Heat is The Perfect Solution for the Epoxy Curing Process

You're trying to wrap up a project, but unfortunately, the epoxy isn't drying as quickly as you'd like it to. All the while, you realize that time is money, and the longer your epoxy takes to dry, the more money you may lose.

The cure for curing your epoxy? One word: heat.

Still, it's not enough to simply have heat. For the fast curing of epoxy resin, it's critical that you use evenly distributed heat.

Why?

Because heat curing epoxy resin in an even manner will yield maximum results during the chemical transformation process.

Here's a rundown on how to use heat effectively during the epoxy curing process.

Let's get started!

Why Even Distribution of Heat is Important for Epoxy Curing 

It is important for the heat you use during the epoxy curing process to be evenly distributed at all times, but especially during a phase called post curing. That's because in this phase, temperatures are supposed to remain above 212 degrees Fahrenheit/ 100 degrees Celsius for a minimum of four hours.

Keeping temperatures this high for a few hours will help to make sure that the moisture in your epoxy resin evaporates away. This will result in hardened, watertight epoxy that you can start using.

It's not possible to achieve this result if you cure just a portion ofyour epoxy resin. If you only partially cure your resin, you'll end up with a melting, gooey resin featuring some hardened sections of epoxy in it.

This product cannot be used. As a result, you'll end up having to toss it. In other words, not heat curing epoxy resin evenly will cost you energy, time, and money.

Why Heat Trace Tape Won't Work for Curing Epoxy Resin Evenly

A common heating method is called localized heat, or heat trace. With this method, heat trace tape is positioned on the material you're wanting to heat up. However, only the part of the material that touches the heat trace will get hot.

As a result, this method is not helpful if you want to heat a material's entire surface to a specific temperature. Rather than having an evenly heated material, you'll have a material with both cold and hot spots.

Uneven epoxy curing can have a variety of negative consequences. These include yellowing and discoloration, as well as color variation.

If your epoxy isn't heat cured evenly, you may also notice some blushing or an uneven gloss in the epoxy. In addition, the inter-coat adhesion may end up being poor.

Heat Curing Epoxy Resin is Similar to Baking a Cake

To make the heat curing process even easier to understand, let's look at the example of a cake.

If you want to enjoy a fresh homemade cake for an upcoming birthday party, it's critical that you bake the cake evenly. After all, who wants to eat a burnt or partly uncooked piece of cake?

Let's say that you applied heat to a small section of the cake. Yes, that small section of batter would transform into a piece of cake. However, the rest of the mix wouldn't be cooked, so batter would surround your baked cake section.

Unfortunately, your new cake won't be very appetizing. In fact, eating it may not even be sanitary.

You could try to apply heat to the rest of the batter with heat trace tape, and it would all cook over time. However, you'd likely end up with burnt and black sections where you placed the tape. In other words, you'd end up with a not-so-tasty birthday treat.

Another option is to use a blow torch to cook your batter. The problem with this type of heat source is that even though it would cover your cake, it isn't reliable. That's because an open flame cannot spread heat in an even and consistent way or help you to maintain a specific temperature.

Yet another option is to cook your cake with an oven.

Ovens do offer the benefit of providing even heat distribution during the baking process. However, the problem with ovens is that they can be costly to purchase and maintain. In addition, they are not portable.

In the same way, when you're dealing with epoxy, you can't expect to get the results you want from heat trace tape, a blow torch, or an epoxy oven. Your best bet is to use a device that will ensure even heat distribution during the curing process: aheating blanket.

Why Heating Blankets? 

Heating blankets are excellent at ensuring the uniform distribution of temperatures on material surfaces. On top of this, they preserve costly materials without burning or scorching.

Another major benefit of high-quality heating blankets is that they save on your utility bills with their built-in efficiency. In addition, they are durable. 

Consider getting a blanket featuring a digital controller for accurate temperature adjustment. Note that the digital temperature controller also has a display that shows both the current temperature and the desired temperature.

Alternatively, you may want to get a blanket with a bimetal limiter instead of a digital controller.

The limiter heats up to a desired temperature -- in your case, the temperature that fits the optimal curing temperature -- and then stays there. This helps you to achieve the right curing temperature and prevents you from using the wrong temperature setting.

How We Can Help with the Fast Curing of Epoxy Resin

We at HeatXperts offer top-of-the-line heating blankets that can help you to speed up the epoxy curing process. 

We stand out in the industry in that we offer bespoke manufacturing with our heating blankets. This means you can get the blanket that best fits your needs when it comes to heat curing epoxy resin. After all, we realize that every customer has their own setup-related needs, and sizing is critical.

Simply let us know what your unique requirements are, we'll gladly send you a quote. 

Customers love our blankets not only because they are fully customized but also because they are high quality and thus dependable for various epoxy curing applications. We are experts in epoxy curing, so we're serious about delivering solutions that consistently meet our customers' needs.

Get in touch with us today to learn more about how our custom heating blankets can help you to experience the fast curing of epoxy resin time and time again.