tons of instant bubbles when spraying single stage paint

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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2015 7:52 am
This is a tough one.... Let me make sure I have all of the details straight....

    1. You have tried using 2 different guns. Are they both from HF? Have they been cleaned with brushes and lacquer thinner?
    2. The brand of paint is Summit. Are you using a clear coat or just single stage urethane paint?
    3. The primer doesn't seem to have the same issue? The primer is epoxy made by Summit also?

If you are still using the same lacquer thinner, I would junk it and use fresh thinner.

Since your hose was contaminated from the line being hooked up wrong, I would buy a new air hose and use it only for shooting paint. Save the other one for air tools. You can get a decent Goodyear brand hose from HF for $20. I usually use the "red" 25 foot hoses the local tool store sells. Having a shorter 25' hose also helps not having it tangle up or lug the hose around the car.

This time:
When you clean the gun, let the lacquer thinner sit in the cup 30 mins or so. It will help loosen anything that is really stuck to the sides of the cup and down through the fluid passage.
After the gun has sat with thinner, break it back down and clean all of the parts with a gun brush and new lacquer thinner. I usually do this over a mixing cup so I can swish the parts around in the cleaner and let them soak while I'm brushing each part.
Lay out a shop towel and set the parts on the towel while you are cleaning the gun body. Wipe everything down again with a new dry shop towel.
Assemble the gun and shoot lacquer thinner through it to see how it is spraying and remove any stray residue that might have been stuck in the passages.

Now load your paint into the gun and see if you still see the fish eyes forming on the sides of the cup. If you don't get any fish eyes in the cup, try spraying a test panel that has been prepped and cleaned with wax and grease remover. If you don't have any problems, try shooting another panel or your project and see if the problem is fixed. ;)

Also, when you are switching materials or getting ready to clean the gun, it helps to percolate some thinner through the gun to flush it out.
How to percolate clean a spray gun:



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 9:59 pm
i did more tests today with turbine and other guns on a test panel. i also switched out the hardner for the summit single stage paint and the same thing only with their paint.

before i shook the can there is a brown bubbly oil slick on top of the paint so im assuming thats my contamination.

mixed up summits primer and eastwoods epoxy and shot through the same setups/piece and not one fisheye.

i told them this info but am assuming all the blame is going to be on me. not sure what the heck i could have done, the paints with lids sit on a high shelf for mixing and with my rubber gloves, filters, etc.

i am preparing the panels, etc. out of the plastic walled booth area and like i said haven't had an issue with any material as far as fisheyes.

i guess this is one of the reasons you don't buy paint online, i don't expect they will replace or give me my money back. they also said they didn't have any other bad gallons from my batch.

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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 12:10 am
Buy some decent paint.
1968 Coronet R/T


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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 3:57 am
Sounds like you have found the culprit.

My boss was telling me about an experience he had with some Martin Senor (guess that's how you spell it) paint... he was having a fish eye problem also, after spraying the car twice he figured it must be the paint, switched to a different brand and had no problems on third try.

Personally, I have had no problems with Summit paint, done 3 cars with it, including my pride and joy... they refuse to ship to VA now, so I can't use it anymore.

Sorry you had problems with it. I would complain about it, maybe send the rest back and try to get my money back if it turns out to be the culprit.

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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2015 5:25 am
It sounds like you have it narrowed down to the paint... I'm glad it wasn't those silicone filled Harbor Freight guns. ;)

Was the material purchased and shipped during freezing weather?
I have had materials arrive in not so fine of shape after being shipped through cold climates.
Its possible the paint separated or had some type of reaction from poor shipping or storage.
Did you notice any rust around the lid or on the insides of the can? I have some cans that will actually corrode inside, if I don't store them in a heated den in my house.



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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 2:15 am
**** i guess im in over my head. i was bummed out waiting around so went to the local dealer and got some real paint system mixed, single stage white.

i sprayed my prepped panel, and a piece of test metal that i put the summit primer and eastwood epoxy on. never had a hint of trouble with these products. on purpose i did not do anything to this panel except tack before spraying.

had the same problem on every piece :(

for fun after the first coat was tacking up i took a dropper and tried to drop paint onto the bigger holes i could see primer through. there seemed to be bubbles in the paint as i layed each spot down and i went outside for a couple hours. those areas ended up running on the panel and the same spots kicked the paint out.

i followed instructions and first coat was a lighter tack coat i guess and there were tons of craters i could see down to the primer.

for some reason the next coat covered most of the previous craters, i assume they still live underneath?

this means its a fisheye right? the spots i see now were from the original coat and never took to the paint even after gobbed on.

i am letting it dry overnight and was going to put it out in the sun a couple hours tomorrow.

is it possible to save this panel? i assume there is no paint adhesion in any of the initial craters and if i sand it down i will find that?

do i dare guide coat and block the piece with 400 and then shoot another coat? try and sand down the craters i see when i get it level and drop some paint into those holes, let it dry, know it down again and hope the paint sticks then put on another full wet coat and hope for the best?


if i didn't have this happen on my test pieces which weren't even sanded or using wax and grease remover i would assume my panel wasn't prepped right.

again when i shot those last primers they went down like glass i was surprised not one crater or pop so i assumed all my air, etc. was good.

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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 5:34 am
Could it possibly be what you are using to wipe the panels down before paint? What type of rags are you using? Try this... use either blue shop towels or CLEAN, NEW microfiber towels and "original Windex"... this is what I use, never get Fisheyes

Glad it wasn't the Summit paint, personally I've never had an issue with any of it :wink:

Block it out w/ 400 or 600 and try another wet coat, I bet it will be OK, or at least hardly noticeable...it's not going to peel off



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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2015 10:52 am
Andy, good idea on the wipe down rags I would also start with a new test panel don't try and spray over something that has fish eye contamination on it already.
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