Repairs that improve with age??

[harrellbenjamin]

I am just going to put this out there .................I have had several times over the past year that I have had a difficult repair on a vehicle really give me fits as to a proper fill/repair and have at times spent long amounts of time (I use multiple Injectors for car-fleets lots) with leaving an Injector on a repair and cycling,flexing ,repeating until I just say "Thats all its going to be"and leave it at that.The next week through I always look for the vehicle and reinspect it.With out fail the repair always looks better than I left it????I work in a Southern high U/V area and sometimes its 60 in the AM and 90 at PM.Is it my imagination????? I use DK Ultrabond.Its in the 70's today but was in the 30-50's last week.Any thoughts????

[StarQuest]

Are you using a quality UV lamp to finish every repair or are you relying on the suns rays to UV cure?

[harrellbenjamin]

Because we have so much sun/U/V here on the Gulf Coast I must admit that I only use the lights(I have a Delta and a Safelight unit) when the sun is low or cloudy or repairing in the shade etc.Most of the time works great.I only notice the change on a combo etc with multiple legs etc.I think you may be on to something................Any advise or thoughts??

[Brent Deines]

Fully cured resin is closer to the refractive index than uncured resin, so if your resin is not completely cured when you leave it the first time, the looks will improve as it cures.

Many technicians believe that as soon as a surface cure is achieved the resin is fully cured, but that is simply not the case. That is why we recommend a full 5 minute cure even though the resin may appear to be cured after only a few seconds.

Also, most battery operated lights have far less intensity than 12V, 115V, or 230V lights, so you need to allow a longer cure time to achieve the same end result. While bright summer sunshine puts out all kinds of UV rays, the time of day, the time of year, and a variety of atmospheric conditions make the sun an inconsistent UV source at best. Unless you have a radiometer you are better off using a good light on each repair.

[StarQuest]

The reason I ask is because measured natural UV ouput (even down south) in the winter months is much less than what it provides in spring, summer and fall. Very possible that when you finish and walk away from repairs they're not fully cured yet. Try your lamp and see if that helps.

[harrellbenjamin]

That makes sense.........If the resin in the many legs I was tryin to fill had not cured fully yet the apperance would have not been as good cosmetically.I cover my repairs with a dark towell and on some use my fender protector over it after placing dark rag over injector while filling difficult breaks etc.No way for UV to reach repair until I am ready to cure.So when I know that I have good fill in all legs sometimes it still looked like they were not.At some angles looked great but refracted a glint at other angles ,thus my concern for fill.I would remove injector,place tab and cure.After resin cured on W/S and scraped it and it still was not cosmetically to my liking.After sitting I guess cure was now complete and the refractive quality of fill is now like it should have been.?? I think the answer is to use my U/V curing lights on problem repairs.

[jayjacque]

Not to put a damper on it, but one other thing that commonly happens is partial fills can show up from one angle but seem to disappear from another. If when you look at it again, especially if it's more overcast conditions, it might not show up much from the outside, but could still show up from the inside. I think that's true. Correct me if I'm wrong

[ChipRite]

Yes, as you get older and your glasses get thicker the repairs seem to come out with less noticeable marks than before!!
Jokes aside, as said earlier its most likely due to optical allusion. If you popped the mirror on and examined it closely it would most likely be the same as you left it.

[harrellbenjamin]

Originally Posted by ChipRite

Yes, as you get older and your glasses get thicker the repairs seem to come out with less noticeable marks than before!!
Jokes aside, as said earlier its most likely due to optical allusion. If you popped the mirror on and examined it closely it would most likely be the same as you left it.

Could you print bigger I cant read your reply LOL I think that what I experienced was resin not being fully cured.We have so much sun here that I forget at times that I should use my UV lights.I have been using them every time this past week and can see a difference.In most months no need as you will burn up with the U/V here.This time of year it seems to be important to use a light for curing even in the sunny south.I have noticed that the resin seems much harder when cured with light too.!! Good lesson learned............