?Painting question?

Paint gun question: 'tis the season to paint if you're in new york! I'm a weekend warrior so painting is a hobby to me and am no where near professional status. The last few times I've painted something, I've had a million tiny airbubbles that would show up as soon as I started wet sanding the clear. After toying around a bit, I still can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I assume I have something adjusted wrong (maybe paint flow or air pressure) I feel like my compressor is too week, so I turned it up a bit. Thanks for all insight!!!

 

What type of materials are you using?

 

It might be "solvent pop", which means your putting your coats on too soon. When you don't allow enough time for a middle coat to flash, it is still outgassing into the final coat, causing tiny little bubbles, or fisheye looking spots to appear.

 

and what type of gun, air pressure?

 

I use ppg base coat clear coat. I have to check the brand of gun but it was bought at an automotive paint store many years ago for apprx $300. I originally used 30-40 lbs but the cc something was too low so I brought it up to around 80 lbs. I try to give it 15 min but I get ansy and jump the gun by a min or two. Thnx again!

 

Do you have a moisture trap in place? Smaller compressors that are having to run harder create a lot of moisture. Just a thought to consider.

Drew

 

NY? What was the temp when painting? Was the thinner matched to temp? In colder conditions the flash time can be quite a bit longer with the wrong solvents, so if you failed to observe this, you have the classic case of solvent pop. With this extended time period, One coat isn't able to outgas all the solvents if it is covered over too soon by the next, sealing the first in. The bubbles are those solvents outgassing through the layer that sealed them in.

 

Temp, proper reducer, catalyst, dessicant inline dryer, etc. Double check everything, and as mentioned above, be sure you're not following up too quickly. I keep my inline dryer mounted on the gun, and change the filter before each use, unless it's soon after a previous use. Be sure your reducer is for the temp you're painting in.

 

It was summer so prob maybe 80's and prob a little muggy. I had one of those disposable moisture filters just before the gun. I wait 15 min on the nose but Put the layers on pretty thick. Thanks again, always no shortage of help on the forum!!