Reducer in Uni clear

A

AssasinActual

A mostly novice painter here, have done some spraying w/ ppg shopline and a cheap gun. Just ordered spi products, except for deltron paint, and iwata lph400 w/ 14 silver cap. My question is do I need to reduce my universal clear, and if I do can I use some shopline reducer, because I didnt order any from spi. The repairs will be on a quarter panel of my yukon, blending the base and reclearing the whole quarter panel.
 
Hi, and welcome!

No reducer is needed for universal clear, simply mix it 1:1 and it is ready to spray.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. Some of the reading I've done about the uni clear is that its pretty thick, so with my inexperience shooting it I didnt know if reducing it down a bit would help flow and lay better, but I will give it a shot with just the clear and activator.
 
It is designed to spray with no reducer. I have the same gun. 2.75 turns off the seat on the fluid and about 26-28 PSI with the trigger pulled all the way should get you pretty close.
 
I've seen a lot of guys run this gun at 16-18 psi at the gun, but you run it at 26-28. Is this just for clear or do you spray base at this pressure too?
 
One problem with PSI recommendations is that the kind of gauges we use in the body and paint trade tend to be pretty inaccurate, so unless strum456 lends you his gauge and air line setup, you won't be spraying at the same pressure. On the gauge I am currently using, I need 20PSI at the gun with a full trigger pull. On the gauge I had a few years ago, I sprayed at 23-25PSI. They read differently, and I really don't know which one is the truth. A good rule of thumb is to take the gun mfr. recommendations for PSI, and add about 20% as a starting point for high solids material like SPI clear. The manufacturer recommendations are to stay well within transfer efficiency rules, not necessarily to produce the best finish.
 
Crash is right. No one can set the gun for you over the internet. If you do some searching, there are at least a couple lengthy threads on here about settings for the LPH-400. From what I remember, mid twenties seem to be the average for spraying SPI clear with that gun, just to get you started. You shouldn't need quite as much pressure for base because it is not as thick.
 
novice painter here, played with uv clear this weekend also have iwata lph400 1.4
i sprayed at 28psi fliud control 2.75 out
was spraying jams on truck cab and ended up with a little more orange peel then i wanted.
i then sprayed tailgate, and doors and layed the clear on real wet and they came out smooth as glass,
with the Iwata you have to travel alot slower than you would think.
it realy does not like to run, spray it like its free
 
Just the advice I was looking for, will post how the job turns out.
 
I go slow and overlap 75%. I don't paint every day, so it is probably not a bad thing for me to take my time and pay attention to what I am doing. Do you have an LPH-400 too Crash? What settings to you like for base?
 
I adjust mine all the way out, then turn back in until I just feel the trigger move. This thing (Iwata) likes all the material you can give it. At least for me. Still going to try the SATA.
 
strum456;29976 said:
I go slow and overlap 75%. I don't paint every day, so it is probably not a bad thing for me to take my time and pay attention to what I am doing. Do you have an LPH-400 too Crash? What settings to you like for base?
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I use my LPH400 for clear, and have a Tekna for base. I used to use a W400LV for base, but the fluid settings varied because some basecoats are a lot thicker than others. The Standox Basislack I use seems about as thick as clear most of the time.
 
For me the first coat goes on as thin as I can lay it with it still being slick, the next coats go on wetter but no puddle pushing and careful not to create urethane wave. When you get comfortable with the gun and the results you're after you can dial back the trigger travel control knob to wide open and let your grip adjust the amount of pull needed.
 
Well just an update. BTW SPI should market the white epoxy primer as a dead nuts match to GM summit white, I for a second said hell maybe Ill just clear this primer and call it a day, LOL. But I thought I had my gun set right, on a practice panel I got runs, bumped up air, runs stopped, or so I thought. Luckily I started low on quartepanel and sure enough, runs. So I bumped upair more and opened the fan up, I guess it was a too tight. So I was set then and things on the other panel turned out ok. So while I've got your attention, any certain method do you all use to get rid of runs, and also. more importantly, this appears to be a "soft" clear, when would I want to wait to start the de-run procedure?
 
There's some good writeups on here about dealing with runs, just keep in mind the run being thicker is going to cure slower than the surounding clear. Some cover the run with tape and block through the tape, other scrape off the majority of the run with a razor blade. Regardless, you'll need to cut off the run without thinning out the surounding clear. I usually use a small plexiglass block about the width of a paint stick with some 800 and cut most of it off and allow the cure to catch up some before sanding the remainder off flush with 1000 then 1500. A heat lamp and a few cure cycles will help or some time in the sun or just time...
 
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