FILCO film formers for spray-up and roving for mat
Hard film, fast styrene solubility, and compatibility across unsaturated polyester matrices. The family for spray-up roving and roving that goes to mat.
Hard film, fast styrene solubility, and compatibility across unsaturated polyester matrices. The family for spray-up roving and roving that goes to mat.
In spray-up the resin and the chopped roving meet at the gun and the laminate is rolled out by hand within minutes. The film former has to release into the styrene fast, because there is no maturation step to wait through. That single requirement is what separates this family from the SMC film formers, which are built for the opposite behavior.
COIM specifies three properties for the family: a hard film, quick solubility in styrene, and high compatibility with all types of unsaturated polyester matrices. The hard film is what survives the chopper and the creel without fuzzing.
Five grades are published. FILCO 354N is the bisphenolic reference at 47 percent solids, and it is the grade with the longest continuous history at P.A.T. Products. FILCO 350 and 5001 are the non bisphenolic options. FILCO 7703 and 5001 both carry a 72 degree F Tg for a harder film than 354N gives.
FILCO 361 is not a standalone sizing. At 30 percent solids and 350 nm it is an epoxy ester modifier, published for use with the other four. Specify it as a modifier and say what you are modifying.
It is also written as spray-up roving sizing, chopped roving film former, and glass fiber sizing film former.
| Property | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | Polyester and epoxy ester dispersions |
| Carrier | Water based emulsion |
| Solids content | 30 to 47 percent depending on grade |
| Average particle size | 350 to 800 nm depending on grade |
| Styrene solubility | Quick, the defining property of this family |
| Film character | Hard |
| Published grades | 5 |
| Matrix | Thermoset |
Typical values from the manufacturer's technical data sheet. They describe the product, they are not a specification. We will send the current TDS and the batch documentation your qualification needs.
Tell us the binder system, the property you are targeting, and the volume you expect. We will confirm the grade, send the documentation, and ship a sample from North American stock.
| Grade | Solids | Av. particle size | Tg | Main features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FILCO 354N | 47 percent | 450 nm | 55 degrees F | Bisphenolic, quick solubility in styrene |
| FILCO 350 | 45 percent | 800 nm | 63 degrees F | Unsaturated polyester, non bisphenolic |
| FILCO 7703 | 47 percent | 400 nm | 72 degrees F | Bisphenolic, harder film |
| FILCO 5001 | 46 percent | 400 nm | 72 degrees F | Unsaturated polyester, non bisphenolic, harder film |
| FILCO 361 | 30 percent | 350 nm | 63 degrees F | Epoxy ester, a modifier for the grades above rather than a standalone sizing |
Values are the manufacturer's published typical figures. Ask for the current technical data sheet on any grade and we will send it with the matching safety data sheet.
Chopper gun laminating for tanks, tubs, pools and marine hulls. Fast styrene solubility is what makes the laminate wet out at the roller.
The roving that gets chopped into mat, where strand integrity through the chopper decides the mat quality.
Compatibility across unsaturated polyester matrices, which is what a shop running several resins needs.
FILCO 354N, the bisphenolic reference grade.
It is specified where the formulation needs quick solubility in styrene, so the laminate wets out at the roller, hard film that survives the chopper and the creel, high compatibility across unsaturated polyester matrices, a non bisphenolic route in FILCO 350 and 5001, and an epoxy ester modifier in FILCO 361 for tuning the other four.
Applied at the forming line in a sizing bath, alongside the coupling agent, lubricant and antistat. The bath is what gets optimized, not the film former in isolation.
Harder film grades run 7703 and 5001 at a 72 degree F Tg. Choose against how much mechanical handling the strand takes between forming and use.
FILCO 361 is published as a modifier. Say which grade you are modifying and what you are trying to change, and we will take the ratio question to COIM's technical group.
Package sizes: Made to order in the pack size the line needs. Tell us the volume and we will confirm..
Storage: Store in the original sealed container, protected from frost and from direct sun. Freezing destroys a water based dispersion permanently. Confirm the shelf life on the current data sheet for your grade.
Read the safety data sheet before handling. We supply the current SDS with every grade.
Because of when the resin meets the fiber. In spray-up they meet at the gun and the laminate is rolled out within minutes, so the film has to release immediately or the strand will not wet out. In SMC the charge is compounded and matured first, so a film former that releases early lets the bundle disperse before the material flows.
It is a modifier, not a sizing on its own. COIM publishes it at 30 percent solids as an epoxy ester for use with the other four grades in this family. Tell us which grade you are running and what you want to change about the film.
FILCO 350 and FILCO 5001. Both are unsaturated polyester, and 5001 gives the harder film of the two at a 72 degree F Tg. 354N and 7703 are the bisphenolic grades.
Yes, and it is the grade in this family with the longest continuous history at P.A.T. Products. Tell us the volume and we will quote it with the lead time.
Yes. Tell us the process, the matrix resin and the fiber and we will send the current technical data sheet with the matching safety data sheet, and arrange sample material.
Yes. We send the Technical Data Sheet (TDS) and Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on request, in the manufacturer's current revision. Use Request TDS or SDS above and tell us what your qualification review needs.
The slow styrene solubility family, built the opposite way to this one.
Where flexibility through the loom is the specification.
The binder that holds the mat once the roving is chopped.
What a film former does in a sizing, and how the chemistries divide.
The selection logic, worked through on the carbon side.