recomendations for clearcoat

I

Idunnit

This is my first post, been a long time lurker of this forum and have wanted to try some of the SPI products. To give a little background I am a production painter in a fairly busy shop, we turn out about 25-30 cars per week. We have 2 old crossflow paint booths and no heat. Paint booths are less than ideal and most jobs get some sort of buffing. We mainly use Sikkens Autobase Plus for our basecoat and Lesonal ProAir Clearcoat. I am looking for a all around user friendly clear that will work in all environments, ( mid 60 degree panel temps in the winter and 90's in the summer) I love the proair in regards to off the gun finish, but its not the fastest clear and it doesnt buff as well as I like. I have used the Valspar Speed Clears and love the quick dry times and buffing but have experienced a slight dieback on alot of jobs. So basically I am looking for recommendations on something that will work for our current setup. And how to find someone in my area that carries SPI products. Thanks for your help

Chuck
 
Way too easy, if you have no issues with mixing a reducer with clear (some painters do) then 5000 is the one you can make to work with every job, with a little experimenting.
 
My shop is very similar, as it also is a crossflow with no heat, and I have used the Euro since it came out (is it almost 5 years now, Barry?), it seems pretty forgiving of my poor conditions and mistakes. I keep all 3 hardeners and all 4 reducers on hand to make a clear that is suited to any need, but really the normal activator with 870 reducer seems to give me the best results if conditions allow for its use.

A lot of my customers come back for other work, and so far the panels I've painted all still look terrific, unlike a certain major paint company clear on my wife's van which began to fail inside of 4 years...
 
My "booth" conditions are worse than anyone on this forum's. I use the Universal all the time. It's great! Polar is my best friend. A cap full to 3oz of clear and it is dry to the touch by the time you get your gun clean. Thanks Barry for a great product!
 
AAE;27971 said:
My "booth" conditions are worse than anyone on this forum's. I use the Universal all the time. It's great! Polar is my best friend. A cap full to 3oz of clear and it is dry to the touch by the time you get your gun clean. Thanks Barry for a great product!
Click to expand...

Putting that much in your UV clear, do you get any dieback the next morning? And does it affect the buffing window. (from my understanding UV buffs good for a really long time)

Chuck
 
UV buffs good forever, and there's never any dieback problems. What percentage of the jobs see same day delivery? Once you know the product and tailor the mix to your needs I bet you'll be impressed.
 
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