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Filling deck holes (for cable glands) with epoxy - 403 or 407 hardener?

1.3K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  pdqaltair  
#1 ·
Hey - I need to fill some holes in my deck to re-install deck glands and protect the core. This is not for structural hardware - just cables passing through and the holes for the mounting screws holding the glands in place.

I have a West Systems epoxy kit with 105 and 205 (it's still cold here in Denmark) and it also came with the 403 and 407 thickeners / fillers.

My plan is to follow most of the guides including
  • oversizing the holes
  • wetting the balsa core with unthickened epoxy
  • then filling with thickened epoxy.

But most guides recommend 406 thickener, which I do not have. For my applications is the 403 or 407 usable? As far as I understand the 403 is very strong and perhaps overkill - but that should still be ok, right? I presume the 407 is too soft (bondo like) - is it too weak for this application?

Second question - for the holes for the mounting screws (these do nto go through the inner skin of the deck) - we drilled them out to 3mm - can I fill them with un-thickened epoxy to help the epoxy fill the holes?
 
#2 ·
My first thought is as long as the thickener is compatible with the resin system, any one that approximates the hardness of the deck is fine. I could see issues with significantly more hardness in the filled holes than the surrounding deck, with differential flex it may crack and leak. Not sure if that’s a thing. You could do a test layup and see.
As for the ambient temperature and the small size of the repair, heat lamps or electric blankets can warm the surface just enough to cure the epoxy.
Boatworks today did a piece in this a while back.
 
#3 ·
What AWT2 said about the filler.

What's more important if you've not done this type of work in the cold, is the cold AMHIK. West epoxy in cold temperatures simply takes forever to cure, no matter how much filler you have; it will run all over the place. While AWT2's video above has some tricks, my suggestion is to simply wait- I've tried some of those tricks and it's still a challenge.
 
#4 ·
It is not too frigid - on work day the high will be 13C / 55F and afterwards the highs will be 16C / 70F - with our fast hardener - I am not worried about it curing.

My question was about best way to fill tiny holes - how to have the least viscous material so it fills the small holes best possible. I was thinking of using unthickened (and pre-warmed) epoxy so it flows better and fills the small 3mm holes better.
 
#8 ·
105 fast hardener is the right call, but it will still take a while to cure. 105 and heat lamps are what we use here in NC in the winter time. (our winter prob similar to your spring?)

403 is overkill but I would choose it over 407 for this. Tape the bottom of the hole if you have access to it. Use small paintbrush to prime the interior of the hole. Thicken the rest ... if you have the bottom taped it, I'd go with mayonaise consistency. if not you will need to go much thicker. Either way, air bubbles are you enemy so fill the hole and use chopsticks or similar to pack it in and get the air bubbles out. fill it till slightly proud of the surrounding surface.

for the screw holes, yes unthickened is fine. Drill out to 3mm, vacuum out the debris, pour it in, a little proud.
 
#10 ·
Obviously, you can get coliodal silica anywhere civilized. There is nothing special about 406 that makes it "compatible" with West Systems epoxy. This is true of all fillers. In fact, you can do quite well filling holes by chopping up glass cloth fine and using that. Done well, it is the strongest option.