Topic: Need some Painting tips

[Johnny5]

Im finally in the stage of laying down some paint on my sidecovers and tank. I've been experimenting with painting the sidecovers before tackling the tank. Everything was prepped and looked good so I tried painting the sidecovers last night. It was 68 degrees in the basement, PPG urethane single stage paint, hardener and reducer all mixed to spec. 4:1:1  Air compressor set to 30. spraying done with a HVLP gun.

The first coat was a very light coat. Then the second a little thicker, and the third a heavier glassy coat with no runs. Looked great and called it a night. When I went down this morning to check it out, the paint was all foggy looking. When i first got the paint, I did a quick test on a helmet and it's really glossy a month later. So my mixing ratio should be good. I tried searching the net on the cause of this, but couldn't find my answer. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas. Thanks,

[dusterdude]

seems like you got moisture in the paint,could be a humidity issue

[grumpy]

yep. sounds like blushing due to moisture being trapped in the paint.
there's a fix for lacquers but I'm not sure how to fix it with urethane.

try googling blushing + urethane.

[springer]

did you let praint flash and get dull and then put clear on in if did not you will have to starts over again mack such you temp is above 70 your higher you could try and sand the paint down and reshoot it igood luck

[greenjeans]

Since it's a single stage, it doesn't need a clear...  It does sound like there is some moisture perhaps.  Do yo have a water filter on your paint gun ?
How long was the paint sitting after you originally opened and sprayed the helmet ?   It could be in the reducers - I've always heard to use fresh stuff....
That being said, I've used stuff that's been in my cabinet for over 6 months....

Before you strip anything down, let it sit a week (if you can) and try wet sanding with 1000-2000 and polish with some compound on a foam pad
You can find the foam pads at most automotive stores, I've always had good results with 3M's "perfect-it" compunds - also can be found at autoparts
stores and I've even seen it at walmart

If all else fails shoot an e-mail directly to PPG - they have a pretty good sized tech department.

[Johnny5]

Yep, no clear for single stage but since this is metallic silver, I cant really sand things out and then buff it afterwards.

I have an oil/water filter inline so I can rule that out.

I ended up wetsanding the sidecovers and giving it another go today. I dropped the air pressure down to 25 and what a difference 5 psi will do. The paint went on really well tonight and looks nice and deep. Time will tell when the paint dries. Bummer on one sidecover though, a little piece of fuzz fell off my shirt and yep, right on the wet paint. I'll wait until it dries, wet sand it out then reshoot that area.

Thanks for the suggestions. It looks like there's a lot of trial and error as Im finding out.

[hymodyne]

humidity??

hym

[Johnny5]

Paint looks good today, minus the fuzzy that landed in the wet paint.

I dont think humidity is an issue as it's winter here in Michigan and there's no moisture in the air.

[grumburg]

Definately blushing. Black is worst. Heavy coats are worst. Moisture rises through heavy coats and lays on top. Even 25 lbs pressure is kind of high, I use 18-22. I keep a cheap digital thermometer with a humidity gauge in my painting area. Anything over 60% humidity is risky. Allow as much flash time as possible on dark colors (10-15 minutes ) . More light coats are better than  several heavy ones.