Waterborne Best Practices
Fall has brought a change in weather, and this can often affect how your shop and paint behaves. So let’s review some waterborne best practices to keep your shop at its most productive.
- Confirm that you have clean, dry air being delivered to your spray gun. Less than 10% humidity is ideal.
- Inspect booth filters, eliminate any dead zones or poor airflow by changing filters. A good target is 70-75 CFM. Sufficient airflow is key to proper performance of waterborne basecoat.
- Use Adjuster and Modifier in every mix. This new technology has several benefits including the most robust film properties, a wider application window in humid conditions, and even improved metallic control.
- Temperature affects viscosity. With the change in season, validate your standard reductions are giving you a spray viscosity of 23-28 seconds in DIN #4 viscosity cup.
- Use vented spray cups to reduce pressure on the filter screen, which allows for a smooth constant flow of product (no spitting).
- Fully dehydrate each basecoat layer with airflow over the repair. Airflow ensures evaporation pulls water from the substrate out. Avoid trapping water with heat, which dries from the surface inward.