# Theory on the fisheyes!



## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Ok. So I have a theory from my previous thread. I was getting fisheyes bad In the Stix Primer. It wouldn't happen when I sprayed the Advance, only the Stix. Stuff is so forgiving..
It recently happened again when I tried spraying the new tintable Cabinet coat. (which I'm not too pumped on). That's for another thread.
I have a feeling... Wait for it.. that because I'm always spraying Advance in my airless and it has oil properties in it, being a hybrid and all. So, i believe it is contaminating my other 100% acrylic finishes..Ya??
I may just use my HVLP for priming and my Airless for top coats..
Just thought I would share and if anyone else has had that issue or theory..


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## stelzerpaintinginc. (May 9, 2012)

finishesbykevyn said:


> Ok. So I have a theory from my previous thread. I was getting fisheyes bad In the Stix Primer. It wouldn't happen when I sprayed the Advance, only the Stix. Stuff is so forgiving..
> It recently happened again when I tried spraying the new tintable Cabinet coat. (which I'm not too pumped on). That's for another thread.
> I have a feeling... Wait for it.. that because I'm always spraying Advance in my airless and it has oil properties in it, being a hybrid and all. So, i believe it is contaminating my other 100% acrylic finishes..Ya??
> I may just use my HVLP for priming and my Airless for top coats..
> Just thought I would share and if anyone else has had that issue or theory..


Take a pic up close. Some folks mistake solvent pop for fisheyes. 2 different animals that can be easily mistaken for one another. No way to tell which you're dealing with without knowing a thorough description of your finishing schedule as well as some descent pics. If it's fisheyes, you've got contamination somewhere. Alter just 1 thing at a time til you narrow it down. I've sprayed countless gallons of different paints through the same sprayer and it's never resulted in fisheyes. Changing machines altogether is a little drastic. Clean your filters real well, flush the system, and use dedicated lines for various solvents. 

Fisheyes are typically caused during the prep stage either by not cleaning contamination or by spreading it, (ex. wax-infused tack cloths). If you DO decide to switch to HVLP, try and repeat your exact procedures from start to finish. It's the only way you'll ever find out the root cause.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

stelzerpaintinginc. said:


> Take a pic up close. Some folks mistake solvent pop for fisheyes. 2 different animals that can be easily mistaken for one another. No way to tell which you're dealing with without knowing a thorough description of your finishing schedule as well as some descent pics. If it's fisheyes, you've got contamination somewhere. Alter just 1 thing at a time til you narrow it down. I've sprayed countless gallons of different paints through the same sprayer and it's never resulted in fisheyes. Changing machines altogether is a little drastic. Clean your filters real well, flush the system, and use dedicated lines for various solvents.
> 
> Fisheyes are typically caused during the prep stage either by not cleaning contamination or by spreading it, (ex. wax-infused tack cloths). If you DO decide to switch to HVLP, try and repeat your exact procedures from start to finish. It's the only way you'll ever find out the root cause.


non-soluble contaminants in the spray equipment or paint can cause fisheyes as well. The most common i've run into is silicone contamination from people spraying it near where the equipment is stored or near where the paint is being sprayed. I had a spray shop get silicone contamination from a plastic molding company 3 blocks away from them. The only mistake they made was opening their back overhead door to get the breeze from the ocean. The plastic shop was between them and the beach! It got so bad they had to buy all new spray equipment and put a lock on the overhead.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

I'm pretty sure it wasn't my cleaning technique. Just sprayed a bunch of doors with Advance. Flawless.
Ran clear water through, switch back over to Stix. More random fisheyes.. Yes because Stix is the first layer, it's most likely to happen at that stage, however when I tested some doors with Cabinet Coat the other day, it fish eyed on both coats.. So weird..
That's why I'm wondering if it's the oil properties from the Advance..


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