Resin Odor is Making Me Sick

[fasttalker]

I did wsr back in the mid 90's and never had a problem with the resin odor.
Today, I purchased a slightly used Delta wsr kit with the premium bond resin.
When I got it home, I noticed a strong odor from the foam inside the case and after a few minutes, I began to get sick. My scalp and skin began to tingle, I got sick to my stomach and I got a bad headache.
Has anyone else had a reaction like this to the odor of the premium bond resin? Is there another resin that does not have an odor to it?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[StarQuest]

I personally have always kept my resins sealed when not using them.

The only time I remember being bothered by them was the work day following my 50th birthday celebration. Not sure if this counts though....because everything gave me a headache that day!

[fasttalker]

The resin bottles are sealed, it just smells like someone spilled some resin on the foam insert in the toolbox. The smell is very strong when the toolbox is opened.

[Wade]

First things first. You need to get to a well ventilated area and move the kit to a garage or well ventilated area as well. (Not the same area as you.) Open windows, etc. and vent the area effected by the odor.

Premium Bond has a stronger odor then Delta Kits Magnibond and many people choose to use Magnibond for just that reason. Both resins give great results. Magnibond is our the resin of choice when we have training classes here in Eugene and perform countless repairs in a class room setting.

[SGT]

I have heard that resins with a high acid contents could produce skin iritations, headaches etc.. I do not think that Premium Bond falls into the high acid content though. Surely Brent can answer that better.

In the years that I used Premium Bond I fortunately never had any skin issues. I did get an ocassional headache from the oder and the smell permiated my cloths. Certainly not severe enough to stop using the resin compared to the results we were getting. I did eventually switch to Mag Bond but not do to those reasons, but it does have a lower acid content if that is what you need.

Hope they did not throw snake oil in the bottles in the kit you bought!!!!

[StarQuest]

The resin bottles are sealed, it just smells like someone spilled some resin on the foam insert in the toolbox. The smell is very strong when the toolbox is opened.

Simple fix! Just clean out old tool box and add new foam inserts. Sounds like what you bought has never been cleaned and is saturated with resin spillage.

That would definately cause some vapor problems.

[fasttalker]

I just cleaned out the box and have it sitting outside (without the equipment) in the 20 degree weather. The bridge and injector are clean, but the foam is smelly.
The kit included a pack of magnibond single shots, so I sacrificed one to see what the smell was like. The odor from the mag bond wasn't nearly as bad, so I will try that instead of the premium. I was just curious to see if anyone else ever had a reaction to the smell of the premium bond.
Thanks for all the replies.

[Brent Deines]

Fasttalker,

I think that everyone who answered your post so far was right on track. There are some resins that have very little odor, but you sacrifice a bit of bonding strength and other important characteristics as a trade off. Without a doubt Premium Bond has a distinctive odor, as do all acrylic acid based resins, and it does have a higher acrylic acid content than MagniBond, which as Wade said is what we now put in all kits and use in all of our training classes. I can't really tell the difference in performance, but in laboratory testing the MagniBond performs slightly better than Premium Bond. I had intended to discontinue Premium Bond altogether, but we have some very loyal users that would probably behead me.

When used properly in a well ventilated area or outdoors we have heard very few complaints about the odor of any of our resin products, but I have seen how many people care for their equipment I would agree with you that resin has probably been spilled in the tool box and soaked up by the foam.

Even household cleaners like ammonia or acid containing bowl cleansers will make you very sick if you have a high concentrate of fumes, and windshield repair resins are no different.

You may be able to get away with replacing the foam or you may find that you need to replace the entire box but I think once you get the box cleaned up you will not have any more problems as long as you follow recommended resin handling procedures.

On the other hand, some people are more sensitive to chemicals than others, and some resins do contain more acrylic acid than others. There are a few resins still on the market that are very harsh and once someone has had a reaction to one of those they often find it difficult to work with anything containing acrylic acid, no matter how minimal the content.

There is absolutely no downside to using MagniBond resin so I would try that first. It's unlikely, but if you continue to have problems I would be happy to send you a sample of our Acrylic Acid Free resin. We don't push it because it does not perform as well in laboratory testing as MagniBond, but it does perform as well or better than many other windshield repair resin products on the market, and so far those that have purchased it have been extremely happy. In fact, without seeing the lab reports I don't think most people would notice a difference in performance when compared to acrylic acid based resins. It does still have an odor, but it is extremely safe to work with.

In the interest of fairness I will mention that there are a number of other windshield repair suppliers that sell acrylic acid free resin products. I cannot vouch for the quality, but as long as you are comfortable with the MSDS (which should always be provided), and the spec sheets that the supplier furnishes, there is certainly no harm in trying other brands. Most of the members of this forum have experimented with many resins, some choosing Delta Kits, and some choosing others.

First things first though, you need to take care of that box. Delta Kits does have replacement foam if that is all you need.

[fasttalker]

Brent,

Thanks for your reply.

I will see what the box smells like after a night out in the open air. If it still smells, I will contact Delta for some new foam inserts. I will also be trying the magnibond resin. I think that once I'm out in the open doing repairs, I will have no more problems with fumes. If I do, I'll try a disposable respirator. One way or another, I'll get past the fumes.

[grouselab]

Tell you the truth, I love the smell of the Premuim Bond!!