UV Smooth Prime

OK the rumors about UVSP have me paranoid now. I know some folks have had
nightmarish problems with this product but I am hopeing that there are some
success stories out there as well as it is still on the market. I have been
using UVSP on my project during the build and now extensively during
painting. I use it as the exclusive primer and have been spraying Imron
5000 over the top, no sealer or additional primer. I have been doing it
this way as this is how, when I started using the product 4-5 years ago,
polyfiber said it could be used. Reading Polyfibers website, they NOW
reccommend a epoxy primer over the UVSP, and they reccommend a 3 week dry
time, using a dehumidifier! The underside was painted four years or more
ago and so far I have had no problems with blistering, flaking, or fadeing
but I have not had the plane out in the sun for any extended periods. It is
also an amphibian so I have some parts sitting in water, so far no problems.

Soooo, my question is what are others experiences with UVSP, How did you use
it? How long have you had the paint in service? If you had problems, how
long did it take them to manifest themselves? Do you have any theories why
you had a problem?

If you have used it successfully Please fill us in, some positive stories
are welcome too!

Thanks

"Doug Palmer" wrote in message
nk.net...
OK the rumors about UVSP have me paranoid now. I know some folks have had
nightmarish problems with this product but I am hopeing that there are
some success stories out there as well as it is still on the market. I
have been using UVSP on my project during the build and now extensively
during painting. I use it as the exclusive primer and have been spraying
Imron 5000 over the top, no sealer or additional primer. I have been
doing it this way as this is how, when I started using the product 4-5
years ago, polyfiber said it could be used. Reading Polyfibers website,
they NOW reccommend a epoxy primer over the UVSP, and they reccommend a 3
week dry time, using a dehumidifier! The underside was painted four years
or more ago and so far I have had no problems with blistering, flaking, or
fadeing but I have not had the plane out in the sun for any extended
periods. It is also an amphibian so I have some parts sitting in water,
so far no problems.

Soooo, my question is what are others experiences with UVSP, How did you
use it? How long have you had the paint in service? If you had problems,
how long did it take them to manifest themselves? Do you have any
theories why you had a problem?

If you have used it successfully Please fill us in, some positive stories
are welcome too!

Thanks

I used it on the cowl and a few other fiberglass parts on my RV-6. I assure
you there wasn't a 3 week cure time or a dehumidifier involved in the drying
process.

So far so good, and my airplane has been flying for 5.5 years. The cowling
was painted 6 years ago or more.

In the RV world, lots of people have had success with the product and a few
have had miserable experiences with no obvious explanation.

KB

We've got smooth prime on our Velocity but its not to first flight, and
is hangared.. so we have no "wear" experience personally to relate.

The story I've heard (which has the weight of hearsay, since I dont have
any references to back it up) is that the "system" (primer and topcoat)
was what people had problems with, and that the system was discontinued,
with only the Smooth prime remaining on the market as a filling primer
(water soluble).

Unless you are on the coast, the dehumidifier is likely overkill, but
being able to let it dry fully in a protected environment is a must.

If you are problem free at this point, you are likely out of the woods.

Doug Palmer wrote:
OK the rumors about UVSP have me paranoid now. I know some folks have had
nightmarish problems with this product but I am hopeing that there are some
success stories out there as well as it is still on the market. I have been
using UVSP on my project during the build and now extensively during
painting. I use it as the exclusive primer and have been spraying Imron
5000 over the top, no sealer or additional primer. I have been doing it
this way as this is how, when I started using the product 4-5 years ago,
polyfiber said it could be used. Reading Polyfibers website, they NOW
reccommend a epoxy primer over the UVSP, and they reccommend a 3 week dry
time, using a dehumidifier! The underside was painted four years or more
ago and so far I have had no problems with blistering, flaking, or fadeing
but I have not had the plane out in the sun for any extended periods. It is
also an amphibian so I have some parts sitting in water, so far no problems.

Soooo, my question is what are others experiences with UVSP, How did you use
it? How long have you had the paint in service? If you had problems, how
long did it take them to manifest themselves? Do you have any theories why
you had a problem?

If you have used it successfully Please fill us in, some positive stories
are welcome too!

Thanks

I helped my friend paint his airplane. We primed with UV Smooth Prime,
applying enough coats to adequately fill minor imperfections after sanding.
The primer cured for months in a mostly dry climate while he worked on other
parts of the airplane. For the final paint, we first sprayed an Imron
sealer coat, followed by Imron (2000?), a single stage top coat.

He's been flying for a few years and the paint has held up fine. He won an
award at Oshkosh.

Good luck,
Dennis Johnson

I applied UVSP on my composite in 2003 and toped it with PPG Acrylic
Urethane. No problem so far. My guess is that the combo of UVSP with
the same company Top Gloss had problems.
--------------------------------------------------------------
SQ200 canard http://www.abri.com/sq2000

I would be curious to research when the folks who have had problems with the
UVSP bought their primer, as well as where it was purchased. What I'm
getting at is I wonder if Polyfiber put out a "bad batch" or two and these
peeling, oozing cases are of the same lot. Of those of you out there who
have had issues could you give an estimate of when the product was
purchased, and Who the vendor was. Just a thought...
Doug

Doug Palmer wrote:

..... Of those of you out there who
have had issues could you give an estimate of when the product was
purchased, and Who the vendor was. Just a thought...

2001/2002 from Aircraft Spruce.

Let me ask you a question. Since there are a bazillion different
primers out there, and the ONLY one that anyone has ever complained
about in public with respect to painting composite aircraft is Smooth
Prime, even if the failure rate is relatively low (let's say 5% as a
talking point, although I personally know 5-7 COZY builders who've had
problems with it, so in the COZY community the %age is probably closer
to 10%-20%), why would you want to use a product where the failure
rate is 5% rather than one where the failure rate is 0.01%?

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006

It isn't so much an issue of wanting to use so much as I have been using it
to prime surfaces over the last 5 years, the whole fuselage is primed, now
painted with the stuff, and I have two more (expensive) cans of the it and
am deciding whether or not to use them
"Marc J. Zeitlin" wrote in message
...
2001/2002 from Aircraft Spruce.

Let me ask you a question. Since there are a bazillion different primers
out there, and the ONLY one that anyone has ever complained about in
public with respect to painting composite aircraft is Smooth Prime, even
if the failure rate is relatively low (let's say 5% as a talking point,
although I personally know 5-7 COZY builders who've had problems with it,
so in the COZY community the %age is probably closer to 10%-20%), why
would you want to use a product where the failure rate is 5% rather than
one where the failure rate is 0.01%?

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006

"Marc J. Zeitlin" wrote in message
...
Doug Palmer wrote:

..... Of those of you out there who
have had issues could you give an estimate of when the product was
purchased, and Who the vendor was. Just a thought...

2001/2002 from Aircraft Spruce.

Let me ask you a question. Since there are a bazillion different primers
out there, and the ONLY one that anyone has ever complained about in
public with respect to painting composite aircraft is Smooth Prime, even
if the failure rate is relatively low (let's say 5% as a talking point,
although I personally know 5-7 COZY builders who've had problems with it,
so in the COZY community the %age is probably closer to 10%-20%), why
would you want to use a product where the failure rate is 5% rather than
one where the failure rate is 0.01%?

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006

I agree wholeheartedly about using a reliable system, which would push me
away from SmoothPrime on future projects. I wish there was another system
that filled pinholes as effectively as SmoothPrime. Also, being waterborne
and roller applicable sure is nice.

We've seen failures in the RV community too. I wonder if some people are not
properly mixing the material, or are applying it during periods when the
temperature or humidity levels are having a negative impact on the
polymerization. (It does claim to polymerize, doesn't it?)

KB

If I were doing it again, I would go with a high end brand, either Dupont or
PPG, and stick with the same product line across the board: filling primer,
primer/sealer, basecoat, Colors, clears, surface cleaner, tack rags,
reducers. It would save a lot of heartache and worry and it would not cost
that much more. The true cost of painting is all of the time spent
prepping, It will suck if I need to repair bad paint in the future.

Doug