My paint rep pulled me aside about the 2K primer I've been spraying for 8 months and now I'm second guessing every job
I was talking with my PPG rep at the supply counter in Bakersfield last Tuesday and he asked what temp I was reducing my 2K primer at, and when I said 75 degrees he just shook his head. He told me that the activator ratio I've been running will pass a solvent wipe test today but will fail a cross cut adhesion test in 6 to 8 months once the film fully cures, especially on bare metal panels with any surface rust prep. Has anybody else had a primer that looked fine for half a year before the topcoat started lifting at the edges?
Watching my paint jobs age like a bad tattoo is basically my whole business model lately, so welcome to the club. That slow cure creep is real and it always shows up right when the customer thinks they got a deal. I ran a batch of cheap primer on a guy's trailer fenders one winter and by July the topcoat was peeling off in strips like sunburned skin, cross cut test be darned because nobody was testing it in my shop back then. Now I keep a little log of temps and mix ratios on the wall and my rep thinks I'm nuts but at least I sleep at night.