Sanded out the orange peel & craters and inevitably hit metal in a couple spots. I assume I should hit those spots with epoxy again. Never ending process! I think my pressure was too high (above 30) and material too high but when I pull back material, my fan gets substantially smaller. I’ll definitely pull back the material and just shoot the spots where I hit metal or uncovered filler. Will that be ok?
Giant craters
- Thread starter 50Shep
- Start date
I ran into some issues this weekend. Honestly, I think I'm going to go to just spotting in epoxy over bare metal areas and then using the basic 2K sealer.
I have been spraying SPI epoxy for what seems like 10 years now and I just cant get it to lay out without having issues now.
I have been spraying SPI epoxy for what seems like 10 years now and I just cant get it to lay out without having issues now.
dhutton01
Backyard Hack
crashtech
Combo Man & Mod
One thing about the white epoxy is it doesn't have 100% coverage in one coat. I think this encourages us to pile it on more than we otherwise would. With white it's also harder to see how it's going on, which also encourages over-application. My eyes are certainly not what they once were...
I learned the 1.5 coat technique from using Standox Non-Stop sealer, and it works really well for epoxy, strangely enough. I do it now whether the epoxy is reduced or not.
I learned the 1.5 coat technique from using Standox Non-Stop sealer, and it works really well for epoxy, strangely enough. I do it now whether the epoxy is reduced or not.
JimKueneman
Mopar Nut
I was struggling with that and white recently too. Here is my recipe.
Trick to not get craters in white epoxy is long induction times and spray back a bit more than normal. Also don’t worry if it looks like it is not covering. It is interesting but when you go back after 30 minutes it is more opaque than when you shot it. The hard part is not slowing down because it is “not covering”. That is where I was getting into trouble. Shoot it like normal then walk away. It is WAY easy to shoot the white too heavy thinking it should cover better. Be patient and it will once it flashes.
Or more simply, what crash said!
Trick to not get craters in white epoxy is long induction times and spray back a bit more than normal. Also don’t worry if it looks like it is not covering. It is interesting but when you go back after 30 minutes it is more opaque than when you shot it. The hard part is not slowing down because it is “not covering”. That is where I was getting into trouble. Shoot it like normal then walk away. It is WAY easy to shoot the white too heavy thinking it should cover better. Be patient and it will once it flashes.
Or more simply, what crash said!
I've had others do the same OJ, usually the ones with very high solids. First two coats I go pretty light. I don't go too heavy even on third and fourth. But I have no problem with four or five coats + for blocking.
So last night while painting a snowmobile. I went back to reducing 1:1:1 for sealer. I think I was only reducing like 20%... Anyhow. I put the te10 cap on my prolite and it went in extremely smooth. I was pleasantly surprised! I thought the 10 cap may have caused an issue with the bigger droplet, but I wanted to try it for a long time. And on these bs project is where I'll experiment!
I’m not familiar with that gun. What size tip is that? I have the 3m performance. I haven’t tried spray reduced epoxy yet but been using 1.4 for unreduced.
BoostedOne
New Member
FWIW, if you do run into this again, don't freak out and throw in the towel for the day with plans of sanding it all down tomorrow. As was mentioned it usually happens on the first coat, and its from putting it on too heavy.
I have found that when it does happen to me, if I let it flash some, I can hit it with more material somewhat lightly and it will smooth out just fine. I will basically pull the gun trigger just before the point of flowing material, and then lightly spray material onto the surface and see what happens, adding material as needed. My guess is that the new material interacts with first coat that is partially flashed and it loosens it up a little and allows it to level out, if that makes any sense..
I have found that when it does happen to me, if I let it flash some, I can hit it with more material somewhat lightly and it will smooth out just fine. I will basically pull the gun trigger just before the point of flowing material, and then lightly spray material onto the surface and see what happens, adding material as needed. My guess is that the new material interacts with first coat that is partially flashed and it loosens it up a little and allows it to level out, if that makes any sense..
If you add a little reducer to get it to lay a little smoother, can you still do two coats in about 30 minutes? Does the recoat window get shortened?
I ask because the tech manual says only one coat if reduced to use as a sealer, but if I'm not using it as a sealer, I'm thinking about just trying to get a little less peel in my 2 coats.
Another question, to reduce 10% is that adding 10% of the total volume of the epoxy and activator, or 10% of the epoxy?
Tech manual paragraph: "To use as a Paint Sealer: To use this epoxy as a paint sealer, mix it 1:1 with activator and reduce 10-50% with the proper temperature range urethane reducer (this is very important), induce for 30 minutes and spray with your base/clear gun. Spray one wet coat ONLY, let it sit 2 hours then apply paint. For sealing of a potential problem paint job, apply two coats of epoxy with proper flash times between coats and let it sit overnight before painting. You may basecoat over Epoxy Primer reduced as a sealer from 2-48 hours without sanding. After 48 hours scuff with a gray scuff pad or equivalent first."
Jim C
Oldtimer
reduced or unreduced you can do your second coat in 30 min to prob 24hrs. its not that critical as epoxy is very slow curing. just dont hammer the stuff on. heavy or thick coats is a bigger issue with the epoxy. med coats and longer flash times are your friend
10% would be total amount but again its not super critical. just reduce it whatever amount you want up to 1:1:1
10% would be total amount but again its not super critical. just reduce it whatever amount you want up to 1:1:1
I'm using black now, haven't had a craters with it, but it hasn't been laying as nice as I want. I took about a 6 year break, and it's odd that the shell of the car I primed in white even longer ago than that, is beautiful, almost no peel.
Right now I'm doing the fenders. I guess I've forgotten how to spray because even the black isn't laying as nice for me now. It's not bad by any means, but I'd like it flatter as I don't plan on using any 2K, and whenever I sand the peel out, I tend to break through somewhere.