New gelcoat got wet

After all the prep work and weeks of waiting for the right weather i decided to go ahead and spray my gelcoat on the top cap of the boat yesterday afternoon. The metalflake coats went on well and after 4 coats of clear i decided to call it a night. Apparently sometime overnight we had a small sprinkle come through so when i got up this morning and checked on the boat, i noticed it was wet. At first i thought everything was fine but when i wiped the water beads i noticed the gelcoat was kinda whitish under each bead. Will this dry out and go back to clear or is the job ruined? Any suggestions? http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/praying.gif

I'm not sure, can't help you there.
But I hope it dries out and clears up for you. That's a bummer.

If you had parrafin in the clear (if you used gelcoat) to seal the top coat to help it cure that may be what turned white?

Mark

did the gel or did you add pva to seal the surface. if water hits an unsealed surface ti turns it white. normally the gel comes with pva in ti but not always.

For all the clear top coats i mixed 50/50 clear gelcoat and duratec with 2 tsp mekp hardner per pint.

if there is no PVA then I would guess that you may have a problem. High Humidity will cloud paint. Hopefully the Duratec kept the clouded areas shallow enough that they can be wet sanded and buffed out. Good luck to you http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/praying.gif

I emailed fibreglast this morning and they recommended i try to wipe the areas down with acetone to soften the gelcoat enough for the water to evaporate. I have done this before with woodwork wiping retarder on after spraying in very humid conditions so it makes sense. I sure hope it works. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/praying.gif Otherwise it looks like i will be sanding and repraying starting with the metalflake coat. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/crying.gif

Please post some pics when you get done, thanks.

I will post some pics of the boat before, after the first spray job, and hopefully after i gets fixed.

http://xs-s.com/zf/images/smile/emthup.gif

I cant be sure without knowing specifics but from what i have seen alot of times this is from moisture in the lines while applying!!!!!!!!

with as much clear as you have on, if they do not come out by the above recommended methods, let it cure for a couple of weeks and wet sand with 600 or 800 grit and buff. Back when I used to paint cars for a living we would sometimes get moisture from the air turn clear chalky. If it only on the surface it will come out. If it is deeper, it may be more difficult

The white came out after a few days of sun and wiping it down with acetone. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/boardstuff2/beers.gif Now the problem i have is that the rain put some nasty craters in the clear. Im going to sand it lightly to get some high spots off and then hit it with a few more coats of clear to fill in the low spots and build it back up before i get to sanding the orange peel. Does this sound like a good plan? Any suggestions?