Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ok started sanding today because I put to much dpoxy on and it ran down the sides and though the tear was shiny and pretty as my wife said. I had to sand them down and the tape edges to have that smooth finish and I found than on the seams on the side wall edges the tape had air pockets or cracks. Now I need to get an idea to fix it or best solution that I can live with. Any help is appreciated.
:
Cliff

About 10 yrs ago I built some 1 person fishing pontoons using solid styrofoam, fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin and I had the same problem. What I did was go to a farm supply store and get some small to medium syringes. Wherever it was puckered with an open end I sealed the opening with duct tape and injectected the resin in and wherever there was a pocket I injected resin in at the highest point of the air pocket. I have no idea if this is the correct or easiest way to fix this problem but it sure seems to work. After the epoxy cured I would sand down the bulge to what I figured looked acceptable and called it done. I still use the pontoons.

Depending on the size of the gaps, squeezing in resin can be a good way to go. If they are a good size, you might want to sand off the glass and fill with a fairing mix, then reglass it - a picture would help.

What I normally do with seams is to lay in some compound (mixed up from the same resin you're using), then put the tape down and wet it. 99% of the time, it can all be done in one step (if the gap is deep, you'll normally fill it in two steps, like mudding drywall). Putting the compound in first just gives the tape a smooth surface to lay on.

Thanks for the idea's guys I used a combination of ways. From Larry C who's posting diappeared?? I sanded off the biggest area down to the wood and, and put more epoxy and did the 6oz tape different and squeeged it and got it down and tight. Today checked it after I came home and it was beautiful to behold! I lightly sanded and did coat #2 . The other area had small holes in it so I sanded it more and used my turkey syringe(Walmart glass and metal) and injected epoxy into the holes and took some light cloth I had from another project and put it on top and wetted it out and squeeged it and today it looked more solid than the rest of the seam so thanks for the help guys!! Now onto more sanding tomorrow

Cliff

I am right behind you. i am sanding and getting ready to CPES my trailer. got a 1/4 inch nap roller from wally world and we shall see how that goes. little excited about doing the sides right now that scares me and then when that is done will glass the edges.

Forrest I used a roller made for epoxy from west marine and it still put to much on it. I read about the foam rollers and wijjuse them.

Cliff

You need to run the roller a bit in the pan just like a paint to get it evenly coated and not overloaded. Once you get the glass on, it takes multiple coats, can't be done in a thick one to get a nice finish. I use the throwaway plastic liners in a paint roller pan and they've worked great on 5 trailers and 2 boats and a lot of other projects. On glass cloth, I drizzle on the epoxy and use a squeegee to wet out the glass and work from 1 spot and then work it out, same thing on a tape. It's gotta get saturated. A roller will want to lift the cloth or tape if you're applying it dry. I've found that HD or Wally world rollers can break down and drop all sorts of crud in the epoxy...that foam isn't made for epoxy application. Doug

My first attempt at fiberglass tape is a disater. the epoxy i used was a set up epoxy lamenating from teh rot doctor. it was thick and i cut the 3 inch fiberglass tape to length and attempted to spread it with a squeege. did not work out for me. so i took the epoxy and then just spread it onto the seam of the roof and hope that it helps. i cant imagine it hurting with sealing the seam maybe the paint will still stick on it. this scared me and i that is justified i guess.

How exactly did it not work out for you ?
Can you provide a pic a pic or a link to the product you used ?
I'm happy to help you figure it out and there's others on here that I'm sure are even more experienced that I.

Depending on what your problem was, sometimes it can help to put the tape into a ziploc bag and dump in your mixed resin. That way, you can see how much resin it takes to wet out the cloth (tape) and still reuse the leftovers when you inevitably add too much resin (absolutely the most common mistake with epoxy).

Not to worry, you have done a good thing by working the epoxy into the seams. If they are bigger than 1/4", you might want to fill them anyway.

Pics are REALLY helpful (essential !) with layup issues.

There's lots of experience on this board that can get you back on track lickety-split.

As a disclaimer i have nothing against these products and do not feel that they contributed to my failure. USER ERROR! The idead of putting it in a bag sounds intresting. i looked at alot of boat building videos and though that would help.

Yeah, the bag makes it a whole lot easier to see how much resin it actually takes to wet out the cloth, plus you can knead it inside the bag to work the resin in really well. A hunk of 1" dowel as a rolling pin works well too.

Those two white patches in your layup are usually one of two things - either there wasn't enough resin to wet out the cloth (unlikely) or there's actually too much resin and the cloth floated on top rather than being sucked down tight to the substrate (plywood). The latter is a really common problem because it takes a bit to figure out how little resin one really needs and most of us tend to overbuild anyway. Unless it's just the filler over the screws...

You've got it sussed though: sand it down, a circular patch of cloth, a bit of resin and good as new.

I didn't recognize the epoxy itself but there are many different formulations from different manufacturers - I'm sure someone here has used that stuff.
Personally, I like Epiglass HT9000 for laminating because it's runny enough to make the wetout go a little quicker. For an adhesive, I use IF's Cold Cure set or just thicken the Epiglass to what I need - out of the jug I'd say it's a hair thinner than West 105. It also cures truly clear with no amber.

i want to apologize to Cliff for hijacking his thread.

Put the tape on by mixing the epoxy in a bag and then adding the tape kneading till wet then applied and spread by hand the tape. letting it cure and seeing how it goes. i did notice that the tape did not disappear like i have seen others do and on video. maybe a second application of epoxy after the first one cures.

Forrester no problem bud I've been on vacation back in TX this last week with limited internet accessability so didn't mind at all! Glad you found something that worked for you though!

Cliff

Can someone tell me the purpose of the tape.

I used 3" 6lb tape to take the edges and seams (still have to do the seams). I am thinking this is to make the seams watertight and not so much holding the pieces of plywood together. Am I off the fumes did get to me.

Thats why I'm doing it Forrester. I saw Starleen use it on the Green Lantern build and decided to do it on mine when I decided to paint and not due the Aluminium.

Cliff