Long Pot/Working Life Combined with Low Exotherm

The pot life for two part epoxy systems is the amount of time available to apply the product after both components have been mixed together. It can be anywhere from minutes to hours depending on the formulation. It is very difficult to work with a mixed system beyond its pot life, as the system gels and starts to harden at that point. The pot life depends on the amount of material mixed and the temperature of the system. It considerably decreases with an increase in temperature; therefore, open time is much shorter at higher temperatures.

In many applications, a long pot life is desired due to application requirements. Some of the applications where a long pot life is necessary include large potting applications and coating or bonding very large surface areas. In such cases, a long open time is prefered to make the application process easier. Another important factor to be considered especially in potting, encapsulation and casting applications is the exotherm, or evolution of heat, involved in the curing reaction.

Master Bond formulates various epoxies with different chemistries that offer a long pot life (ranging from an hour to 24 hours) coupled with low exotherm properties. These products help to avoid excessive heat build up and damage to thermally sensitive components.