Hey guys, so i'm fairly new at painting. Done mostly rattle can stuff and it came out decent so I decided to step it up and invest in some paint guns.
So I started off by painting my motorcycle gas tank and it actually came out pretty good. Had some orange peel but I sanded and buffed it all out and i'm proud of it. So my buddy wanted me to do his gas tank and I agreed. And thats why im here.
So there is 2 issues im having. First is when I lay down the clear it doesn't come out nice and glossy, but super scattered and matte. The first time I painted the tank I laid it down thick to get that gloss and but I ended up with a bunch of solvent pop. The second time I laid it down thinner and gave it longer flash times, when I did the 2nd coat of clear I could tell something was not right. Turns out the clear was drying extremely slow even though I mixed it correctly(4:1). I added a bit more activator and it seemed to work better but the damage was done, I had solvent pop again. So I did like 2 more light coats of clear and it ended up looking super scattered and matte and still had solvent pop. I tried sanding the clear smooth but the ridges were just too much. I don't get it because I used the same paint and everything on mine and it looked much better. I painted with a 1.4mm nozzle, 80-85 degree temps, and I messed around with the pressure but ultimately used 40psi.
Any idea what im doing wrong? What is the proper way to lay down clear? Should I do it thick enough to get that gloss but then wait real long for the solvents to evaporate?

What brand are the spray guns?
What is the CFM requirements of the spray guns?
What is the size and CFM output of your compressor?
What drier, water separator, regulator and filtration are you using?
What size and length of air hose?
What brand of clear coat?

ADD TO ABOVE ^^
What temp range is the activator
What temp range is the reducer
What is the distance from gun to surface
Jay D.

If you keep touching a area that don't show after about 15 minutes the clear will stop "stringing" off your finger then reach a point that it's about as sticky as the back of a piece of masking tape. When your clear has flashed long enough to reach that sticky tape feel you will be safe to put on another coat

What brand are the spray guns? The one I used to spray the clear I got from automotivetouchup.com while ordering paint
Its this one www.automotivetouchup.com/spray-guns/hvlp-14.aspx
What is the CFM requirements of the spray guns?
It says it consumes 6-11 cfm
What is the size and CFM output of your compressor?
8 gallons and 4.0scfm
What drier, water separator, regulator and filtration are you using?
Just a regular 1/4" air gun pressure regulator and husky 1/4" filter both from home depot
What size and length of air hose?
It's whatever I had on there, I believe 1/4" and maybe 20-30 feeth
What brand of clear coat?
"Xtreme solutions xsc220 urethane clearcoat"
Wow I can barely find any info on it on the Internet. Not confidence inspiring lol
What temp range is the activator
What temp range is the reducer
It's not on the can and I can't find it online
What is the distance from gun to surface
I kept it about 8-10 inches

spray guns theses days like to be a little closer than that. most companies tell you things because that is their "safe zone" from runs and putting on to much paint. try moving in a few inches closer

Clear is a balancing act. We can give you pointers and tips. But what it comes down to is you will have to develop a technique that works for you. I would suggest you get some scrap pieces and practice until you have it down.

Also, even the best painters have a bad day every now and again.

JunkKing wrote: . . .What is the CFM requirements of the spray guns?
It says it consumes 6-11 cfm
What is the size and CFM output of your compressor?
8 gallons and 4.0scfm . . .

Do you not see a problem here? Your gun requires 6-11 CFM and most likely the real number is around 10 CFM. Your compressor doesn't even put out half that much so it cannot supply even the lowest CFM requirements of your spray gun.

This means there is not enough (volume) of air for the gun to operate properly. Thus you are not atomizing the paint into small enough droplets to achieve the finish you are hoping to see.

I've seen that gun before....kid back in my old neighborhood had one. I was painting his truck for him in his garage with his compressor. He had a 6 h.p. 60 gallon set up in his garage and I didn't think that thing could keep up with that gun in an overall shoot without running almost continuously. I ended up bringing up my Astro Evo LVLP gun and did the shoot. Coronet is probably correct with that 10 cfm consumption rate.

Air supply could be the problem, no doubt. But he has pulled this off before with the same setup. So????