Tisco med gray enamel question

A couple of things come to mind, neither of which are probably the reason:

1. You were using a hardener additive and some of the mixed paint somehow found its' way back into the can.

or

2. You didn't get the seal on the can as good as you thought you did.

Are you sure you stirred it enough? I have found that with some paints, the solids settle out fairly quickly (over a few months) and that it takes considerable stirring and scraping of the bottom to get things back to where they should be, even if it appears OK on top. For example, The PPG DCC acrylic urethane paint that I recently used sat in the can for about 6 months before I used it. There really was no noticeable settling and very little stirring was required. On the other hand the PPG OMNI MTK acrylic urethane, if left for a similar period, requires considerable stirring to get it mixed up properly. I would tend to call any settled solids "goop" but not rubbery chunks. Paints will tend to skin over when in a completely sealed partially full can for long periods (years) but I wouldn't think that two months would be enough to do that. And from what you say, it's more than just a skin on top.

As far as orange peel is concerned, there can be many reasons for it. Here's a start in diagnosing that problem.

I would tend to lose the screens in the gun. Screen your paint either before or during pouring into the gun cup using regular paint screening cones. Personally I think screens in the guns could be more trouble than they are worth. I just removed such a screen from a cheap gun I bought and threw it away. Even when brand new it seemed to be restricting paint flow to the tip. There are no screens in my good guns and none were ever supplied originally.

Rod

I also don't know if you have had previous successful experience with that paint (and the same thinner) or whether this problem is something that has occurred on a first time use.

Rod

• Painting NAA and FEL

That DTR600 is a very fast PPG reducer for their Delstar automotive acylic enamel. The DTR reducer family has been around for at least 30 years and it does not have any kind of reactive or catalyst component to it - that is unless PPG has changed it, which I doubt, since they have a dedicated hardener (DXR80) for use with that paint. I've used a lot of Delstar in the past but never used that fast a reducer in it. I would not recommend using it in the Tisco paint, which I understand is an alkyd enamel and not an acrylic but if you've had good luck doing so before, I guess I can't argue with success. Your prior good luck would also eliminate the reducer as part of your current thickening problem - at least it would seem to. I hate to blame a paint that I have never used for problems but I suppose it is possible you just got a bad can of the gray Tisco. I can't think of any other explanation for it. That fast reducer could be part of your orange peel problem however. It's hard to say since there are many different causes but too fast a reducer for the temperature certainly would be suspect as a contributing if not a causing factor.

BTW, that POR15 is real nasty stuff to breathe. Even though it is a single component paint, it is a moisture-cured isocyanate product. I'd think long and hard before ever spraying that stuff again unless you have a supplied air respirator. I recently got done using it for the first time on a snowblower that had significant rust that I chose not to fully remove. The time delay demands on that stuff make it somewhat difficult to use, in my opinion. If you are not going over existing rust, I'll agree with CNKS that epoxy primer would be a better choice. The PPG OMNI MP170 epoxy is far safer to spray (no isos - can use a standard cartridge mask), is fast drying, can be topcoated in 30 minutes and is excellent for corrosion and moisture resistance. It also has a wide time window for topcoating of up to 3 days w/o sanding. If I had chosen to sandblast my blower to remove all the rust, I would have chosen the epoxy rather than the POR.

You've also given me an idea with your canopy temporary paint booth. Not for painting, but for sandblasting items too large for my cabinet. I had a 15"x26" rear tractor rim today that I would have preferred to have blasted the inner surfaces. A 10x10 canopy frame, some plastic and a tarp would do the trick. I've done stuff like that outside uncontained but it does make a mess and does not permit recovery of the grit. Since I had some POR left over from the snowblower project, I just wire brushed the inside and used the POR instead. It'll be better than when I did it 30 years ago on that same rim. I just spotted some Rustoleum on it back then. The POR should give it at least another 30 years and after that I won't care.

Good luck in finding out what your weird thickening problem was caused by. If you have a ready source for Tisco products, you might want to try a fresh quart of the same gray (all other things the same) to see if it happens again. If it doesn't, that would support the bad-can-of-paint possibility.

Rod

I managed to get enough ventilation by using an old blower, dunno the capacity but it moves a lot of air, and some room fans. I just had to move the small fans occasionally as I moved around. Fumes of any sort bother me (whoever decided mixing pine or lemon with a household cleaner made it 'fresh' I don't get) plus I rescued my brother once from a poorly ventilated ice fishing shack once. That was scary.

When I get a chance I'll experiment with the enamel again. When I originally painted the tin I'd used DTR601 'cause the weather was warmer. I switched to 600 because the air temp was in the low 60's. I did use DTR600 with the red enamel and got a nice finish there.

Also to be clear. I'm not blaming the paint for anything. My initial thought was that I did not seal the can adequately - just like Rod suggested. After straining some out and not getting it to spray right I thought it possible that the 'chunky goop' had changed the chemical comp of the paint somehow. As in something settled out and the remaining fluid enamel lacked something.

Washington is pretty alright. Another park you should visit is North Cascades. The only other mountain scenery I've seen to compare was in Alaska. Diverse scenery too. Last summer we were out on the coast and found a baby orca, not long dead, on the beach. It appeared to have been crunched by something with a mouth about 20" wide. The little whale was about 4 - 5' long and had a set of very sharp teeth itself. I was a little nervous about fishing in the surf after that. Kept hearing that music from Jaws...

I've never made it to New Hampshire but have always wanted to visit. A couple of years ago I was selling my snowcat. A fellow from NH who owned and leased some maple woods was very interested and I really wanted to deliver it. But it was just a little too much money for him. He emailed some pictures when the leaves were turning. Incredible.

I've just started using the POR. Below are the before and after on that rim I mentioned yesterday. Time constraints didn't permit applying the recommended two coats since around here this time of year it takes about 4 hours to get to the point where that second coat can be applied. One coat will have to do. I installed the tire today, after about 24 hours on the POR. The stuff seems pretty tough alright. I expected a lot more damage from tire irons and bead seating/unseating but there was very little. Of course it was outside overnight and I suspect the heavy dew this time of year accelerated that cure towards the end.

After wire brushing and prep with Marine Clean and Metal Ready:

After one coat of POR15 by brush:

The snowblower I mentioned previously was wire brushed and prepped, two coats of POR applied and a coat of PPG OMNI epoxy primer applied as a tie coat for a follow-on automotive paint topcoat the next day. Here's what that looks like:

The black first stage augers (and the second stage impeller) are topcoated with DuPont Centari hardened acylic enamel. The orange is PPG Deltron acylic urethane. I chose the POR for a couple of reasons: 1) I didn't wish to remove all the rust. It was quite extensive and I wanted to limit the effort to wire brushing the loose stuff off. 2) I had read about the toughness of POR and wondered if it's abrasion resistance would help keep the second stage impeller blades and the interior of the discharge chute slick, even after the topcoat wears off. Those are the areas that take the most beating, especially on a 1/2 mile gravel driveway. Anyway, I am hopeful and your stated good experience with it has made me feel a little better that I made the correct choice. It's pricey at $37/qt plus the extras for prep and it's a pain because of the time requirements, but if it works reasonably well in my applications, it's worth it. I may find out on the blower this winter if we get a lot of snow. I don't normally use the blower unless I absolutely have to - like large drifts or when the banks are high and I have no more place to push the snow to with a standard 8 ft blade.

I love Washington state. My favorite locations are Hurricane Ridge at Olympic and Sunrise at Mt Rainier NPs. When I used to travel to the west coast occasionally on work-related trips, I always made it a point to detour up to Washington for a couple days vacation on the way home. You have a beautiful state. It's the only other place I have ever been that I could consider moving to from NH.

Rod

I recently used an activator for Centari that had been opened and most of it used five years ago. It was opened again and a small amount used about three years ago. There was about 20% left in a one quart can when I used some more a few days ago. I have never used any kind of "blanket" of inert gas in the can. I have been meaning to use argon, which I have readily available, but I never seem to actually do it. I don't keep it refrigerated but it is in an unheated shop (for the most part) during the winter. I certainly am way, way over any kind of opened shelf life (usually stated as two weeks) but it still seems to work fine. I've done something similar with the OMNI urethane hardener although that's been limited to about 3 years so far. I am coming to the conclusion if the material is clear with no signs of gelling, that's it's probably OK to use. I wouldn't use it on somebody else's car but for my own use, the stuff is far too expensive to just throw out because of the stated shelf life. I know the correct answer is to buy the smallest quantities. But that doesn't always apply. The high-end stuff is available in 1/2 pints but the "economy" line products are not - or at least they didn't used to be. And for me, even a half pint could last for quite a while covering several sessions, some related, some not. My painting projects are usually of fairly small scope and sometimes widespread in time. I don't want to run out in process so I always have "leftovers" which I keep on hand. I'm not recommending this practice to others. Just explaining what I have apparently been able to get away with. The risk is with the user.

Rod

Rod

I've never made it to New Hampshire but have always wanted to visit. A couple of years ago I was selling my snowcat. A fellow from NH who owned and leased some maple woods was very interested and I really wanted to deliver it. But it was just a little too much money for him. He emailed some pictures when the leaves were turning. Incredible.