[302 Z28]

Originally Posted by Ratchet

[url]
here is the link to the gun.

I know that the compressor is small for the job and that is probably the root of the problem. To compensate I added another 20 gallon holding tank. So I pump up both tanks which are hooked paralell to each other then I start to spray.

Ric

This is a common mistake people make about compressors. Tank capacity can never make up for an undersized compressor.

Vince

[Ratchet]

I realize that the compressor will eventually loose the battle to the air usage of the gun but as long as I have 40 psi at the gun with the trigger pulled it is not going to spray any different than if I had a 20,000 cfm compressor that is metered down to 40 psi at the gun. I would never run out of air with the big compressor but 40 PSI constant at the gun is 40 PSI.

[Ratchet]

isn't it???

[BondoKing]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Matthew, you may have been able to get it to "flow out" on those horizontal surfaces but it later died back, shrank up and turned a leathery look (even if you had to look real close) I'll bet.

Brian

Brian I have not checked out that job in a long time, however I do see it occasionally. Next time I am going to see it, I will check it out and if I have my camera I will grab a pic.... It looked fine when it pulled out of my driveway, but i had used I think..... DFX -11 with it ,so it was shot and gone all the same day

Matthew

[mrcleanr6]

hey ric, just posted this in your candy post but then i figured it would go better here.

ok, i see you are in canada so i assume it still pretty cold there. the viscosity of clearcoat changes greatly with temp. if you feel the side of the mixing cup and its cool or cold then take a heatgun and warm the stuff up. just make the liquid slightly warm to the touch, not hot, maybe around 80-90 deg or so. when cold my clearcoat will be like syrup but when i warm it, it makes it like water. overreducing will just make the clear prone to runs in cold weather. warm it up an i bet it will make all the difference. another possible problem may be the gun itself. i've never heard of the type you are using. some older or off brands just aren't designed to spray and atomize todays high solids clears. of course i'm not familiar with the clear either. just something to think about.

[MARTINSR]

Electric heat gun and highly flamable clear hmmmmmmmmm.

How about this, get a five gallon bucket, fill it with hot water and then put the gallon of clear in the hot water an hour or so before you spray? That makes a lot more sense to me.

You could be on to something though, if it is real cold and the clear thickens, it is darn hard to get it atomized. I don't have much experiance with that though, being I am the San Francisco bay area with 55 degree lows in the winter.

Brian

[mrcleanr6]

that'll work too!!! i know some guys who simply put the gallon of clear in front of a halogen work lamp an hour before they start spraying. whatever you have to do to warm it up a bit.

[Ratchet]

Too late to try the heating it up thing but you are probably right on, it has not gotten over 65 degrees in all the time I have been try to spray the clear. Tonight I mixed the clear 4 parts clear to 1 part hardner to 1.5 parts reducer and took the highlanders advice about holding the gun closer to the car. It sprayed perfectly just like glass. The actual mix for the clear should be 4 - 1 -1 but I figure 1.5 can't be that bad heck you could make that much of a mistake just mixing it up ...... couldn't you. I also changed my spray pattern . I was doing the roof and the sale panels then the hood then doing the one complete side then the other side. When I got to the second side I would get dry spray when I tried to blend into the front fender and the sale panel.

This time I did the roof and sale panels then finished the rear quarters then the trunk and bumper I then did the doors and my plan was to do the hood and front fenders as a unit but guess what? Right after I finished the rear deck lid my compressor quit. It would not build up any more than about 40 lbs at the compresor. It figures you finally get things going your way and a tree falls on you.

Ric

[Ratchet]

Well who can guess what went wrong with my compressor. The compressor is 10 years old and I was right in the middle of doing the final coat and it just stopped making pressure it would not build up anymore than 40 lbs. Before I started spraying the car I started the compressor up while I was wiping the car down and it built right up to 115 lbs just like always. Any guesses???

Ric

[302 Z28]

Reed valves shot, maybe.

Vince

[Ratchet]

Nope try again

[MARTINSR]

The control valve?

Brian

[baddbob]

Is it running continuously or is it shutting off at 40psi? if it's shutting off then your pressure switch is bad.

[Ratchet]

It runs continuously and does not build pressure.
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Some Dumb *** didn't change the intake filter on the compressor in over 10 years. It was plugged solid like a brick of clay.

Some Dumb ***
Ric

[baddbob]

Been there, done that. Most of the shops I've worked in didn't have a maintainance schedual for the compressors- they just replaced the pumps when they quit working We are all dumb azzes, this way we can learn by our mistakes and discuss other dumb azzes mistakes Bet you're pumpin air now, might want to change the oil while you're at it, synthetic compressor oil seems to keep temps a little lower from what I've seen. Bob