Thread: Epoxy system 5:1

There's not much difference in price between that stuff and Bote-Cote. The latter is a known quantity.

There may be another issue worth considering unless the following comments are just marketing hype.

The main ingredients in the old technology epoxy
hardeners which affect people is TETA
(TriethyleneTetraAmine) plus a couple of
corrosives which have a High Vapour Pressure
which means it gases easily and as a result
makes it difficult to avoid breathing the vapour.
The reason is that the molecules are very small
which also allows the chemicals to easily
penetrate your skin causing the redness / rashes.
Basically anything which is 3:1, 4:1 or 5:1 ratio will
be old technology and I have even come across
2:1 epoxy which is laced with nasties.

From the article on hypersensitivity on this site.
http://www.boatcraftnsw.com.au/

This appears to simply be a "rebadged" product of a relatively unrefined formulation.

Without getting into chemical specifics, which few will understand or grandiose statements about hardener ratios, all epoxies (of the typical marine, retail varieties) are bad for you, so comments about some being better (molecular vapor pressures and the like), simply because of hardener ratio or activators (amines,, phenols, alcohols, thiols, etc.) really isn't relevant or accurate. You don't want to eat, drink or rub into your eyes, even the supposed good stuff.

This aside, BoteCoat is a known "in house" product, with a very good reputation, so the logical route seems pretty obvious. West System is very costly compared to most of the secondary formulators (like BoteCoat). I'm not sure about import costs with epoxy, but there are several online formulators that offer epoxy at 50% or better pricing, compared to West System, with similar physical properties.

I don't know the total sales figures in your country, but BoteCoat is the leader as far as I'm concerned in Australia, in terms of general use marine grade goo.

Thanks all for your input it is much appreciated.

I think will stick with Bote Cote, just testing the water so to speak!

Cheers,
Ben

Benjamin, you have to question an outfit, who doesn't have a store, just an EBay site. Now, I'm sure there's lots of very reputable companies, with nothing more then an EBay address, but you have to ask yourself, so where are these products shipping from and do I want to pay someone else, to make the same online purchase I can. Simply put, I suspect that "epoxy company" is just buying epoxy (probably online), placing a new label on the jugs and shipping them out to "their" customers.

Originally Posted by Benjamin W

Thanks all for your input it is much appreciated.

I think will stick with Bote Cote, just testing the water so to speak!

Cheers,
Ben

Have used Bote Cote almost exclusively on Carmen, why? 'cause I live 10 minutes from the warehouse, secondly because it has a good margin of error, thirdly I'm told by an industrial chemist, the higher the ratio the more likely to develop a nasty and lastly, can't say I have ever had a problem with it.

There's a prize for being first but the biggest prize is for being right

There's no relationship between hardener/resin ratio and sensitive to epoxy. It's a complex subject and most chemists will simply offer an understandable reply, to questions with difficult to comprehend answers. Generally, the "basic" (very alkyd, ammonia like compound) employed in the hardener is the primary cause of sensitivity with goo.