Today most paints are solvent based. But the fact that the solvents escape into the air means they contribute to air pollution and the vast majority of such organic solvents damage the environment.

LUCKILY TP HAS CHOOSEN SOME GREAT WATERBASED PICKS FOR YOU.

In a bold and probally trending move across the United States - In late 2008 – early 2009 California’s two largest air quality management districts will impose emissions regulations and require the use of water based paints. By requiring the use of environmentally friendly fully de-ionized water instead of solvent, California legislatures mandates an effective and “economical” method of solvent and therefore polution reduction. It is expected that other states will follow California and soon, in the very near future, all paint will be water based because of EPA issues.... This trend has been coming for a few years now... i.e. see Europe. Also the Canadian Federal Government introduced a new legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse and hazardous emissions from the automotive finishing and refinishing sectors. 

For today's shops many are finding it more and more difficult to find solvent based materials. For body shops, the only current way to comply with the regulations such as those in California is to substitute waterborne “base” coats that use water in place of solvent. We are lucky that currently Clear coats are still solvent based as the problems with waterbased material show up very clearly in automotive clear coats.

PROBLEMS WITH WATERBASED PAINTS:

Some problems exist. Water is not as good a carrying agent for pigments. Shine and “depth” is not as attractive as solvents based paints. Paint manufacturers have been working long and hard to overcome the difficulties of water based paints. Within a few generation cycles great improvements have been made and more is expected shortly.

Also, water based system requires more time for the drying. The solvent based systems evaporates much faster than water based: a three layer application of solvent based base coat on a small repair job in an ideal temperature may take 15 minute. While with a water based base coat that time may increase to about 45 minutes. TP to the rescue - TP offers water based dryers that are very economical for a serious body shop.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!

Waterbased application may be used with traditional spray equipment. In general TP recommends a slightly smaller tip set due to the ease at which water base material is atomized. Wood products are sometime artifically thickened so be aware of the consistency of the brand you are planning on using as they range from 1.5 - 1.9 gravity feed. For Auto, 1.0-1.3 is the general range of spray tips for automotive water based paints. This compares to 1.2-1.4 for solvent based paints. Please note however formulations are constantly changing and since this is new technology our recommendations may change in the future also. Luckily TP always supports its spray guns with multiple nozzle size selections.

Stainless Steel or not: TP has water based guns that are all stainless steel. However, all the high quality spray guns TP carries will generally hold up just fine to all waterbased paints. In general, as long as the gun is a top quality gun and has a stainless steel needle and tips, that is all you need. Bottom line: for most high end guns, the only difference between a waterbased gun and solvent based gun is that you get a plastic cup with waterbased guns. The actual guns varry only slightly if at all.

As times change so will your materials. Embrace water! At TP we have a great German water based primer that can be used on bare metal right out of the can. So enjoy the new technologies as they evolve.

Summary:

Waterbase is the future just like Europe. Embrace it!

We only carry the top name brands in the industry.

All guns sold by TP with stainless steel tips and needles are good enough for waterbased material even if not "marked" as a waterbased gun.

Solvent based is also fine in "waterbased guns" just be sure they are cleaned out COMPLETELY as the chemicals sometimes react with water.

Generally go 1mm tip size down for waterbased material - this is a very general rule and does not apply to all finish types i.e. wood.

Yes, you can use a hair dryer to dry your waterbased paints, but we have professional dryers at very low prices also.