# Oil primer not drying?



## Tommy Plumb (Oct 7, 2006)

I primed a few exterior windows with Sherwin Williams A100 exterior oil based primer. One that I did about five days ago is pretty dry although I can still scrape it with my fingernail and it comes off like it's still a bit wet. The other four that I did two days ago I can still rub paint off of.

The can says 4-6 hours dry to the touch, 24 to recoat. It can be used down to 35 degrees but drying times will be extended below 50. It's been about 35 at night, 50 during the day. I can see it takeing a couple days to cure in this condition but not longer then that. What also gets me is the paint on the side of the can which has been stored inside isn't dry either. Did I likely get some bad paint?

If it was bad paint where does that leave me now? I have five windows painted in it that which aren't dry and are being rained on as I type this post. Do I have to somehow remove this now?


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## Darylh (Jan 2, 2006)

I would mix the hell out of a can and put it on a stick and bring it in the house for 24 hours. If its not real dry then its probably the primer. If you paint to late in the day then moisture will get into the primer and you end up with your problem, if you don't mix the primer or paint real well and use a stick to make sure there isn't any sticking to the walls or bottom of the can then drying may never happen.
If you try my suggestion and the stick dryies in the house then I would tarp off the window and get some heat in there. I had a problem simalar to yours but it was paint and it was by the ocean so we tarped off and got some heat going and it dryied in one day.


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## troubleseeker (Sep 25, 2006)

It's possible to have a can of old stock. Where did it come from, a paint store that moves a high volume of paint or a small operation with a very low turnover of stock.

But it sounds more like a climate situation here. I would thin the primer, as a heavy coat of full bodied material like this product is never going to dry well in your cool temperature. What ever marketing genius that convinced paint manufacturers to start making primers so thick should be shot. To be effective as a primer, the material has to be thin enough to soak into the wood, it should not look like a coat of white paint.


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