Gelcoat nightmare

SB112 will take gelcoat.

[fiberglass jack]

if you are 77not sure if the gel is waxed or not here is what to do get a cup but make sure its not a waxed coffee type cup, fill it with acetone half way and with a stick dro in some of the gel dont stir let stand for a min and if its waxed the top of the acetone the surface will have a oil slik,, problem with alot of gel kits is the harder is expired and doesnt do the job some of those kits stay on the shelfs for years

[fiberglass jack]

and you can gel over epoxy i had a customer who repaired his canoe told me he used gelcoat to fill in the gouges and dings and just wanted me to spray a coat of gel and he would do the sanding and polishing himself, all the spots wouldnt cure where he had repaired, tuened out he had used epoxy gelcoat thats what the store sold him he even was told by them to use polyester pigment in the so called epoxy gelcoat, so make sur the store sells u the right materials

[jhutches]

I am in the same "boat" I was doing a patch and I wanted to cover it with gelcoat. I used the best materials, on my 25' Pursuit. I used OEM gelcoat, mixed with 25% patch boost, and 1.5% catalyst. I sprayed it on with a Preval sprayer.

Then I waited 30 minutes and covered it with PVA. It says to wait 4 to 6 hours and it should be cured. I waited overnight 12 hours. It is still tacky and not completly hard. The stuff left in the cup is hard but still tacky.

What did I do wrong? Not enought catalyst? Need to let it cure longer? Since the surface is still tacky can I apply more gelcoat over the top and use more catalyst this time? Or would this cause more problems?

This is getting frustrating.

Thanks,

Jerry