What is ISO 9514 - Pot life of multi-component coating systems about?
ISO 9514 is an international standard on paints and varnishes which covers the determination of the pot life of multi-component coating systems and preparation and conditioning of samples and guidelines for testing.
ISO 9514 specifies a method, carried out under standard conditions, for preparing and storing a sample of a multicomponent coating system and subsequently assessing its pot-life by measuring a particular property/ies.
The method can be carried out either as a pass/fail test by determining the particular property/ies after a specified period of time, or as a determination of the pot life by repeating determinations at convenient intervals of time.
Note: ISO 9514 is not intended for in situ control of products during their application. It is intended to determine "pot life" in the laboratory.
Who is ISO 9514 - Pot life of multi-component coating systems for?
ISO 9514 on the pot life of multi-component coating systems is useful for: 
- Paints and varnishes manufacturers
- Coating system professionals
Why should you use ISO 9514 - Pot life of multi-component coating systems?
Pot life is the time from mixing the two packs together to the point at which the mixed paint is no longer useable. It is also known as the working time or useable life. Pot life is often thought of as the length of time that a mixed (catalysed) coating system retains a viscosity low enough to be applied to a surface.
The pot life is dependent on a variety of properties, depending on the reactive system involved. Because of this variety, the pot-life can only be specified with reference to a particular property. Guidance on the property/ies to be tested for various reactive systems is given in Annex A.
ISO 9514 specifies the conditions for preparing and storing a sample in order to assess the pot-life. These conditions are near to adiabatic so that they bear a close relationship to those which exist in practice, e.g. mixing fairly large volumes of liquid reactive systems for use. This can help you increase efficiency in your organization.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN ISO 9514:2019 supersedes BS EN ISO 9514:2005, which is withdrawn. BS EN ISO 9514:2019 includes some technical changes with respect to BS EN ISO 9514:2005. These are:
- Reference to "low temperature" coating systems have been deleted because they are not defined and it is not clear which systems are covered
- The description of the conditioning chamber (former 6.2) has been deleted
- The clause (former Clause 10) on precision has been deleted because no precision data on pot life determined by a specific test method are available
- Poly(vinyl butyrate) and alkyd melamines (acid-catalysed) have been deleted from Table A.1
- The text of the former notes to the principle have been moved to the new introduction
