How to fix Fish Eyes in Clear Coat

We all hate Paint defects but knowing the correct way to fix them can be the tricky part but by watching this video you will be taken the whole way through this Honda Odyssey Painted in Crystal Black, Paint Code NH731P. When I apply the Clear coat we have a Silicone or Wax Contamination issue causing a Fish Eye effect to open up and I will take you through the best method to fix without having to re paint the whole job. I will be using Standox Solvent Basecoat and Duxone 2k Clear, using a DeVilbiss GTI Pro with a HVLP Air Cap for base and a Pro Lite TE20 Cap for Clear (Tenka Pro Lite USA).
Learn how to Spray Paint like a Pro by following this step by step guide to Spray Painting.
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[@lisaklein7351]

can't help but learn something every time i watch one of your vids. Thanks for taking the time to make them

[@dropinbiking92]

YOU JUST SAVED ME SO MUCH TIME!!! We're constantly fighting fish-eye and contamination problems in our booths, one more than the other. I think it's coming through the air, however, our other painter is having more problems than I am, however, I have to polish all of our work, you just opened my eyes to some new tricks! I hate re-doing panels.

[@tahaorcunkutlu4665]

I am actually surprised how this worked out for me. I am making a scale model car and had a issues with 2k gloss. But after watching this video, your tip saved the paint job of my car. Wow. Thank you!

[@mikeseymour5398]

Thank you so much I've been wet sanding and buffing cars for 35 years and I still have to worry about fish eyes from painters instead of going through all this repaint stuff thank you so much for this quick fix tip.RawkOn

[@averagejoe6971]

I always use the following mantra with surface prep: Clean it before sanding, clean it after sanding, clean it before painting. Wiping down the panels with some thinner before starting ANY sanding can eliminate using prep-sol altogether. Water-based degreaser with the final scuff if wet sanding. Light water-based cleaner and 90% rubbing alcohol as a final wipe for anti-static with a clean, well-used micro-fiber rag before paint. No tack cloth. No more fish eyes. The cleaner, the better off you will be. Been in the line of work since '95 :)

[@mrmepis]

As usual, spot on with your explanation and technique Gunman 👍

[@markcolegrove2360]

I've learned a lot from your tutorials mate.Thanks for taking time to show me how to follow my dream of being a super painter.your tips and tricks are wizard like.Cheers

[@allaw2122]

That's another good tip and turned out great thanks for sharing! In the past I've narrowed the fan on the gun and held it far away so it's a dry spray localised over any fish eyes to get the material build up. After, as you aptly put it, smash on another coat after it''s flashed off. Then used a soft brush or even a tooth pick for ultimate precision!

[@adityaisfahani123]

thanks man. I learn a lot from your videos for my diy body repair project

[@heavynumbertaco]

Great video,pal. You should do a video on protecting yourself properly. You're doing it right and a lot of people aren't. Protecting yourself should be the most important aspect when using VOCs. I like to use an EZ Dabber instead of a touch up brush for these kinds of situations. It puts the proper amount of clear in the crater and if it's done soon enough,sometimes it levels out with the clear and no blocking is necessary after cure time. Thanks for the vid. Show people how well you're taking care of yoursel,pal. So important

[@narcissistchristians]

Very helpful especially explaining reasons why.. not just great painter great teacher too

[@rockdawg1467]

amazing i give you credit i had these happen and ended up stripping the pannel and repaint because there was wax on the pannel it didnt show up till paint was sprayed we use to have a fish eliminator that was mixed in the paint and it would stop any from showing up

[@rossreed995]

Man your saving me so many problems. Thank you so much!

[@carlosrojasttt]

thanks so much!!!! this is a video that all we need to watch. So good trick!

[@chrissyp7433]

For shallow fish eyes I would use a small amount of fade out agent which also helps the clear coat flow out over the fish eyes being cautious of preventing runs. If you have a cluster of them in close proximity you could use a small amount of fade out to start them to flow and then finish off with a careful touch in.

[@Arlind86]

this video me want to repair fix and paint all my cars body panels lol thanks gunman. that car look like it came out the factory beautiful

[@barryloftin4159]

Dude you can really paint man ??? I’m glad you made the videos !!!

[@DespiertaVe]

Nice bro i am learning a lot from ur videos , specially when u upload videos like this where sometimes things go not so good . B4 i used to use foam tape . But i foundout ur technike of false edge works better.

[@guy3749]

Well done nice save! Tricks of the trade. Lol Looks awesome.

[@jeffreywong5112]

Thanks! Nice info!

[@T4nkcommander]

Thanks for the video. Was wondering if this trick worked without the traditional 'touch up ring'. I should have painted my truck myself, but I let a shop my family used for decades do it, and in addition to $850 worth of trim damage, there are fisheyes coupled with solvent pop on the three panels. They weren't even supposed to paint one of them. Hopefully I can fix most of the problems by clear touch up/sanding.

[@pdmaheshsharma]

thank you bro your method for fish eye is awesome its good to block thanks cheers

[@refinisherman]

I was a furniture refinisher for 30 years . fish eyes were a constant problem because a lot of the furniture polishes have silicone in them . Pledge being the worst . but I used an additive to my lacquer ,called Smoothie .It worked very well . Two squirts to a quart and no more fish eyes .

[@pathslesstrampled9906]

I used to be a furniture truck driver. I remember our furniture touchup guy absolutely HATED Pledge!

[@zeidooon70]

Good work,was very usefull,thanks very much.

[@NWRefinishing]

I got the same gun in exact same colour 👌🏻👌🏻

[@whiteoak60]

Thank you had this exact problem today!! Fishy.....

[@genewileyopa]

Thank you for video friend

[@chriskaradimos9394]

great videos mate

[@quadcoptervision]

Great channel..

[@airbrushingbynick6071]

Handy to know dude.

[@battime5418]

Thank you for sharing your experience from your videos. What is your process, when you need to re-shoot clear after car has been painted with clear coat. Do you need to sand down the prior painted clear coat, to then re-shoot clear over it? How long do you wait before re-shooting clear? Have you ever shot a mist of retarder over the clear coat to then re-shoot clear? The bases to re-shoot clear over the prior painted clear coat would be to rectify a poorly shot clear coat (dry clear). I guess what I wanted to know was if you have ever sanded down your final clear coat, and then reapplied a top coat of clear coat? Thank you for your time.

[@Zchizo]

Anytime I have to touch up, I use insulin syringes... Much more accurate in where and how much material you put in. Just be sure to break the hypodermic tip of the needle off with some needle nose pliers.

[@Lightedbeam]

Can you get fish eyes in different areas where perhaps the clear went on to quickly after color? Or is that not what causes it. I did what a light coat and waited, then applied another good coat and even more fish eyes showed up! great job on this car. It is hardly one you could call orange peel! That finish looked flat to me! Which is like a custom job by a pro. Oh, yes you are a pro! LOL

[@nunyayourbusiness7327]

still waiting on my pro lite for xmas

[@ednamoleqwe8621]

nice job I had fish eye issue few years back basicly done what you have advised let it dry and built it up then sand it back worked well

[@dedmunne]

I used to get fisheyes from time to time until I ditched the pre-paint prep solvents and started using Glass cleaner W/AMMONIA . May not work for everyone but I'd just spray a Glass Cleaner that contained Ammonia, wipe it off with paper towels, tack rag it and paint. Never had any issues after that!

[@sluggo2005]

John Galt , I too noticed a lot less problems when I switched over to the glass cleaner after hearing about it from an Eastwood tutorial on painting. The stuff works GREAT! Leaves the panel streak free and dry as the desert. Just tack rag and go!

[@jorgegarza2212]

Really! Glass cleaner works? Its a problem the fisheyes cant controll

[@nunyayourbusiness7327]

i believe you need to open a painting school

[@ridhoarlega9092]

I wonder what's the thing that keep you hitting with so much clear coat without making it melt down.

[@arfurfoxhaike]

Good.

[@charleshudson4456]

What are the best base coat paint and the best clear coat ?

[@reyjr3608]

if u only had 1 gti pro lite.after base coat and u want to start clear coat,.do u just change the air cap ?or the whole set of its needles and the thing that look like a cone one?

[@ferreiraaveiro3908]

I feel like the Gunman when my gun has its vent cap open Lol

[@byronbishop7911]

Try to keep air pressure arround 1.8 bar, turn your paint volume down to as light as possible, use a medium thinner rather than fast thinner and watch the result. The trick is light aplication with a good flash off time.

[@nunyayourbusiness7327]

wouldit be easier to use a airbrush for the touchup

[@DanielsWinning]

What would you consider "extreme" hot? I'm learning, so serious question

[@Velvethamma]

I've also had luck repairing fisheyes that way too. Sometimes I can dust them and pound the clear on too. I think it's the luck of the draw whether you can flood them out or not. Great vid

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Thanks, Yeah it wont work every time.

[@lownlowk]

let it dry then dab fisheyes with some clear already mixed bake it or leave it in da sun ..block down da dabs wen you polish... youll be alright it just takes a lil longer though works lika charm

[@1982MCI]

The Gunman but nothing works perfectly every time. I know you’ve been spraying quite a long time and I’ve been spraying over twice as long as you but I learn something from every video you put out and want to thank you. I wasn’t trying to be a smart ass in my first sentence but you’ve been doing this long enough to know it’s the truth and it’s a constant battle

[@markvietti]

may help it fisheye in on a flat surface...

[@ginecreativeproduction6440]

Bro i have powder coating spraygun stuck, can't blowing the powder... Can u teach me how to fix mmy spraygun... Fyi my spraygun is without power unit... Please teach me how to fix it...

[@IntegraDIY]

If you have a deep sand scratch in the base coat, and it was cleared over but the scratch is still visible through the clear, can you still touch up the scratch with a paint brush of clear like this video?? Thanks

[@MrSecyrb13]

do you attend a lot of I-car certification classes?

[@gladememmott3001]

What is 2K thinner???

[@roldie10]

man this spray gun lays the clear nice!! i like it!!

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Sure does, Thanks for watching mate :-)

[@adamporter9967]

yeh its a devilbliss.....i have the same gun, the fan is so wide its great coverage! i have a devilbliss HD clear 👌

[@supernovadw]

As crazy as it sounds as soon at the fisheye happens take your finger and rub it in!!! Do this and whilst the lacquer flashes off it will kind melt in to the other lacquer, one or two coats of lacquer over the top and you'd never have known there were any fish eyes there ;)

[@aliggukibnugurli4072]

Dale Wright any chance to make a how to video please? thanks

[@1982MCI]

Dale Wright that’s fine and works good if your spraying lacquer but what about urethane?

[@joshnolte]

Well done! Good way of doing that, not sure if hs clear would work that way ( I'm not that experienced) but I have done 3 coats before and it worked lol. When you gonna do that video of the bellaria? Haha I'm hanging for it lol. Josh.

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Thanks mate, youre right you would struggle doing this with HS but it still can be done, The bellaria vids are coming soon mate, I use it all the time now for clear and love it.

[@joshnolte]

The Gunman I knew it! Haha. Could you also do a video with green base coat or a really bad covering base coat as I am still having trouble mastering that. It loves high solids and makes them look killa haha

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Did you see this one Josh, VE SS Commodore "Poison Ivy Green" Spray Painting It's one of my more popular videos and is a green with bad coverage.

[@joshnolte]

Yep seen that one! Love the colour. Only you used the gti pro for that, is it similar with the bellaria?

[@SuperLeete]

I'm not a painter but will most paint jobs have a small defect in them like the fish eyes or is it just because of the painter or surroundings just wondering. Anyway GUNMAN great vids keep it up

[@TheGunmanChannel]

+supermotardmario That's right, tyre shine is also a common cause.

[@ifithegr8]

I saw a lot of videos that you post and honestly, they helped me a lot. However, when i painted my fender (white) the paint blend was perfect but before that i did 1500 grit on the area where I was going to blend in my clear. I put a tape and then false edge as you do in your videos. I use rattle cans and used the clear mixed with thinner (like you did in your red car vid). Problem is now when i removed the tape I have an edge where i blended the clear. What plant of attack should i have to remove that sharp edge caused by thinner based clear coat?

[@georgecarlos3159]

Afnan Bashir I would mask a bit further than where you plan to stop the blend.. another good plan, is after you finish masking and you put the false edge, fold one end of that tape and as soon as you put your blender clear, rip that tape off so it doesn’t bulge up against the tape and it should flow out a bit better without a hard line

[@ifithegr8]

@@georgecarlos3159 Thanks, now the problem is despite of my attempts of false edge i have hard line now :(

[@carlheath1814]

Have you tried to fill the wax holes with clear while its wet ? Bit tricky but seems to melt in better ?

[@TheGunmanChannel]

Yeah I have done when it works then yeah it does flow nice but sometimes it can make a bigger mess so I usually just wait till after its baked.

[@ivanredlinemotorsporttoron1010]

Try this on your next job when clearing shoot first coat flash 10-13min On second coat if your mix is 2:1 go 10 clear 5 hardnr 1 base coat reducer shoot second coat reduced pressure to 18-20 psi works great on clears that don't use reducer this process is great if your getting texture try it let me know what you think

[@ARTSPRAYUK]

You can also use superglue to fill silicon holes in ;-)

[@pdmaheshsharma]

+ARTSPRAYUK no way when super glue will dry after few months , you will see the superglue , clear is best but should be done after bakeing or before bakeing at far as clear should be dry enough 50%

[@Booki89]

Will this trick work if the clear coat has fully cured? As in the touch ups, and wouldn't you have adhesion problems because the paint has cured and there is no mechanical adhesion ?

[@TheGunmanChannel]

If you were worried about that then a quick sand with 2000 would do it, it will need a sand anyway so not much extra work but I did it as soon as the bake cycle finished so it's just like putting another coat on, the solvents in the fresh clear will still bite in within this window of time.

[@jakepaul1662]

On the DeVilbiss GTi Pro Lite what air cap do you have ?

[@splash5974]

He says its a TE20 in the vid

[@ednice1345]

Doesn't work on certain metallic paints look like a bunch of dark dots

[@ryucombo8344]

i only get Fish eyes in Clears i dont understand whats going on 2k solids i dont get fish eyes

[@chadsluder8669]

Who do you get that plastic from, the stuff at my shop will flake paint off if you get it to close tp the painted pannel

[@keithdouglas4581]

Have you tried turning the sheet over ? Some sheeting comes with the instruction printed on it to lay 'This Side Up'

[@HewAndAwe]

Thanks Gunman, just spent the last weeks prepping my car having painted the bumpers and they were perfect - but all the panels on the car have fish eyes, the roof more so hundreds of them. I remembered this vid and it didn't work out for me :/ To make matters worse my compressed took a shit on me and is about dead, but not before I had the chance to put 4 coats of clear on - I didn't know what else to do. Do you think I can cut and buff them out? Like you I fucking HATE cut and buffing!

[@HuizachiiCity1]

Ive been battling fish eyes for 3 months now and today has been the worst

[@fvresonanator]

Hi, if I've got fish eyes and my clear coat is now dry, how do I rectify it? Do I need to wet sand and reapply clear?

[@TheGunmanChannel]

If it's already dry then yes, you must sand it again.

[@fvresonanator]

@@TheGunmanChannel okay thanks. What grade wet&dry should i start and finish with before new coating? Btw, your videos are really helpful👍

[@TheGunmanChannel]

@@fvresonanator I'd recommend starting with 800 then finishing with 1200. Good luck mate

[@BoogieDownProduction]

I wanted some opinions from you or your viewers. I live in the US, I paid $800....bodyshop took the hood and passenger fender off and painted them inside and out. They then put it back on and blended the panels. I dont see it during the sunlight but at dusk I noticed there are some dents in the hood....I showed them the dents before painting and they clearly did some work on them. Did I get ripped off? Or for the cost is this a reasonable issue to have?

[@husteran6331]

just the bumper touch up averages $300 its a pretty good price if you ask me

[@hualni]

Did they verbally or write on your service contract they would fix the dents? If they stressed that it was simply a respray, be glad it looks good in the light.

[@danekerwin5342]

BoogieDownProduction. Get paintless dent repair technician to sort out the dents

[@Brulserz]

So you have basically put a dust coat of clear coat over the fish eyes and then "smash it on" clear coat, correct?

[@TheGunmanChannel]

+Brulserz yes, it doesn't always work but usually does, if its in basecoat then just dust a few coats and it should go, don't go heavy with the base.

[@Brulserz]

Thank you for the quick answer! Keep up the good work :)

[@markvietti]

painted cars for 10 years . got so sick of fisheyes i walked out and never looked back.. think it was coming from the oil in the compresses.

[@mynewhaircut]

I put fish eye eliminater and it seems to get rid of them.

[@TheGunmanChannel]

I have used those drops before too but you know that stuff is pure silicone so I'm always reluctant to even get it in, worrying that they will cause a problem.

[@eddiemartinez265]

It work's still have to wet sand it out anyway.

[@slv_car_refinisher6864]

@gunman is that devilvis prolite te20 better than sata 5500 to 1.3 0?

[@TheGunmanChannel]

I think so

[@slv_car_refinisher6864]

@@TheGunmanChannel the gun looks like breaks the clear better and fine. And the fan pattern is more Even than sata

[@eddielugo8541]

ive been having fisheye on all my paint work this week and idk whats causing it?? i wipe it with thiner before i tape and mask it then i also use wax and grease remover arfet masking i dont get fish eye on the base its always on my clear coat i saw my air compressor had alot of water in it but i just put new filtration filter in my booth can water still bypass and make its way into my gun?!?!

[@GRPLiningServices]

Paint guys blame silicone. It's fuck all to do with silicone!

[@XZAYLO]

after i spray clear coat, there are clusters of tiny pinholes. What is the cause??? I decontaminate many many times before painting and clearing.

[@natypes1]

Sounds like solvent pop. Either use a slower catalyst or reducer or apply lighter. What happens is the surface skims over before all of the solvent is out. Then the solvent has to 'break out'. Causes little holes in the clear.

[@tontolocc781]

I got a fisheye when i pee it blinks

[@lownlowk]

haha..lolol.dats hella funny

[@jerrodpatterson6091]

I have been getting fish eyes in my clear. base is perfect though. replaced compressor and lines. cleaned shop and still can't get rid of them. like I have a airborne issue. or a infected gun. what's the cons to adding a little fish eye eliminator to my clear

[@refinisherman]

Once you add fish eye eliminator ,you have to use it all the time . I always used it ,no problem and no fish eyes . This was on wood furniture .

[@hermannnicholsson132]

what causes this fish eye ?

[@refinisherman]

silicone or oil , even oil from hands . Sometimes oil from saws or other machinery .

[@eljuancitoq.v.3167]

Why not use fisheye killer??

[@peanutbutter5191]

Bollox that! Remove air line from gun, remove air cap..... trigger on just enough so that you get a small blow of clear on the fluid tip and release trigger... now simply dab it onto the fish eye, repeat if necessary or just wait till the blobs flash off then hit the full panel with a wet coat.... You'er welcome 👍🏻

[@meconlimited3896]

If I think I might have used anything what could have cilicone in it I actually throw my clothes out .

[@Naytone1]

Wish the blokes I work with could this.. as a buffer for 15 yrs these young guys just leave it up the buffer to fish this shit... not that hard to dump another coat up or use a brush to fill them while after bake cycle..

[@adriandiaz5868]

a

[@redbaron2448]

Didn't work, you can still see Fish eyes 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@johnolsson3997]

.5% of lacquer thinner in you clear will get rid of fishies

[@TheAmbassadorOfQuan]

where is the actual fix? all I see is a dude spraying but no video of the problem or the fix

[@TheAmbassadorOfQuan]

A lot of rambling, a timestamp to the fix you be better