I just had my car painted and there is "orange peel everywhere? what causes that?

 

a bad body shop.

 

gun that does not atomize air very well, temperature, type of paint used, method of spraying, settings on the spray gun, type of paint booth used, method of preping. Orange peel is a hard thing to prevent, its normal, you could smooth it down if you want with some 1500grit by wet sanding and buffing, but I wouldn't suggest it since it thins down the paint. I would just live with it or go complain to the body shop, which will probably tell you that they just restored the car to like new condition and theres nothing they can do. Almost all factory cars come with orange peel, so its not really that bad.


[Modified by B20LS-T, 9:25 PM 5/12/2002]

 

how much did it cost you to get painted ?

 

totally true that it's the method of mixing or type of paint (most likely method of mixing).

If too much hardener is put into the clear coat, it'll cure before the clear gets to smooth out. I painted my own car once (it was before my teg, little 89 Sentra). We played with the clear mixing before actually shooting the car (followed directions but wanted to be sure the clear would be smooth). Well, we got the clear to be as smooth as possible, but orange peel still came out (slight, but there).
It's gonna happen, and the only way to get rid of it is to wetsand with 1400 or so grit sandpaper. (wetsand = water + soap + sandpaper).

Complain to them if it's bad orange peel (like craters). But if it's only like your skin's texture, don't fret it. All cars have it.

 

exactly, it's all about how you forked over for the paint. If you paid anything from 199-500 (just an estimate, so get off my nuts) i'd expect orange peel all over the car just like every other stock paint (from the factory). If you paid 2k+ then accept nothing but a glassy finish without orange peel from the body shop. And of course when I mentioned the pricing it doesn't specifically affect whether or not it will have orange peel. But you can't expect a macco (etc...) painter to color sand the paint when the customer didn't fork over the dough for it. Exceptions are made when the paint job is a hookup.

 

It does have somewhat to do with how the paint is mixed, but if you follow the instructions, it shouldn't be the problem. It has more to do with how it is applied, if the techniques aren't there, then its going to come out shitty. It has everything to do with the painter, you cant just pick someone off of the street, hand them a paint gun(even if the gun is top of the line) and tell them to paint, it WILL come out like crap. It takes practice and patients to get it right. You have to know how to work the gun. Here's a qoute from a book I read called Paint and Body Handbook by Don Taylor and Larry Hofer(can be bought on Amazon.com):
Orange Peel:
Appearance
a. Resembles ballpeen-hammer dents in paint
b. Resembles skin of an orange.
Cause
a. Under reduction
b. Improper thinning solvent
c. Lack of proper flow
d. Surface drying too fast(too fast of a hardener/weather conditions)
e. Improper air pressure
Remedy
a. (Enamel) Rub surface with a mild polishing compound.
(Lacquer) Sand or use rubbing compound.
b. Sand and refinish
Prevention
a. Proper air and gun adjustment
b. Proper thinning solvents

Thats just one of my books, I can pull out a whole bunch more and qoute them too if you like. So don't say it has nothing to do with the painter when it has allot to do with him/her.

 

Here's some more causes I found:
1. Improper gun adjustment and techniques. (Too little air pressure, wide fan patterns or spraying at excessive gun distances causes droplets to become too dry during their travel time to the work surface and they remain as formed by gun nozzle.)
2. Extreme shop temperature. (When air temperature is too high, droplets lose more solvent and dry out before they can flow and level properly.)
3. Improper dry. (Gun fanning before paint droplets have a chance to flow together will cause orange peel.)
4. Improper flash or recoat time between coats. (If first coats of enamel are allowed to become too dry, solvent in the paint droplets of following coats will be absorbed into the first coat before proper flow is achieved.)
5. Wrong thinner, reducer or BASEMAKER. (Under-diluted paint or paint thinner with fast evaporating solvents causes the atomized droplets to become too dry before reaching the surface.)
6. Too little thinner, reduce or BASEMAKER.
7. Materials not uniformly mixed. (Many finishes are formulated with components that aid coalescence. If these are not properly mixed, orange peel will result.)

Its not all about how you mix it there are other factors too.

 

Ok, you obviously have NO idea what you are talking about. Have you ever painted before? read any books? took any classes? I would be surprised if you answered yes to any of those questions. Just cause your pops owns a shop doesn't mean he knows what he's talking about It does have to do with the painter, if you spray too far away, you will not only create dry spots but you will create more orange peel becuase the paint will come together before hitting the panel which means you will have more paint in those spots. That information came straight from books where they have plenty of experiance painting themselves, so dont say its wrong If you know anything you would know that the painters paint with the spray booth at around 70-80 degrees and colder then 70 degrees and the thinner will not dry correctly and so will the paint. The reason the painters have the booth at about 200 degrees(its actually about 250 degrees) is it cuts down the drying time of the paint. Paint will norally take about 24 hours to dry before it can be wet sanded. Using the high temps. lets the painter work faster and the paint will take anywhere from 30-60minutes to dry depending on the temp. They DO NOT paint at 200 degrees, they would friggin melt you idiot.
Unless you have any hard evidence to back up your poor excuses, then shut up!

 

 

Thank you Teken, Ive been practicing painting for about a year now and its not easy, but hopefully the weather will come around and I can perfect it this summer.

 

wow you guys really know your stuff. I appreciate all your comments and it what it came down to was that I got what I paid for. $880