Clearcoat boiling/solvent trapping/micro bubbles?

Unfreaking real...I decided to take apart the Devilbiss QC3 that I bought on Amazon. When opening it up a bunch of desiccant fell out. Inside is a plastic cartridge where the desiccant goes. It look like someone broke the cartridge apart and the wheel that spins the desiccant beads. The beads are white which means they are shot and they painted the humidity gauge blue to make it look like it was brand new. They probably returned it on Amazon and I winded up getting it.... I swear I have the worst luck ever...

I drained my compressor tank and all the lines. Filled it back up and lowered the output PSI on my air compressor to 25 PSI. I bypassed the filter and regulated my spray gun at 20 PSI. Shot some clear and it went on significantly better. Still a few lil pinholes but I have no filters. Hopefully this is step in the right direction. I hope the new filtration system fixes the problems.






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Getting screwed over like that really sucks.

Here is a picture of the buffer I bought, Amazon was great in helping me get things sorted out. It might be worth a phone call as rdransman mentioned.

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rdransman said:
Painting the indicator lens blue is criminal. It's called fraud. With that being a $200 filter, I'd be inclined to get Amazon on the phone and pursue it. They just might be interested in helping. I bet they have a fraud department.
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Agreed. I have found Amazon to be really good about returns and refunds, especially if there are questions about the seller's integrity.
 
ebaypdllc said:
I think I might have the answer. I just bought a Tsunami Membrane Drying system it will be here in few days. In the product demo he said that "the lower the pressure you regulate, the better performance you will get for dryness of your air".

I regulated from 40PSI to 120PSI on that Desiccant I currently have and that's when major issues showed up right away on first coat.

I'm wondering if I can set my Air Compressor regulator to 20PSI. Then to the desiccant regulator at 20PSI then 20PSI at spray gun to do a test so see if I see an improvement. If there is big improvement then that confirms water vapor.

Regulated that low should create almost no water according to this video.

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You can’t set all those regulators to the same pressure. There needs to e a significant difference between all pressure settings. At least 20-30 psi imho. Otherwise they will fight each other...
 
Ebaypdllc, man this has cost you a lot of time and money! I agree, I'd pursue this and try to find out who returned it, he deserves a letter from a lawyer.
 
Just to correct some misperceptions about that dryer. First the beads don't start out blue then turn pink and finally turn white. They are whiteish when new, they absorb moisture and stay white. Second that indicator was not painted over (about 90% sure of that) that is what it looks like. That is what the replacement indicators they sell look like. As I said in a previous post in this thread you can't rely on that. It is simply paint or some substance that over time turns pink, then white. It has no reflection on the actual condition of the dessicant. It's just something the manufacturer uses to approximate when it's time to change it. Nobody painted it blue.
 
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Yep, that brand of dryer probably wants you to change the entire cartridge out every time is is depleted, and change the indicator out at the same time. Mine uses loose fill beads that can be regenerated. My dryer has a clear window that you can actually see the beads and when they start to turn pink, you know it is time to change the charge. I keep a freshly regenerated set of beads by the filter station at all times, ready for change-out. Just pour the old ones out in a pan and bake at 275 degrees until they all turn dark blue again. The cartridge systems are quick and easy, but I like my loose fill system better. Those cartridges can get expensive after a while.


Regards, John McGraw
 
sprint_9 said:
Getting screwed over like that really sucks.

Here is a picture of the buffer I bought, Amazon was great in helping me get things sorted out. It might be worth a phone call as rdransman mentioned.

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Sprint is that a block of wood in there???? :eek:

@Slofut
Chances are that was his issue, I was just pointing out that the blue indicator thing on those dryers is paint or something like it. Not a real indicator that actually reflects the state of the desiccant. That 3 stage system he ordered should sort it out for him.
 
If you are getting water in your lines check out this guy's video of his setup. May help if you are getting water in your lines.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
Sprint is that a block of wood in there???? :eek:.
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Yep, a couple 2x6's and a 2x4 if I remember right. Its been awhile ago now. When it got delivered I grabbed it to bring it inside and when I tipped it on edge things didn't sound right in the box. My best guess was either someone returned it like that and then it got reshipped to me, or someone in the UPS depot needed a buffer and had some wood for exchange. I remember calling Amazon and the guy was like you have chunks of what in the box, lol.
 
In my infinite wisdom , I think I figured out the real problem here. People have allergies, but maybe clearcoat is allergic to you.:rolleyes:
Hey figured someone needed a laugh by now.
Seriously though, sounds like your dessicant system is the biggest problem right now, but wanted to ask about what was last happening with the turbine setup, which should not have had contamination issues you now have. Still seems to me that all things close enough, it should be fine for small parts painting & wondering if you had too cold air & or fluid temps, spraying too heavy, or something else that prevented it from working correctly. ???
 
jlcustomz said:
In my infinite wisdom , I think I figured out the real problem here. People have allergies, but maybe clearcoat is allergic to you.:rolleyes:
Hey figured someone needed a laugh by now.
Seriously though, sounds like your dessicant system is the biggest problem right now, but wanted to ask about what was last happening with the turbine setup, which should not have had contamination issues you now have. Still seems to me that all things close enough, it should be fine for small parts painting & wondering if you had too cold air & or fluid temps, spraying too heavy, or something else that prevented it from working correctly. ???
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Even with bypassing the filter all together and spraying at 20 PSI the issue is still there. About 1 hour after curing the micro pinholes start showing up. I use my magnifying glass and you can see they are ever so tiny craters in the top surface. Looks like solvents to me...

The turbine would generate alot of heat 135F at the discharge hose. My painting area is around 60's so I figured it was condensing water vapors. Thats why I invested into the air compressor setup instead. But the problems have never gone away...I'm able to wetsand and buff every part and it looks fine, its just significant labor.

I ordered a new Iwata LPH80 and new desiccant filtration system that will be here tomorrow. I'm honestly about to give up all together if it doesn't work. I did the glass test with my air line and saw no vapors on the glass.

What I don't understand is if it infact was moisture in the air line, when I use a different brands clearcoat is completely diesback uniformly. The SPI clearcoat atleast holds its gloss and is nowhere near as bad. The pinholes that show up are not spotty, its perfectly spread out all through the whole part. On the other brand's clearcoat, it completely dies back and as you can see it looks like trapped solvents. It doesn't matter if I do 1 coat or 2 coats or very light mist coats.

Here is a video of a part I have laying around of the other brands clearcoat that is a 2 hour cure clearcoat.

 
Did anyone mention lack of air movement in his booth? It's not usual booth, so can be that and also his gun is one of the best in air consumption, that spends smallest amount of air as possible.
 
Have you tried wiping down the surface with 700 or 710 before painting? Make sure you wait 30-45 minutes to make sure it has evaporated. Also make sure you use a new air hose with your new setup to eliminate the possibility of contamination from your old system.
 
As far as the turbine guns go, the hose at the first few feet of the unit normally get too hot to touch, but the 25 to 30 feet of hose dissipate a huge amount of that heat, an additional hose if the unit can push it dissipates even more.
 
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