Painting a Car with PPG DelFleet Essential

[Bruce Amacker]

Hey Guys:

I'm not a pro bodyman by any stretch of the imagination. I've shot dozens of gallons of Kirker urethane on trucks, trailers, and the like but not a lot of cars. I'm doing a restoration and shooting PPG DelFleet Essential ESSS single stage polyurethane for the first time, and it has a completely different personality than the Kirker I'm used to. My first try ended up with disaster- runs, poor coverage, etc. Kirker sets up dry to the touch in 10-15 minutes, PPG is still tacky an hour later. This means more time to run, which is the problem. I searched their website and other than the techsheet I didn't see anything helpful. I'm shooting over high build urethane primer, temps when I had the problem were 75ish on the surface with an IR gun and I had problems with coverage and runs. I shot some trim yesterday and raised the surface temp to 90+ and it came out well. I'm still nervous about shooting large panels until I get more comfortable with this paint. I'm using a DeVillbis Finishline gun. Is there anyone experienced on this board with DelFleet that can give me some tips?

Thanks!

 

[ilovevocs]

I don't shoot allot of single stage so i'm not familiar with the products your using. What size fluid nozzle are you using? If the product isn't atomizing well, which sounds like your issue, you may need a smaller or larger fluid nozzle and less or more air pressure. The only way I can see you running it and having coverage issues is due to poor atomization.

 

[larryq]

Sounds like you know what's what. Any chance you were using slow reducer in the paint?

 

[Lone Star Blaze]

Sounds like too slow activator. I'm a certified delfleet distributor and have been through a few too many del fleet classes. It's a great product let me know what activator you were using

 

[Bruce Amacker]

I'm using a 1.5 tip and ESX520 "slow" activator, which is supposed to be for 68F-76F which the supplier suggested. I seem to have better luck with it at much warmer temps, like mid 80's. When I shot it at 75ish, it ran like mad- waterfalls. I shot a couple of doors today at 80+ and they came out really well, but they were laying down, not mounted. Nice gloss, low orange peel. I'm still afraid of runs on a vertical panel.

Maybe I should try ESX510? (60-68F)

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

[Lone Star Blaze]

Let me look at some charts at the office tomorrow on activator speeds. Also what appox. Was the surface temp of the panel when you sprayed it?
what kind of resto is this? Not everyday I hear restoration and delfleet in the same sentence. You got me curious

 

[cyato]

I'm not sure if it's exactly the same as it was 6 years ago, but I had really poor results with DelFleet single stage. I was under the impression that using a single stage would have been more convenient with the situation that I was in, but it turned out to be a nightmare. I had tackiness issues like you mentioned, couldn't blend anything, and had a very difficult time sanding/scrubbing it off. I was trying to save money, but DelFleet seems to be formulated for non-custom production use, thus the "Fleet" in the name. I used a base coat/clearcoat instead with much better results. Our facility currently uses PPG waterborne base coat with excellent results, so I'm not saying the PPG is bad, just that the DelFleet doesn't seem to be the right choice for what you or I were trying to do.

 

[Bruce Amacker]

The TDS you're looking for is here, about 2/3 down the page, look for the first link that reads:

http://buyat.ppg.com/RefinishProduc...x?FileId=389B5B90-0633-48C0-934C-F099635208C7

http://us.ppgrefinish.com/PPG-Refinish/Products/Commercial-Coatings/Delfleet-Essential


Single-stage
ESSS- Delfleet Essential Single-Stage - en View MSDS Download TDS

Temps I put in my post are surface temps taken with an IR gun at time of shooting.

Would a 1.3 tip give me better atomization and less orange peel than my 1.5? (I have 1.3, 1.5, and 1.8. I though 1.3 was for CC and 1.8 was for primer) I assume it would slow down the application process so it might take longer to paint? (no big deal)

It's a '66 VW Bus. I've migged in a ton of new panels, done the mud and am obviously in the final stages. I chose single stage over B/C because it's easier to shoot, easier to fix, and less forgiving. I have shot B/C, but only a few jobs. VWs were not high tech vehicles and paint from the factory was nothing to write home about, certainly not B/C, and fairly crude, even for the day. In the VW crowd, very few people use B/C, almost everyone uses SS paint unless it's some kind of trailer queen. It's going to be a weekend cruiser, not a show car, and will be two tone, red over white. (ESSSC708560/42473 over ESSSA900001/0001)

I appreciate your time and help!

 

[bsaint]

I am not aware of PPG DelFleet, but I know with Dupont I always use the medium activator at 65 - 70 degrees (70-80% humidity) and it hand slick in like 15 mins. if I recall. (I dont shoot paint in the winter.)

 

[Streetbu]

I know this is an old thread. I just finished shooting some Delfleet. Having never used it before, I couldn't be happier. Flowed out great & basically looks like a factory paint job. Of course white is one of the easiest colors to spray. I'm no pro for certain. Only painted a few panels and touched up cars here and there. This was a replacement tailgate for a buddies work truck that one of his employees crunched so he just bought a new shell. I used a Devilbis hvlp 1.5 at 20psi

 

[ogorir]

Old post, I know, but it still comes up on the second page of google searches, for me at least.
I sprayed a lot of delfleet essentials from 2012-2017, it's a good product and really has excellent UV resistance for a lower priced product. The ESC600 clear is pretty solid, as well.
The single stage is somewhat difficult to get the hang of, but after you do, it's a breeze to get a good finish. It's very sticky and the first coat doesn't like to flow out super well, what I found worked well was to dust all my edges, put a fairly quick light coat on and immediately go back and over spray until the paint droplets start to flow. What really makes this a nice product is that it continues to level out for quite a while, even after it's out of dust. I'd usually give about 20-25 minutes and do a fairly light coat two, which flows out very quickly, but will not fix any unflowed areas from coat one without running. I was using a 3M accuspray 1.4 most of the time, sometimes the fat 1.8 if it was really hot (texas summer). The 5 temperature activators make it easy to match to temps after you get used to what works for what temp/humidity.
The ESC600 clear sprays much more 'normally,' flows out similarly to omni/nason/transtar. Not 'sticky' like the single stage. It was, at the time, cheaper as well and uses the same activator and hardener as the single stage.