I have posted this a long time ago but I just cant seem to get any better with the clearcoat on orange peel

1.2MM RNI 150 Gun

Temp 15- little cold, but warmed up the clear coat first , and put some heat in the panel aswell

Clearcoat - HSCLear 0300 Max Mayer with normal hardener

Tested the guns pattern loads before, horizontal, and vertical, nice and even spread.

PSI - 28

Distance, about 3-4 inches, with 50-75% overlap

I just don't know what I am doing wrong, and its frustrating me so much now

coat 1 - was very poor effort by my self, missed lots of areas
Coat 2- perfected my pattern better, perfectly even and distance maintained through out the spray

Coat 3- Started to get more glossy and flat, but still poor orange peel.

Coat 4 - Came out best, nice and thick, but by this point I was scared I would start getting runs so had to be careful


I know I shouldn't be going 4 coats deep, I just knew on coat 2 it was looking poor so needed some extra coats so I could the orange peel out


Picture attached

Try a larger tip. You are not getting enough material on the panel with a 1.2 tip.
I use a 1.4 tip when spraying clear.

This is the reason your clear started looking better when you were worried about it running.

Here is 3 coats of clear out of a 1.4 tip Iwata LPH400 as sprayed with no cut & buff:








4 coats of clear is fine, especially when you will need to cut and buff.

Show off.

No, really amazed at your talent.

I have an analogous claim regarding my clear spraying ability, and having to sand and polish afterward, but referring to welding instead, I’m not much of a welder, but I am one he$$ of a grinder though.

JT

I post the pictures for proof that what I am recommending works. You know the saying, a picture is worth a 1000 words.

I still advocate for cut and buff of clear coat if you want show quality.
Notice the difference in this hood.
As sprayed:


Cut and buffed:

This gun is capable of clearcoat for sure,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-fRKrG-fmY

Gunman manages to lay it nicely, i am clearly doing something wrong but i dont know what

1.4 Tip
Back fluid control out until you can pull the trigger all the way back and hold it there. Turn fluid knob in until you feel the trigger lifting your finger. Release the trigger and turn fluid knob in another 1/2 turn.

Hook up air hose to gun, pull trigger full open and adjust air to proper PSI.

You do have a large enough compressor to handle your gun's CFM requirements right?

14.5CFM compressor for a 4-5 CFM gun, should be well with in range!

If you look at that video I posted of gunman though, go in about 8 minutes, he is laying clear absolutely perfectly with this exact gun at 1.2mm tip

The one thing that has caught my attention though is the PSI, he is running it at 40psi which I thought is absolutely ridiculous but in his comments, he mentions that's the sweet spot.

what are your thoughts on that sort of PSI.....

Many of these spray guns perform better with higher PSI settings than what they recommend. Atomizing the paint is the term used to describe it being broken down into tiny consistent droplets that flow together on the surface. When the droplets are too large, orange peel is the result. You can also get orange peel from the spray being too dry or from holding your gun at an angle rather than perpendicular to the surface.

The recommended PSI is to get the required CAP pressure rating. Try jacking the pressure up and see what happens. Follow the guy's instructions and if it works for you, write the settings down in a notebook so you don't have to mess around next time.

there are a lot of variables when it comes to an O/P cure. your gunman vidio can be deceiving if he's not using the same clear as you are, huge difference in clears. i'm also thinking he's in a more controlled enviroment than you. your clear viscosity is to high for your tip, you need a bigger tip or reduce the clear SLIGHTLY.
Jay D.

Sorry Jay are you saying that my gun is OK for clear coat.

But this particular clear needs a bigger tip in general?

What clear should I be going for instead?

A Ms clear?