-Hey, this is Donnie Smith.
In this video, we're going to talk
about mixing epoxy primer because we're
going to mix up some epoxy primer
and put it on the project we've been working on.
Now first, I want to talk about epoxy primer just for a minute
because there's a lot of confusion, a lot of questions
I get asked about primers.
Now, epoxy primer is for metal.
It's for corrosion protection, and it also
helps with adhesion.
But it's not the only primer that you
can use for bare metal.
It's just one option, and some people
ask if they have to use both of them like that and self-etch,
and it's an either/or.
So both epoxy primer or self-etch primer,
self-etching primer, can be used on bare metal.
Both provide corrosion protection,
and both can be top-coated with primer surfacer.
For example, if we're doing body work in this area,
and we have some metal, well, you
don't want to put just regular primer surfacer,
2K primer on top that, because it does not have the corrosion
properties like epoxy or self-etch.
So how do you choose if you use self-etch or epoxy?
Well, really, that's just a preference,
whatever you prefer.
And here's what I think about it.
If you're a restoration shop, you're
probably using more epoxy.
If you're a high production shop,
you know, like a body shop that runs a lot of cars through,
you're probably using self-etch.
Now here's the reasoning behind that.
Epoxy is the only primer that you
can put body filler on top of.
You shouldn't apply body filler on top of self-etch primer
or primer surfacer, but epoxy it can be.
And myself, if I had a car, and I had it blasted or stripped
to metal, that would be the best thing, in my opinion,
is to put epoxy primer on top of that,
especially if you're going to be doing some body work.
That way, you seal it all off and prevent it
from rusting any, and then you can do your body work.
Now if I've got just a small area of metal here,
you know, I may not mix up epoxy.
Self-etch may be just fine.
And there are some 2K self-etch primers that are used too.
Even if this complete panel is bare metal,
they can go ahead and that on there.
So it's just kind of a preference.
In this video, I'm using epoxy, but I could have used self-etch
as well on the bare metal.
Some advantages of epoxy over self-etch
is epoxy is very friendly, user friendly, is
very compatible with other products.
You don't have to worry about anything lifting
like you might with self-etch primer.
So epoxy, you can lay it over just about anything, the body
work, sanded paint, metal, and you're going to be fine.
Self-etch, if put that over the different layers of paint
and everything, sometimes if you put that on too wet,
it's going to lift because self-etching primer has
acid in it.
So you need to be aware of that.
Some advantages of self-etching primer over a epoxy
is it's a little bit simpler.
There's no induction times with self-etching fetching primer.
And there is even a 1K product that works well
for corrosion protection, and it even comes in a spray can.
So if you have just a small area you're
wanting to apply such corrosion protection to,
that self-etching primer in a spray can may be the way to go.
Very simple.
What is my preference?
Well, this is what I like to do.
This is not the only way.
There are a lot of ways to do this.
If it's a bigger area, let's say bigger than a silver dollar
size, I'm going to go ahead and mix up some epoxy and use that.
If it's smaller than that, I'm just
going to get the spray can of self-etch primer
and hit it with that.
You know, before I seal or apply primer surfacer.
But rather than get too concerned about which one
you should use, I mean, they will both work fine.
Thing to remember is if you have bare steel,
don't just the primer surfacer on it.
Put one of those two.
There is one third option, and that's
DTM, Direct-to-Metal primer.
And what that is, it's a primer surfacer,
so you get your sandability with it.
But it also has some acid in it, which
acts like a self-etching primer.
DTM can be applied directly to steel
and then sanded just like a primer surface.
But in this video, we're going to show you
how to mix up some epoxy primer, and then we're
going to apply it to the project we're working on.
Once the epoxy is applied, then we're
going to put some primer surfacer on.
But first, let's get it mixed.
OK, we are going to go ahead and mix up
some epoxy primer for this particular job,
we're going to use Shopline.
And they way this mixes, you always
want to make sure you look at your procedure pages,
and they'll give you the product information
and see what the recommendations are.
Because on epoxies, a lot of times
there's an induction time.
On this particular product, if you look on here,
it says the induction time is 15 induction time period.
So you got to wait for 15 minutes
after they have been mixed together.
This is kind of like , if you think of it as they have
to kind of get to know each other a little bit before they
bond.
So if it's just epoxies.
There's not a lot of products that have that.
The mixing ratio on this, so what that means
is two parts of epoxy and we're going
to use one part of a hardener, a catalyst.
This happens to use 3770.
We don't need a whole lot of epoxy,
so we're just going to use a small mixing cup
and mix up a small amount.
And what the epoxy is for, it's for a couple reasons.
For corrosion resistance to prevent rust and things
like that, epoxy works real well for that.
And also it is real good for adhesion.
It sticks good to metal.
And on other things, the surface sticks good to the epoxy.
So it serves several purposes.
So I'm just going to go and mix up a little bit.
If you look on here, the ratios are on there for you.
So you find where it says 2 to 1 Right here's 2 to 1.
So you mix up however much you're needing.
So I'm going to mix up to 2 primer and then 2 catalyst.
On some of the cants, it will tell you 2 to 1.
It says it right here.
I've also seen some cans it doesn't say that.
So it's always a good idea to have your procedure pages
nearby where you can look at that.
They also tell you about how long
the flash time in between codes.
For this job, we're going to put on two coats of this.
And another thing about epoxy is it
has a 72-hour window that you can come back
and you can spray your base coat or your surfacer
or whatever you're putting on top of this.
You have 72 hours.
And like a lot of products, it's just
a 24 hour with a Shopline or PPG line, I don't know.
Some of the others may be a little bit different.
But you do, that's good with this.
See, it's not a lot.
Just enough to cover that one spot.
And I'll go ahead and mix this up.
And now, we have to let it sit for 15 minutes, that 15
minute conduction time.
I can say, this is usually just with the epoxy primers.
That you'll have to do that step and let it set.
So we'll let that sit for 15 minutes.
Put it in again, and we'll be ready to spray.
OK, we've mixed up our epoxy primer
and let it sit for 15 minutes.
And we're going to use the 3M cups and liners.
It works real well for this.
And we're going strain it.
And usually, whenever I'm straining my primers,
I use at least one strainer, sometimes I used two.
But usually with the Paint and Clears, I use two.
So I'm going to use strand with this.
Just pour it there.
The top sets on it, and also the way these are designed,
there's actually another strainer on here.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson on epoxy primer.
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