I friggin hate epoxy

[Sudsy]

It could be pulling back due to an incompatability between the surface tension of the paint and the clear coat, it happened to me once and that's how the engineer guy at the paint co. explained it. FYI, it was Envirotex over Lumiere light body acrylic metallics.

A coat of Modern Options brand waterproof sealer (glorified name for some formulation of polyurathane) as a scratch coat before the Envirotex solved the problem.

To get the finish to run smooth and to remove the bubbles I put it on the spinner, hit it with a hairdryer gently blowing through the back. Hot Co2 works like a charm, just make sure to blow out the inside of the dryer with some compressed air every now and then to avoid sticking small clumps of dust in the finish.

[Tagger]

I've always battled with epoxy.. my basement is to cool to apply epoxy .. I epoxy them with mirror coat on the kitchen table.. I get set up with the plugs upstairs and my epoxy (unmixed) on the table.. crank the heat in the house about 74 ,,plus I put a space heater on the table..not blowing on the plugs but bouncing of the wall .. then i go away for about an hour... Plugs are not hot,, but the room is toasty.. Its been flowing and kicking pretty good so far .. I only do 6 plugs at a time ,, small batches .. I wear a powderless glove on one hand during and after paint so my oily fingers never touch the plug prior to epoxy ..I had durabilty issues with etex.. a little knick and i could peel it .. Not mirror coat ,

[Jigman]

I never bothered with a scratch coat for the Systems III clear coat. Like Tagger said, the room has to be warm. A spinner helps too. The thing that I found with the Clear Coat is that you really need to mix it well. When doing a batch, I would mix in a small plastic cup for a couple of minutes. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then stir well again. Get everything set up ready to go, then a final mix. Can do up 12 plugs at a time with this stuff. The key seemed to be mixing it well and doing it in a warm place.

Jigman

[Diggin Jiggin]

I think I'm heading back to the mirror coat. I do want to try the clear coat again without the scratch coat, maybe that will make it easier...

thanks guys.

[MAC]

The clear coat is very tempermental temperature wise. If it isn't 70 degrees, with our humidity you will have problems. I use it in the basement but have to crank the heat. The glove is a must too.

[afterhours]

mixing thouroughly and climate control are the keys to a great finish imho. i mix for 3-4 minutes(timed) and have a dehumidifier in my epoxy room and get the results i want.

[piemma]

I was going to post this before DJ's post but I will now. I went back to just mirror coating 2 years ago. Since I don't sell my plugs I am not concerned with looking like a commercial plug. I have posted pics of my plugs and the general consensus was that they looked great.

I usually do 2 or 3 coats of clear gloss. One word of caution!!! Use the same brand gloss as the paint you use. I made the mistake once of mixing different brands and the gloss coat crinkled like crumbled aluminum foil .

[justplugit]

I think the temp along with the proper mix, are the most important things I mix the e-tex or mirror in a cup inside a cup of hot water. Hit the plug with a hair dryer before applyin to warm it, and spin with two 100 watt flood lamps inside the box.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Unless they are being swapped or made for other people, I generally dont coat my plugs... and if I do I generally only do it on needles and poppers....