Questionhave you ever used spies hecker?we have them in the shop i paint at,but we have been using ppg clear because the spies clear doesnt hold a shine.it dies out in days.
AnswerHello Again John. How soon are you getting on the base coat with clear? I know its our tendency to push this stuff as hard as it will go, but if you live in an area with high humidity, you will need more dry time between coats of everything. Also, is the boss shutting down the heat at night? At 58 degrees the catalization of the paint stops, and once it stops, it can't be started back up. It won't cure properly, and that will lead to die back. I highly suggest you call your jobber that sells you the Spies Hecker, and have them get you a company rep down there. Mixing and matching paint systems is a recipe for disaster. Years ago, the painter that worked at my shop was putting on PPG clear over Du Pont base. He did this for a year. The clear coat, after a year, came off in sheets. I could literally take a blow gun, and strip clear off of entire panels. It wouldn't have been so bad, but on panels with a blend out, the clear stuck to the factory finish, so you had a clear coat shelf that had to be plained down, primed, and blocked. That always meant blending into the next panel. Get on this problem ASAP, or start using PPG base until you get the Hecker problem sorted. Don't be afraid to go past the boss, and personally go to your jobber for help. I know that the higher ups can sometimes stand in the way of progress, all in the name of saving a buck. They don't realize that that dollar saved today can cost them, and you, ten dollars down the road. If you start having serious come backs, the repairs will come back to you, and if you are flat rate, you fix it for free. That SUCKS!!!!! Bill
