Common Paint Film Defects:

1. Adhesion - Poor (Peeling, flaking, poor bond)

Cause

a. Presence of any foreign material on surface prior to painting such as

grease, oil, water, rust, and alkaline residue.

b. Inadequate or no phosphate coating.

c. Exposure of fresh coatings to severe conditions. Adhesion improves with

time. A six hour air dry would be considered minimum before the
solvent reduced or water reduced paints are exposed to rain or snow.

d. Application of coating to surface which is too hot (above 66° C (150° F))
or too cold (below 10° C (50° F) or the dew point).

e. Film too thick.

2. Blistering (Pimpling, bubbling, pin holing, pitting, pock marks, cratering)

Cause

a. Often caused by moisture becoming trapped between metal and

undercoat and finish-coat, expanding, and forming blisters. Moisture
may come through the compressed airline or may be on the surface due
to improper drying following the cleaning or phosphating process.

b. Contamination of surfaces or paint with silicones.

c. Insufficient drying time and too heavy application of the primer or

topcoat may trap solvent which escapes later causing blistering.

d. Solvent popping in forced dry or bake operation. A preheat before forced

dry or bake is recommended.

e. Air entrapment caused by too fast surface drying, air entering the airless
spray system, or spraying too close to the surface with airless equipment.

3. Brittleness

Cause

a. Film that has poor adhesion.

4. Bubbling

Refer to "Blistering".
5. Checking (Alligatoring, crazing, crow footing, hair lining)

Cause

a. Application of topcoat over undercoats which are too thick or not

thoroughly cured.

6. Cracking (Shrinking, splitting)

Cause

a. Material not thoroughly mixed before use.

b. Surface not clean.

c. Oil or water in airline.

d. Insufficient thinning.

e. Prime coat applied too heavily.

f. Applying on too hot or too cold surface.

7. Dry Spray (Dusty and/or gritty appearing film)

Cause

a. Insufficient or improper (too fast) thinner.

b. Excessive air pressure.

c. Too thin a film.

d. Holding spray gun too far from the surface.

e. Spraying on drafty booth.

8. Drying (Slow drying wet spots, tack)

Cause

a. Painting over grease, oil, and finger marks.

b. Oil in airline.

c. Application of too much material.

d. Poor ventilation.

e. Atmosphere too humid or too cold.

 f. Solvent too slow.

9. Gloss - Poor

Cause

a. Overspray (See Dry Spray).

b. Paint film too thin.

c. Contamination of enamel.

d. Applying topcoat over prime coat which has not dried completely.

e. Insufficient circulation of fresh air. Poor ventilation.

f. Insufficient mixing of paint.

g. Excessive orange peel.

h. Rough substrate.

i. Incompatibility with primer.

10. Orange Peel

Cause

a. Improper adjustment of spray gun pattern.

b. Poor spray-gun technique.

c. Too high air pressure.

d. Cold metal paint or shop temperatures.

e. Paint viscosity too high.

f. Too fast evaporating thinner.

g. Excessive velocity of ventilation.

h. Applying paint to rough substrate.

11. Over-spray

Cause - See "Dry Spray"

12. Pin holing (Pitting, pock marks, air entrapment)

 See "Blistering"

13. Runs (Curtains, sags)

Cause

a. Spraying over surface contaminated with oil, grease.

b. Poor spray-gun technique or adjustment. Distorted spray pattern.

c. Thinner too slow.

d. Air pressure excessively low.

e. Excessive film thickness.

f. Too much thinner.

14. Dirty or Seedy Appearance

Cause

a. Over Sprayed topcoat or dusted primer.

b. Unclean metal or conditions of applications.

c. Incompatibility between primer and topcoat.

15. Streaking

Cause

a. Poor spraying technique. Insufficient overlap when spraying. Overlap

should be approximately 50 percentage.

b. Distorted spray pattern. Spray gun dirty or in need of repair.

c. Metal too hot or too cold.

16. Water-Spotting (Rain-spotting)

Cause

a. Allowing rain or dew to settle on finish or washing a finish before dry.

b. A six-hour air dry would be considered a minimum before the solvent

reduced or water reduced paints are exposed to rain or snow.

17. Wrinkling
Cause

a. Any condition causing rapid drying of top surface while the underneath
remains soft.

b. Any condition which leads to thick films will tend to cause wrinkling.

c. Abnormally hot or humid shop atmosphere while drying.

d. Application of top coat during the prime coat's "critical recoat" period.