I am half way through a mini restore on my van and painted it last week with 2k (air fed mask). Bottom half was great and top half was pretty good but not 100% as I sprayed the doors whilst off the van. Anyway I thought I would never be happy with it so flatted top half back with 600 grit then panel wiped and tack cloth over. Just started spraying and getting massive reaction on the paint. Looks like instant mega orange peel. Any one know what I have done wrong? Wish I could have just been happy with 95% but too late now. Any advice would be great. Picture below showing reaction and before photo!
This is not just your standard orange peel. The photo does not do it justice. Its almost looks like it is trying blob up like I just painted over oil or something. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Orange peel effect finish is normally too cold or damp. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that the panel wipe has caused a reaction but it could well be the cloth you used (if it has been used for something else in the past or been near some silicon) could be the issue. In addition it could also be that the hardener has activated the previous paint underneath after soaking into it. You may have to bare metal it and start again if the previous paint keeps reacting .
Flakey, I definitely had the correct mix but would this represent too low or to high pressure? I have to say I did not check it.
Panel wipe shouldnt do any harm as long as the panel was dry before you started spraying. You didnt use a bit of rag that had polish or something on it by mistake did you? Other possibilities are contamination from the compressor if its a small one working too hard. Low pressure would cause probs, but I would have thought you would notice it when spraying. It does look like contamination to be honest. Could you have mixed up your 2k thinners with standard thinners / gun wash or similar?
I used brand new cloth for cleaning so no contamination there. The compressor is new but sprayed perfectly last weekend. I am thinking pressure may be the cause but will check. I normally set to around 20 at the gun? Luckily I have only sprayed about 1m square on the roof before I thought it was going pear shaped. May be a stupid question but I don't need to do some sort of prep coat to get 2k to paint over 2k?
No need to do any prep other than flatting it back with 600g wet. (or 400 on a DA) You will need to do the first coat very lightly, and wait till its tacky before putting on the second coat. It might be an idea to try a small patch somewhere thats easy to rectify if it goes tits up again..
It looks more like a gun set up issue, paint is coming out in blobs, if you've cleaned the gun out thoroughly after last week's spraying you'll have changed the settings and need to get it right on a scrap panel first. Every time you paint there'll be slight differences,
I was up early. Flatted again and panel wiped using different (old t shirt) cloth set the air pressure to 24 at gun and tried again. This time I am fairly happy. Bit of orange peel but not the reaction/effect as yesterday. I am not sure if it was the rag that was contaminated. It was a brand new microfibres cloth. But wonder if they may come impregnated with some sort of wax or polish. Other than that it could be the air pressure. Or maybe Just luck! Thanks for all the advice. I am new to this painting thing so when something like this happens you think the worst. When really you just have to check the basics.
Agreed with previous people. The spray pattern looks off to me. Make sure you completely tear down the gun and clean everything out very well. You may need to use paint remover as solid 2k in a gun is a nightmare. A 2K reaction is horrible. Normally you get wrinkling and it is a pain in the ass to fix. I like to spray with lots of thinner as it is easier to get a gloss off the gun and you can spray with lower pressure, but you have to be much more careful for runs.
