open time vs pot life

[Andrew]

Hi, probably been asked before, but what's the difference? BAL single part flexi has an open time of 20 minutes but a pot life of 5 hours!

Does this mean I can mix up load, keep it in a bucket (covered?) and use it from the bucket for hours, but making sure that once it's on the wall I put a tile on it within 20 minutes?

Ta.

[royaloakcarpentry]

Open time is the time it takes the adhesive to form a skin on it once troweled out onto the wall. You will note it goes from being wet on the surface to being dry. Scrape off adhesive and disgard once it starts to dry on the wall. That is the asy gist of it anyway. I won't bore you with different tests they do every 5 minutes when awarding the adhesive its open time, claim to fame.

Pot life is the amount of time you should get in the bucket before it starts to go off. If it is going off, discard it.

No need to cover the bucket, as you shouldn't have any left after 5 hours work, lol. Just give it a stir now and again with your bucket trowel.

[Andrew]

Brilliant!

I would have thought a skim would have formed in the bucket as well if it does so on a wall in minutes, but I stand corrected!

[royaloakcarpentry]

You can indeed get a skin forming in the bucket, that is why you keep mixing it. Same for cement based or tubbed.