GAC-IMC and have been testing it for the past week after watching the video posted on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lMOqPdNEro
In the video the resin has a low viscosity, pours and mixes easily. The resin I received was very thick with a similar viscosity of molasses and would slowly ooze out of the container. This thick viscosity caused many problems such as bubbles and not leveling well before curing. I inquired about how to thin the resin but did not receive any information on how to do so from GAC.
Is the viscosity of the IMC you received like the one in the video or very thick?
And probably no vacuum on it ?
If that’s the case, I had the same problem and even worse. Start postcuring or try it with vacuum on while curing in the oven.
The cure and postcure were made under vaccum. No leaks noticable in the end of the postcure.
Can it be not enough IMC so it cracks because its too thin when applying the fibers over it/ demoulding?
could it be delamination from differences in Coeff of thermal expansion with the rate of cooling?