Fish eye eliminator in basecoat

[Ironhead 59]

My painter uses fish eye elimintor in his basecoat and clear,just wondering the side effects of this.I for one do not like the stuff and have never used it until I saw fisheyes in the topcoat itself.just like to hear from other paint people and their opinions.

[JCCLARK]

Probably will never be an issue.
But any repaints or touch-ups in the future will probably
have to also include fisheye-remover from now on.:cool:

[Len]

My painter uses fish eye elimintor in his basecoat and clear,just wondering the side effects of this.I for one do not like the stuff and have never used it until I saw fisheyes in the topcoat itself.just like to hear from other paint people and their opinions.

Fish eye eliminator (FEE) usually increases the amount of texture (orange peel) in the finish and causes any materials laid on top NOT to bond properly. If a surface is cleaned properly and you have a decent filter on your compressed air you should have no problem with fish eyes. If you have a slight fish eye problem in your base it can usually be controled by allowing the base to flash then applying light coats while allowing each coat to dry before applying another until the fish eyes are covered. Because of it's side effects we haven't used FEE in our shop for years.

[recoatlift]

if u use fih eye in sherwin ultra or martin's tech base systems....ur gonna have delamination of the clear coat. fish eye elimantor is silicone...grease....solvents don't bite real good having to go through grease. find out where the contamination is coming from & fix it. fish eye probs r a drag.

[Dennis N. Schmidt]

Modern fisheye eliminators are not silicone based. The original Smoothie was but Smoothie II isn't. These modern formulations are based on sulfactants (detergents) rather than silicones. Check out the following link to such a product from my personal favorite paint supplier Rubber-Seal. http://www.rubber-seal.com/prodview.asp?prodID=1457

[Phil V]

I haven't used fish eye killer since the old acrylic enamel days (25 years ago). There are several negative side effects of using FEE (fish eye eliminator). Like Len suggested - most light fisheye problems can be taken care of right away without the need for FEE. If the fish eye problem is really serious then you need to stop immediately what your doing, wash the panel down with thinner or reducer and start over, eliminating the cause of the fish eyes in the process.

[Ironhead 59]

Thanks for the replies,havent used ffe in any of my stuff in years.I asked my painter why he uses it and he says hes been painting for 25 years and that was the norm and bla bla bla.Also Ive noticed after a car sits in the sun after its been painted it has more orange peel than if not using ffe in the entire job.I just dont see using it as a preventive but as trouble shooter after you get fisheye and not before.

[recoatlift]

if ur painter put a sticker in the vehicles he painted using fish eye eliminator. cuz the next shop that has to paint his work will have to fight the fish eyes. once u use that stuff....it's cradle to grave on every re-do.
ur also correct on the orange peel & a hazy look caused by fish eye elim. using that product does stop the individual fish eyes....causing 1 giant "whale" eye. i have 22 yrs in painting & have had to change from "the norm" too often to count. in this trade, it's not business as usual. the one thing u can count on is change.

[Ironhead 59]

Hey man Im all ears. Thanks

[pane2k]

I used to use fisheye eliminator as well until i realized i didnt need it. It never caused any issues when recoating like you guys are describing. In my case it was just a waste of money.

[fixdent]

I have not used FEE in years, can't remember when I bought it last. It's a thing of the past.

--
Gordon

[MARTINSR]

There are VERY clear warnings about using FEE in every base coat on the market I believe. It is NOT the right way to go. First off, clean the darn thing properly and you should never need it.

Brian