The last two times I've tried to mix epoxy to repair/finish rods I've noticed that my ProKote Resin is getting thicker and thicker. It's borderline chunky. I can no longer suck it up into the syringe. It thins out a little bit when mixed with the hardener and a little more so when I put a heat gun to it. The finished product is decent enough, but it's tough to get all of the bubbles out. I never had this problem until I bought some of the "new formula". The hardener is still viscus and easy to work with. I still have half a bottle left and hate to waste it, anyone have any recommendations on how to thin it out? The bottle is probably only a year old, standard stuff purchased from Mudhole. I have all of my stuff in the basement, which is a little on the cool side. Thanks!

Try heating it in a microwave. I had a kit of the Riley Rods epoxy from years ago. I recently picked it up and found the resin was hardened. I threw it away. Before I trashed the bag, I got the thought of heating it in the microwave. I figured what did I have to lose since I already considered it trash. Turns out it turned back into a liquid and was usable. I mixed up a few batches and it worked fine. Just take it slow. I also slightly warm my finish epoxies in a microwave before mixing and found they mix better, flow better, and release bubbles better.

Ed,
Ditto.

Brief - is the key word to use with Resin in the microwave.

Brief as in 5-15 seconds.

It takes an extremely brief amount of time to heat the resin sufficiently to eliminate the problem.

Note:
After briefly heating the resin - I let it set for a couple of hours to come back to room temperature.

If one uses the resin when it is too warm, the pot life is extremely short and makes a perfect guide coating almost impossible.

Best wishes

I use a hair dryer. Epoxy resins have a tenancy to crystallize because of their purity. Warming it up will cause the crystals to melt. You can also use it as is, the heat generated while mixing will also melt the crystals. The epoxy will work just fine.
Norm

Jason,
I have bottles of ProKote and other finishes, some of which are well over 2 years old and have not experienced either the resin or hardener thickening or coagulating, and I live in hot LALA Land. While the remedies above MAY make your present product usable, why take the chance of spoiling all your time and effort of thread wrapping. Throw it away or at least request a replacement; any reputable dealer would, at least should, honor such.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

The thickening is due to cold, not heat! Heat in fact will thin it. Some brands are more susceptible to crystalizing then others, it can be corrected by heating it.

Mark, you are wrong, for a cheap SOB I’m completely surprised you would throw away something that is not broken. The epoxy is fine, the Resin has just crystallized, in other words it has changed from the liquid state to a solid state. This process is completely reversible, much like ice to water. I have brought back crystallized Resin with heat for well over 30 years with no epoxy failures. it will work just fine. It is just an attribute of epoxy resins, they can and will crystallize, and fortunately it is completely reversible
Norm

Phil and Norman,
OK, OK, I may need to stand corrected. But even “a cheap SOB” like me is not willing to risk the clean-up and having to redo wraps over a $10 - $20 bottle of finish. At this time of year, it is difficult for me to imagine anywhere in the US cold enough to crystallize resin, even though I live in LALA Land.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

I’ve been de-crystallizing (is this a word?) various types of resins for decades with never a bad result. I simply heat a small pan of water on the range to just below simmering and then immerse the closed resin bottles. You can watch as they magically become clear and liquid. Boat building and repair resins are very expensive. They are stored and used in large quantities. Throwing these products out for an over abundance of caution would be very expensive. I know guys who have built very nice wooden boats with de-crystallized resins and then used them to run the BC/Alaska passages. I once asked Andy Dear about this in regards to rod building. He was absolutely fine with immersion in sub-simmering water. It is an understatement to say that Andy knows rod building epoxies.

I fill a pot with hot water from the tap and sit both bottles, resin and hardener, in the water for 10 minutes or so before each use.
The resin often has the solids settle on the bottom and this often needs more attention to get it back to it's original state......I will roll the bottle and heat it again......repeat steps 1 and 2 as many times as necessary.

Much appreciated everyone. I'll heat it up (slowly)!