Rustoleum hates me...

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
I need a little advice spraying Rustoleum as I'm getting fish eyes. I'm not sure if there's something contaminating the surface (don't think so) or if it won't lay down well on the 4 day old previous coat.

I was having problems with the Rustoleum wrinkling if I sprayed 2 coats withing an hour, it looked great after spraying, but the next day it was wrinkled. The top dried while the bottom was still out-gassing, wrinkles all over the place. It was a night mare as the stuff takes 1+ month to harden enough to wetsand,,, this happened 2 times, Grrrrrr. So this time I decided to spray 1 coat, wait 24 hours (as the can says to do) and then spray the finish coat. It looked great after the first coat, but as per the norm, I want to spray 2 coats.

1 day turned into 4 and when I sprayed the Rustoleum I saw several fish eyes :mad: I immediately broke out the paint thinner and sprayed it down to wash off the paint, aired it off, wiped it down with a paper towel and paint thinner to get off any residue, aired it off again and then sprayed it with paint. This time a few runs (and maybe fish eye's? don't know as I was PO'ed) so I washed the paint off and dried it. Sprayed it again and fish eyes, WT*? Washed the paint off again and called it a night.

After air drying all night it looked good so I blew the few specs of dust off it and proceeded to spray it. Before I was 1/4 done the gimble ring had fish eyes all over it :mad: so out comes the paint thinner again to wash the paint off.

SO, do I need to clean the surface better (I think I might be getting some grease residue from the upper and lower bushings) or scuff the whole thing with 400 grit wetsand and shoot it again? I've been using paint thinner to wipe it down and make sure there's no surface contamination, but questioning if that might be where the problem lies. I was thinking of acetone or laquer thinner might work better to wipe it down, but don't want to try it as it will most likely eat the uncured Rustoleum and make a bigger mess than I all ready have.

Oh yeah, I've shot Rustoleum a bunch of times and haven't had problems like this, friggin transom assembly is kicking my butt.
 

Rickairmedic

Commander
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
2,576
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Dan fisheyes are usually a sign of contaminants in the paint somewhere either grease or armorall or something . Get yourself some wax and grease remover and wipe it down ( wiping in one direction with fresh clean rags ) and see if that doesnt solve the problem.


Rick
 

elark7

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
111
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Dan,
I agree with Rick. You have contaminates on the area you are trying to paint. The problem may be that you have sanded the contaminents into tne surface. This could be anything from grease to silicone based products. I always wash down the surface with a dish soap to remove dirt, grease or other residue. Then wipe it down with lacquer thinner and then with a tack rag. I have wiped down the oil based rustoleum paints with lacquer thinner and had no ill effects, paint dried 24 hours first. If all else fails go to an automotive paint store and ask for fisheye remover. Make sure that you let them know what paint you are using it with and see what they say about adding it to your paint. Then try it in a small amount of paint and shoot it on a test area. I have never used it in anything but enamal and urathane paints but I would think it is compatible with all paints. Do you have any photos of the paint? Hope this helps.

Elark
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Thanks for the sanity check guys, this transom assembly has been my arch nemesis of my boat resto and is getting the better of me,,, thought I was going to have to sand that thing down again.

I think you are right about the contamination. I was washing the botched paint off with paint thinner which could dissolve grease from the bushings and lay it all over the housing. I noticed a couple area's that had a streak left after shooting it down with paint thinner, and guessing now that it was dissolved grease.Then, when I went to wipe it off, I was probably wiping it all over the place,,, DOH! I don't have any pic's as I washed the botched paint off before it had a change to set, but it's just a transom assembly (gimble housing and gimble ring with the bell housing removed. Tough little bugger to shoot as it has to be turned L-R to get into all the nooks and crannies.

I think I'm going to wash it down with dish soap (cuts grease), rinse well, blow it off, let it air dry over night and then shoot it in the morning.

Wish me luck...:rolleyes:
 

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,065
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Well...... you still need to wipe it down before you paint. Are you near a roadway? Or an exhaust vent? I shot a neighbors truck years ago and fought the fisheye battle...... the primary reason was a result of him storing his front end loader in the same shop...... the diesel smoke would put oil/diesel droplets into the air (not that we could see) and they would settle on the truck.

Good luck....... I would get some fisheye reducer from an auto paint store.
 

tallcanadian

Captain
Joined
Sep 7, 2006
Messages
3,250
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

I had the same issue when I painted my windshield. Darn near drove me over the bend. I had to sand off the old stuff and use zinc chromate primer first, then painted the windshield. Still wasn't perfect but much better than before.
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Thanks for all the advice guys,,, I took the easy route to solve my problem. I didn't spray it again.

After washing it down I checked it out in the sun and it looks almost perfect, just 1 run on it (that I was going to spray over anyway). I didn't see how spraying it again will improve it,,, since I've sprayed 7 coats of Rustoleum on the thing all ready. With all the wetsanding there's probably 3-4 coats left and that's good enough for me.

Onto the transom paint job and then bolt the transom assy on so I can get moving on this project. Frigging engine has been sitting on the stand for a year while I've been completely rebuilding the boat, what a project :rolleyes:
 

Marcq

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
241
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Trisodium Phosphate (tsp) painters best friend

Marc..
 

Rich Hargis

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
115
Re: Rustoleum hates me...

Paint thinner leaves an oily residue,use Laquer thinner or TSP
 
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