The Reaction Speed Temperature Rule
Summary: A quick glance at why high heat environments mean less working time for chemicals.
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Discord: King Bob
First off, this is a rule of thumb. It is proven useful and used in many labs day by day, which is why I want to bring it to your attention.
It states: For every 10K (=10 °C, 18 °F) of temperature increase, reaction speed squares.
What does this mean?
If the given dwell time of a product is 5 minutes at 20 °C but the panel/outside temp is 30 °C, you can take the square root of 5 (about 2.2 minutes) to get an idea of how long you should let this product dry on.
If it is 40 degrees you then need the 4th root of 5 (about 1.5 minutes) to get an approximate temp.
In the colder temperatures direction I would strongly advise against using this rule, so just because it’s colder you should still keep to manufacturer recommendations.
All in all this is just a suggestion, but if you work in high heat, reaction/dwell times are something to really watch out for.
It is much more important to understand this concept than to crunch the numbers (although I really recommend doing that a few times – squared values often shock people!). You should also be making sure your product does not dry on the paint unless explicitly told to do so on the instructions. This is another big issue in the heat.
