Lacquer peeled off?

[hassy786]

Hi,

So I resprayed my BBS 18 inch pescara alloy wheels from my GTI Edition 30 but the heavy duty halfords lacquer I used just ruined all my efforts as after 3 - 4 weeks it started to peel off. I have now decided to respray them again but I want to know why it peeled off in the first place. Was it to do with me or was it the lacquer I used? Here is the lacquer I used...

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/p...e-paints/halfords-heavy-duty-pu-lacquer-500ml

Other customers seemed to get the same problems using this lacquer by reading the reviews so im guessing it wasn't a mistake on my behalf.

Here is what I did...
Sanded everything down
Filled alloy using metal refiller
Sanding it to make it all level
Washed the alloy
1 coat of etch primer (halfords)
waited 30 minutes
1 coat of high build primer (halfords)
waited 30 minutes
then I sanded using 2000 grit wet and dry sand paper very softly as the surface was grainy so wet sanding made it very soft.
Washed the wheels and dryed
1 coat of Nissan gold rattlecan spray (halfords)
waited 30 minutes
1 coat of nissan gold rattlecan spray (halfords)
waited 1 hour
1 coat of halfords heavy duty pu lacquer
waited 30 minutes
1 coat of halfords heavy duty pu lacquer
left the wheels for 4-5 days before putting them back on the car.

Gave the car a wash with jet wash after around 3-4 weeks but the lacquer started to peel itself off?? Efforts wasted.

The primer and gold spray where perfect but the lacquer didn't work.. Was it something I did wrong or bad lacquer used? Whats a good lacquer to use on alloy wheels other than halfords crap?

Thanks.

 

[Diagro]

Just get them powder coated?

 

[hassy786]

Just get them powder coated?

Cost too much, need to fork out money for new tyres as well so trying to save by doing a DIY on the spraying. It had turned out very nicely other than the lacquer peeling which is what ruined it all. Not much peeling but it bothers me.

 

[Dr Who]

https://e-tech.uk.com/e-tech-alloy-wheel-lacquer-400ml

 

[Diagro]

Cost too much, need to fork out money for new tyres as well so trying to save by doing a DIY on the spraying. It had turned out very nicely other than the lacquer peeling which is what ruined it all. Not much peeling but it bothers me.

£20 each in Birmingham

 

[grudas]

https://e-tech.uk.com/e-tech-alloy-wheel-lacquer-400ml

Yeah used that and it lasted.

 

[ci_newman]

I would say that you didnt leave enough time in the drying stages, so moisture was trapped under the laquer.

60minutes wait between topcoat and laquer is no where near enough unless you're baking it. It needs to be much much longer than that, i.e. overnight

I've used the Halfords stuff before without issues.

 

[Cookeh]

I would say that you didnt leave enough time in the drying stages, so moisture was trapped under the laquer.

60minutes wait between topcoat and laquer is no where near enough unless you're baking it. It needs to be much much longer than that, i.e. overnight

I've used the Halfords stuff before without issues.

I'd agree with this. I'd also wait a lot longer after priming before introducing sandpaper - let alone water! I'd let it dry overnight, then sand it dry.

 

[vanpeebles]

Far too many coats in too short a time, also what did you wash the alloy with? I'd use a clean cloth and some panel wipe

Lacquer can be weird too, if done in too many coats at once, it all merges together and goes yellow or "off".

 

[grudas]

I would say that you didnt leave enough time in the drying stages, so moisture was trapped under the laquer.

60minutes wait between topcoat and laquer is no where near enough unless you're baking it. It needs to be much much longer than that, i.e. overnight

I've used the Halfords stuff before without issues.

that's true too, I left 24hrs before clear coat went on.

 

[Lopéz]

Halfords PU Lacquer is quite temperamental in my experience, I too found that it flakes fairly easily and also takes an extremely long time to fully go off.

Shame because it's lovely to apply and has a really good level of gloss.

EDIT
15-30 minutes between coats is plenty, it only takes a short while to flash off unless you put it on with a trowel. I'd have let the primer cure a bit longer but the top coats and lacquer want to go on in fairly quick succession.
Aren't Halfords paints acrylics? There's no "moisture" as such to get trapped, just solvent, and that disappears fairly rapidly.

 

[hassy786]

Was just about to start preparing the wheels again and pressure washed the wheels to get the brake dust off and literally the old halfords heavy duty lacquer is falling off!! Could it be due to using a acid free wheel cleaner ?

This is the wheel cleaner I have been using for the last year now and it didn't ever cause any problems with the wheels when they where factory painted but since I have sprayed them myself, the lacquer just peeled itself off?
It says Acid free and it was made for alloy cleaning ????

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VALETPRO...=item3b0b0001e7:g:XagAAOSwzaJX7BoF:rk:14:pf:0

I must have given the car its first pressure wash after around 6 weeks of the spray job and I used this cleaner in a spray bottle. I let it sit on the alloys for 2 minutes and then rubbed with a cloth and washed the wheel off. Leaves it sparkling afterwards and never made an issue with the wheels with its factory spray job so didnt think this would ever cause an issue with my spray job?

 

[grudas]

nothing to do with your wheel cleaner. Sounds like you have 0 adhesion to your base coat. Looking at reviews of that lacquer I'd say you got a bad product.

buy something else. e-tec is very decent!

 

[hassy786]

nothing to do with your wheel cleaner. Sounds like you have 0 adhesion to your base coat. Looking at reviews of that lacquer I'd say you got a bad product.

buy something else. e-tec is very decent!

Ahh okay thank you, I will start preparing the wheels today.. sanding, primer, base coat and I will order the E tech clear coat online as its not available locally so when that arrives, I will get the clear coat on.

 

[hassy786]

Just dont want to waste another 70 80 to realise same issue again.

 

[vanpeebles]

What did you wipe the wheels down with?

 

[hassy786]

What did you wipe the wheels down with?

What do you mean? When I was prepping the wheels for paint or when I wash the wheels regularly?

For prepping the wheels, it was in the summer so all I really needed to do was sand them down and clean any dust off with the pressure washer and dry using a hair dryer and microfiber cloth. Made sure it was fully dry as I left them in the sun as well for a bit before spraying the primer. After the primer first coat, I let it sit for 30 minutes and then applied the second coat. 30 minutes later, I wet sanded using 2500 grit sand paper to get the roughness off and make it a smooth surface and then washed with the pressure washer again and dried using a microfiber cloth and hair dryer for heat.

For washing the wheels on a regular basis, I jet wash at the beginning to get them wet, Sprayed on the wheel cleaner, let it sit 2 minutes before rubbing them with a microfiber cloth and then washed the wheel off again with the jet wash. Nothing used at the end to dry, driving the car gets the wheels to dry any way.

 

[vanpeebles]

You might be better getting some panel wipe for prepping.

 

[hassy786]

You might be better getting some panel wipe for prepping.

Is that the same as using degreaser or paint thinner? Seems like I cant buy panel wipe locally?

Here is what the lacquer I used turned out like
https://www.dropbox.com/s/89gfqpk1aqjhz69/20181030_131519.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h78hx7ynuc2th7t/20181030_132017.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7g0m39i7yw14d4v/20181030_132029.jpg?dl=0
Will be using E tech alloy lacquer now.

 

[paintguy]

Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your application method so I'd definitely lay the blame on the lacquer, providing you didn't apply it on a very cold or damp day, which would have affected it's adhesion.

Contrary to what a few have said, leaving the base/colour coat too long before application of lacquer is generally a bad thing. Most have what they call an "open time", generally 16 hours for solvent, 24 hours for waterbase. After this time any further coats of colour or clear lacquer won't migrate into it's surface and produce a chemical bond, you will be relying instead on a very slight mechanical bond which is nowhere near as strong and can cause it's own delamination.

Leaving the colour for the times you mention seems perfectly acceptable (assuming reasonable levels of humidity and temperature). Leaving it as long as some have suggested would require you to sand the surface again and apply another coat of colour before proceeding to achieve a proper chemical bond of the clear.

[Simplified for clarity]