I’m having an uphill battle with spray painting, what’s going wrong?

Ben Jeffs

hello, I’m doing an old bicycle resto. All parts removed, sanded and primed and painted. No issues. Now on the last step, clear lacquer. See the photos for what’s happening. The paint had days to dry, so did the primer.
I’ve sanded the frame and touched up the blue TWICE!! I thought it was the cold temperature of the clear lacquer so I let the can sit in warm water. Same thing happened. Thought it was the cold temperature of the metal, so I left it indoors next to a radiator and even painted indoors this time. Same thing happens near instantly.
Lucky I only sprayed a small area and observed this time.
Whats goin’ on???

The Continental Op

Rustoleum is oil based.

https://woodworkingadvisor.com/is-rustoleum-spray-paint-oil-based/

Edit> While yours with acetone, xylene and hydrocarbons is oil based they also do a water based version.

The Continental Op

Its a crackle glaze. You have a mix of incompatible paints in there somewhere. Possibly the clear lacquer is acrylic based and the others are oil based?

Ben Jeffs

I thought they were all acrylic. I used an acrylic primer, standard Rust Oleum painter’s touch and, Simoniz clear lacquer.
but on closer inspection it doesn’t say on the rust oleum can if it’s acrylic. It lists acetone, xylene and hydrocarbons, cyclo-alkanes as ingredients.
can’t find a definite answer online but the lacquer ingredients do are all different so I guess they’re not compatible, would there be a compatible lacquer available or a way to work around this?

Mr321

A paint reaction to a solvent. Were you spraying with any opened or recently opened silicone products in the atmosphere around you? Lacquer paint usually is sprayed 2 hours afte the top not when the top coats fully dry.