Paint problems

He is using shopline which would be comparable to Nason. It is ppg's lower line of paint. It used to be called Omni.

 

Well, all I can say is you get what you pay for.

 

well Skrayp, The compressor is about 8 months old and is not a cheapy. As far as sanding the basecoat, that opens up a whole new can of worms, so I will look into it before making anymore comment on it. I was told by a person whomm I assumed was telling me gospel that if you leave the base coat sit for more than a couple of days, you had to wet sand it to gain proper adhesion.....chock up another reason to be suspicious of the particular store that is supplying me paint....Time to change retail outlets

 

I think its more like 16 hours before you need to scuff it, and you should put one more coat on it before clear. You can sand basecoat, but you should only need to nib sand the dirt specs,(with a piece of 1200 on the end of your finger) not the whole paintjob...unless it was way too dry. Not trying to be a dick, but cheap black basecoat isn't gonna be perfect. And cheap clear is a crap shoot as well. I remember PPG 9700 base always looking kind of brownish in certain light(DBC 863 was a little better). We used to have a hard time with color matching white because the clear would turn it yellow.

My personal preference, if you want a deep,dark black....is DuPont G9900S Super Jet Black, with Chroma Premier 72500 Clear. It is expensive, though. I'm not trying to be a nutswinger for DuPont, but it seems like every time I look on here and someone is having paint problems, its because they're spraying something from PPG. I used to use it about 10 years ago, until everybody in town switched to the Chroma Premier system. Haven't looked back since. Whatever is happening I hope you get it worked out.

 

These paint problems always drag out alot of opinions- and here's mine, too.

Most any decent Modern Urethane Basecoat/Clearcoat paint system should work for the hobbyist, and produce very nice results. The chemistry used to make this stuff, compared to the old laquers/enamel technology, is pretty much amazing.

As far as Dupont/Nason vs. DBC/Omni, etc.....The majority of the additional cost of the top tier products come from their ease of use, quick drying time, color matching, repairability-- all things focused toward efficiency in a high-production collision repair environment. In general, THE MOST expensive clears are High-Solids (require only one to two coats), and are superproductive (can be fully dry in a bake booth in two hours). You don't need any of that stuff.

Yes, overall, the more expensive products are going to be more forgiving to use.
.........but honestly, most of the time when you hear someone complaining about "cheap shit!" or "Damn Chinese!" in their garage environment- it's because of some misstep in paint preparation process or mixing of the product.

As far as the problem you're having-
In general, oil or any other silicone based contaminants on the paint surface will produce "fisheyeing"...It's pretty exaggerated, and you'll know immediately when you see it. Water will always produce little "splats" in the paint as it is spit out through the spray gun. The less expensive basecoats may blush a little bit if you are rushing them between coats, or spraying them too wet- particularly in a humid environment. None of these sound like what you're experiencing...

I know that wax & grease remover (Prep-Sol, Precleaner), which incidentally does contain a tiny percentage of "oil", produces the effect that you've described when it is drying on a paint surface (Prismatic- like a rainbow).
As a matter of fact, I remember seeing it the most when watching precleaner drying over black basecoat- weird.

You should definitely search for oil in your air lines- sounds like the most logical first step. At least open the petcock on the bottom of the tank and let it drain- whetever comes out should tell you alot about what is being pumped into your airlines.
You should definitely have a dryer inline- or a "U" in the hard lines that allows moisture/oil to settle at the bottom and be drained out.

Also- Check your Basecoat thinner/reducer. I know that the cheaper "clean-up" laquer thinners have a pretty decent level of contaminants (oil, etc) in them. Using something like that for a basecoat reducer could really produce some problems.
....Enamel reducer is almost like kerosene. If you have a funky batch of basecoat reducer, or maybe picked up the wrong product- this could be a problem.

 

This is the statement I say is wrong. If you get excessive amounts of trash in your basecoat, or runs or orange peel or whatever, the only fix I choose is to sand and reshoot. I've never worried or had adhesion problems on any base I've sanded.

Also, PPG DBU basecoats,if solid color or(pastel) can be sanded between and before clear is applied. Some of thier tech sheets may not recommend this but they have to advise what works in the most instances. Iv'e learned from trial and error since the DITZLER days back in 1965. We did base/clear jobs with laquers, Enamels, and other single stage systems before they came up with factory produced base/clear systems.

Sorry, this doesn't help the OP's original problem.

 

Well guys, it is obvious that I have really stirred up something here, no pun intended. I thank all for the help, as far as the comments that "you get what you pay for"etc. I will say that I have payed dearly for this paint. While it is donated, it is going on a Public safety/community service project that I have spent alot of time, money, effort and research into. PPG shares my vision, and Dupont told me to take a hike. So I have what I have, and I will make it work. Some of you guys have seen the 1/2 scale fire truck that I am building and know exactly what I am talking about. Skrayp, Dupont was very discouraging when approached about this, so they are not even gonna get an opportunity to be a part of it any more. I admit, DBC or Deltron would have been a better choice for what we are doing, but on this part of the project, I had a budget and had to stick to it. Somewhere between the basecoat and the clearcoat, flames will be added. I will post pics on my website when it is done, good or bad.