water resistant vs. water proof

[mark poulson]

I was rebuilding one of the earlier jointed swimbaits I made, because the twist wire hinge on the last section, a single hinge, was unscrewing.

After I unscrewed it completely, I drilled out the old 5 minute epoxy so I could reinstall the hinge.

I was surprised that, when I drilled out the old stuff, it seemed to be punky, almost like it was damp.

So I removed all of the twist wire joints, and the line tie, and drilled them all out, and it was the same thing.

I cleaned out the holes, let them dry out for a day, and then filled them with super glue, the runny Zap formula, to make whatever was left in there solid.

At that point, I installed screw eyes in place of the twist wires, again using 5 minute epoxy.

Of course, duh, it was only after I'd done all the hinges, and only had the eye tie left, that I read the label on the Devcon 5 minute epoxy box, and saw that it said "water resistant".

I immediately pulled down the D2T box, and it said "water proof".

So I used the D2T to install the line tie screw eye.

I always seal the baits with Minwax Polyacrylic after I've installed all the hinges, hook hangers, and ballast.

After I paint them, I topcoat with either D2T or Envirotex Lite, so, theoretically, they should be totally waterproof.

Now I haven't had any failures with the 5 minute-installed hardware, other than the single hinge unscrewing in this and one other lure, but it made me nervous.

Has anyone else had any bad experience with 5 minute epoxy absorbing water and failing?

[rjbass]

Mark,

I use 5 minute to secure all my line ties both twisted wire and screw eyes. However, They are installed previous to final clear coat of D2T which I usually put on at least two coats depending on what bait I am building. This application will seal all gaps and make it waterproof. Never had one fail.

Rod

[mark poulson]

Rod,

That's a relief. I don't want to have to redo all the lure's I've made with 5 minute.

I'll probably put a second coat of topcoat epoxy on the ones that only have one, just to play safe.

Thanks for the reassuring reply.

[mark berrisford]

some of the first lures i made where sealed with 5 minute epoxy(z-poxy) as it was all i had at the time and if it was left in a damp atmosphere it went soft and peeled off the lure

[mark poulson]

Bezyb,

Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

I should have figured something was up when I tried coating the insides of my swimbait joints with 5 minute, before I put Envirotex on the rest on the drying wheel, and the 5 minute peeled off. I just thought it was a bad seam between the two epoxies.

I'm going to stick with D2T for any joint coating in the future, as well as sealing.

[kelly]

Good info. Thank you. Never would think water resistant on 5 min.

[Vodkaman]

I use resin for my wire work, purely because I have a few tins of it in my kitchen (work shop). I'm pretty sure someone is going to come and tell me that it too is not water proof. Fortunately, I am not selling anything yet, so I don't have to do any recalls! I've done pull tests and the results were very good.

[rofish]

Some things are not going to be understood by my head.

If the experience Mark Poulson and others had with 5 min. epoxy was to be explained by the prolonged contact with water, then why does this not happen with the lips that you glue in with 5 min epoxy? Most makers seem to use 5 min. epoxy for the lips, which, in some cases, remains uncovered by Devcon 2T or other type of clear coat. So why aren't they any reports about lips falling off the lure, in case of using 5 min. epoxy?

Perhaps what happens with 5 min epoxy in some cases, is due to other things than water?

[Vodkaman]

Well there you go! I googled it myself and, sure enough, polyester resin is not water proof and is prone to the same problems. I've got 2 litres of this stuff left and I'll be glad when its gone.