orange peel.... ? ?

F

fordman

Senior Member
I am spraying acrylic enamel with catalyst. I am getting varying amounts of orange peel, ie, not bad ...to objectionable.

when you get orange peel, do you:

sand and buff
sand and respray
something else ?

thank you
 
I have sprayed all my cars with acrylic enamel. Used to use laquer but can not find that anymore. I always get a little bit of orange peel plus dirt and bugs since I do not have a spray booth. I wet sand with 1200 grit and buff. Works well for me.
 
Coupe35 said:
I have sprayed all my cars with acrylic enamel. Used to use laquer but can not find that anymore. I always get a little bit of orange peel plus dirt and bugs since I do not have a spray booth. I wet sand with 1200 grit and buff. Works well for me.
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Me too. You can even go as high as 2000 grit. Just stay away from corners, hinges, edges and drip rails when machine buffing. Then buff by hand.
 
Try the finest grit first, 2000 if that take to long go to 1500 then back to 2000 then get the correct buffing compounds. there is lots of buffing info on the web, try google.
 
Turn the pressure down, but I'm pretty sure your past that point. Make sure it's thick enough to color sand, which is almost certain if you got 'peel. Get on it now before it becomes hard as a rock. Start with 1200 work into the 2000 using a spray bottle with a little soapy water in it. Easy on the soap a few drops will do it. Always sand in a consistent direction I.E. front to back gently and keeping fresh paper on it. Don't rub on one sheet until it's useless. It'll just wear you out and doesn't do any good. Every once in a while wipe off the panel your working on and let it dry. When the whole car is nice and flat with a minimal shine to it and no peel left. It's going to feel really smooth and the minimal shine comes from the now lack of distortion and the 2000 grit polish. Then tape the edges and corners with blue tape. I don't know how much time you've spent on a buffer but tape makes it alot safer if you don't do it every day. Put the buffer on low and work through the process. Take your time and let the tools do the job. IF you can find a product called liquid ice it works very well and you can use it on all three pads to not worry about contamination. Find some swirl remover and then lay down some good wax after all that. Work one panel at a time and it'll turn out faster and better. Have fun this is the good part.


Don't forget pictures,

Tim
 
It's been a little hot as of late for painting, you may want to check your chems, go for something that will dry a bit slower and lay out in the heat. As far as fixin it you have good advice above. If its real high peel, re shoot it, it may not have bound to the previous product.
 
You should also check that you are using the correct fluid tip, needle and air cap on your spray gun.

Make sure you are reducing it the correct amount with a slow reducer.

Both of these thing will make a lot of difference to how the paint goes on and flows out.

Don't turn the air pressure down to much because the paint will not atomise properly and go on thick and peely.

Sprayed correctly you should only need a light sand with 1200 or 2000 and polish.
 
I'm no pro but this works for me- When shooting a panel the first coat should be very light, almost see thru. Wait till you can touch it and nothing comes off. Second coat, color till it is nice and even, but not too heavy. Wait till it sets up. Third coat, here's where it gets scary. Lay it right on as heavy as you can without any runs. If there is some orange peel don't worry about it. WALK AWAY, close the doors and come back tomorrow. Most of the time the first two coats will be dry enough to help the last, "wet" coat to flow out.
If you have to wet sand, a rubber squeege will help show if you have gotten all the orange peel. No shinny spots. Don't be in a hurry.
I have learned something everytime I have painted- air pressure, temps, mix...
Good luck, Chuck
I shot this lil red truck, most of it wasn't wet sanded.
 

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I've also had problems with some minor orange peel and a run here and there on clear coat.

Someone mentionned not to wait too long before color sanding, as it will get verry hard, as i dont plan on doing it for quoite sometime, my Question is am i going to be in trouble by waiting too long.

Thanks:confused:
 
hope said:
Someone mentionned not to wait too long before color sanding, as it will get verry hard, as i dont plan on doing it for quoite sometime, my Question is am i going to be in trouble by waiting too long.

Thanks:confused:
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You'll just have to work a lot harder, use a lot more paper, and if your sanding out runs, it will be easier to sand through the adjacent area, as you sand more to get the high spot of the run down.
 
Don't worry, you are the painter, worst case scenario you paint a little more.
I step sand, use 1000, 1500, and then I use the 3000 pad that 3M makes, I cover all the edges with tape so I don't cut them, I use the squeegee that 3M makes, then I use the 3M system through to the wax. Never buff a car in the sun, you will burn it, put a little dish soap in your wet sand water, use a spray bottle with just a touch of dish soap, 2 drops and mist your buff. I use beef cloth or baby diapers to hand buff and polish, and a shamwow or a terry to clean it up. Keep in mind that a lot of polish products have wax in them to fill in the fine line scratches, you would rather not use those products for your initial buff out. In two weeks when the wax evaporates you'll be all crazy cause the fine lines will be back. Wash it well and apply another wax coat before you buff it again.
 
I have found that DuPonts Centari dries too fast and has a lot of peel if reduced as directed. The EPA got after them for to much solvents in the air. I have reduced their paint a little more than directed (abaout 1 or 2 Oz per cup) and have much better results.
 
I know a fellow that has been using Centari forever. His paint jobs look fabulous. People think they are base coat clear coat jobs. I will use it on my next project.
 
I have sprayed a few hundred if not a thousand gallons of Centari.
Great paint, but I will almost always choose a BC/CC system for car exteriors now. If you don't want the CC look Centari is great.
 
fordman said:
I am spraying acrylic enamel with catalyst. I am getting varying amounts of orange peel,
when you get orange peel, do you:
Click to expand...

catalyst is a hardener and too much will orange peel and flake , too hot under the sun will burn right through .
so what is your "catalyst"
 
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