Paint School

Most common paint failures

Holidays, too low DFT Sweating (Amine)

Sags and runs Blushing
Orange peel Poor drying / curing
Dry spraying Blisters
Overspray Rust penetration
Pinholes, popping Cracking
Fish-eyes Flaking
Wrinkling / lifting Chalking
Discolouration/bleeding
Paint School
 Sags and runs

Appearance
Paint running or hanging like curtains on vertical surfaces
Caused by
Too high Wet film thickness
Too much thinner added to the paint
Airless spray gun too close to surface
Repair
Avoid above
Use paint brush to smoothen or remove excessive paint

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 Sags and runs

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 Sags and runs

Too thick application of antifouling

-
4934-82
4226-48

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 Sagging test

Appearance
Paint running or hanging
like curtains on vertical
surfaces
Caused by
Too high Wet film
thickness
Too much thinner added
to the paint
Airless spray gun too Paint technology \ Thinning_sagging1
close to surface
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 Orange peel

Appearance Paint surface is rough, like an orange peel

Caused by Poor flow / levelling properties of the paint

(Paint too thick or too low temperature)
Poor atomisation of the paint
Too fast evaporation of the thinner
Airless spray gun too close to surface

Repair Improve application technique

Use correct thinner
Grind surface and apply new paint
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 Orange peel
Wet
topcoat
Primer
Blasted
steel

Seen from above

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 Orange peel

Poor flow / levelling properties of the paint

1183-0026

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 Dry spray
Appearance Porous, sandpaper like surface of the paint
Caused by Poor atomisation of the paint
Spray gun too far away from the object
High air temperature and low relative humidity: Too fast
evaporation of the solvents
Strong wind during application
Repair Inorganic Zinc: Re-blast and apply new paint
Physically drying paints: Apply thinner on the painted
surface and apply a new coat
Oxidativly drying paints: Remove loose dust and apply
topcoat
Two-pack paints: Remove loose dust, sandpaper to
smooth surface, apply topcoat

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 Dry spray

Dust from application

Primer

Blasted
steel

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 Overspray Dry spray

Blue top coat spray dust settling on welds etc.

Overspray onto fresh paint

4226-58
4934-76

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 Pinholes
Appearance
Tiny holes through one or more coats, or even down to the
substrate, as if perforated by a needle
Caused by
Dry spraying
Entrapped solvents or air
Porosity of previous coat
Incorrect application technique or viscosity of the paint
Repair
Grind top layer of the paint
Recoat
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 Pinholes

Solvents / air Wet topcoat

Primer
Blasted steel

Pinholes

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 Pinholes

Paint applied to a porous substrate

4934-67

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 Formation of Pinholes
on a porous substrate
Very porous substrate (e.g.
Zinc silicate primer)
Entrapped solvents or air in
the paint film
Solvents or air try to
evaporate through the upper
part of the film, which has
already nearly dried,
leaving small bubbles
/craters on the surface
Paint technology \ Pinhole1

Paint School
 Pinholes / popping
Appearance Solvents or air try to evaporate through the upper part
of the film, which has already nearly dried, leaving
small bubbles /craters on the surface
Caused by Very porous substrate (e.g. Zinc silicate primer)
Entrapped solvents or air in the paint film
Usually in connection with too high film thickness,
too long application distance or too strong ventilation.

Repair Reduce film thickness or ventilation and adjust

application technique (Tie coat / mist coat technique.
Remove paint on painted surfaces and repaint

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 Pinholes / Popping

Porous substrate
Too thick application

0807-88
0807-4

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 Fisheyes

Appearance
Spots of paint on the surface with no wetting of the
surface around the spots. Appearance of a fisheye.
Caused by
Paint applied on oil, silicone or other contaminants
Painted on incompatible paint (Glossy paint giving
poor wetting)
Repair
Grind top layer of the paint
Recoat

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 Fisheyes

Silicon Evaporation of solvents Wet

topcoat
Primer

Fisheye Blasted
steel

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 Wrinkling

Appearance
Small wrinkles through or partly through the paint film
Caused by
Skin drying of the paint film, which is usually applied
too thick
Repair
Grind top layer of the paint
Recoat

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 Wrinkling

Wet
topcoat
Primer
Blasted
steel

Wrinkles

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 Wrinkling
Paint applied too thick
Skin drying
Most common with alkyds

4847-0595

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 Lifting
Appearance
Small wrinkles through the paint film
Caused by
Softening and raising or swelling of a previous
coat by the application of an additional coat
Normally when overcoating Alkyd
Lifting often caused because the solvents in the
new coat is too strong for the previous coat
Repair
Remove the paint
Recoat

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 Lifting

Wet
topcoat
Primer
Blasted
steel

Wrinkles

Lifting

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 Lifting

Wrinkled and tacky surface

Coatings not compatible

4934-0066

Paint School
 Lifting may be avoided by using
high solid coatings
Caused by
Softening and raising or
swelling of a previous coat
by the application of an
additional coat
Normally when over-
coating Alkyd
Lifting often caused
because the solvents in the
new coat is too strong for
the previous coat Paint technology \ Thinning_recoatability1

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 Sweating and carbonisation
(Amine blooming)
Appearance
Tacky and sweating film, often with white stains
Caused by
High humidity, particularly on Epoxies during curing
Poor ventilation
The Amines react with CO2 and humidity and form
Amine carbamate.
Too low temperature
Repair
Wash with warm water or thinner, using rags
Preventive measure: Induction time before application start
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 Amine blooming - Sweating

Steel painted with Epoxy

Tacky surface

Tacky surface
C22/2-17 with white C22/2-19
stains

Tacky, shining surface

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 Bloom and blush
(Blushing)
Appearance
Surface looks milky
Caused by
Condensation on cold steel surfaces at high humidity
Air pollution, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia
forming ammonium sulphate on the paint film.
Fast thinners
Repair
Grind top layer of the paint
Recoat

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 Blushing
Bloom / Blush
High relative humidity,
condensation, rain drops
Wet paint

Primer

Blasted steel
From above Blushing

Blasted steel

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 Blushing
Bloom / Blush

Antifouling and top coat exposed to high humidity

4226-0066
0807-47

Paint School
 ISO 4628

Evaluation of degradation of paint coatings

Designation of intensity, quantity and size of

common types of defect

Paint School
 ISO 4628
Content of the Standard
The standard consists of six parts
Part 1 General principles and rating schemes
Part 2 Designation of degree of blistering
Part 3 Designation of degree of rusting
Part 4 Designation of degree of cracking
Part 5 Designation of degree of flaking
Part 6 Designation of degree of chalking

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 1
General principles and rating schemes
Uniform deterioration.
Rating scheme for designation the intensity of deterioration
consisting of a uniform change in the
visual appearance of the paint coating.

Rating Intensity of change

0 unchanged, i.e. no perceptible change
1 very slight, i.e. just perceptible change
2 slight i.e. clearly perceptible change
3 moderate, i.e. very clearly perceptible change
4 considerable, i.e. pronounced change
5 severe, i.e. intense change

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 1
General principles and rating schemes
Scattered defects.
Rating scheme for designating the quantity of defects consisting
of discontinuities or other local imperfections of the paint coating.
Quantity of defects
Rating (relative to a test surface area of 1 to 2 dm²)
0 none, i.e. no detectable defects
1 very few, i.e. some just significant defects
2 few, i.e. small but significant amount of defects
3 Moderate, i.e. medium amount of defects
4 considerable, i.e. serious amount of defects
5 dense, i.e. dense pattern of defects

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 1
General principles and rating schemes
Rating scheme for designating
the size (order of magnitude) of defects

Class Size of defect

0 not visible under 10 X magnification
1 only visible under magnification up to 10 X
2 just visible with normal corrected vision
3 clearly visible with normal corrected vision (up to 0,5 mm)
4 range 0,5 to 5 mm
5 larger than 5 mm

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 1
Test report
The test report shall contain at least the following information:
a) the type and identification of the product tested
b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 4628/1)
c) the type of defect
d) the intensity of the defect (table 1) or,
e) the quantity of the defect (table 2)
f) the rating, if any, of the size of the defect in brackets preceded
by the letter S .
Examples: cratering of top coat : 2 (S3)
whitening : 4
rivelling : 3 (S2)

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 2
Designation of degree of blistering
Rating
Rate the density and size of the blisters in a paint coating by means of the pictorial standards
NOTE - The photographic reference standards have been adopted from ASTM D 714-56
The correlation between the ISO and the ASTM rating system is as shown in the table.
Table - Correlation between ISO and ASTM rating systems

Density Size
ASTM ISO ASTM ISO
None 0
(less than few) 1 (smaller than 8) 1
Few 2 8 2
Medium 3 6 3
Medium - Dense 4 4 4
Dense 5 2 5

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 2
Designation of degree of blistering
Test report
The test report shall contain at least the following information:
a) the type and identification of the product tested
b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 462/2)
c) the numerical rating of the density of blistering
d) the numerical rating of the size of blistering.
for example: blisters 2 (S2)
Where a test piece exhibits blisters of varying size, quote as
the size rating that of the largest blisters which are numerous
enough to be typical of the test piece.
e) the date of the examination
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 ISO 4628 - 2
Degree of blistering

Blisters of size 5

Density 2 Density 3

Density 4 Density 5

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 Degree of blistering

Osmotic blistering in WBT

Two size and intensity of blisters

4226-0064
4934-0068

Paint School
 Blistering: Relation between solvent retention,
water vapour permeability, porosity and water uptake
Solvent Improper coating Exudation of components Salt
retention application from coating contamination
(e.g. tar oils, hardeners etc.).

Attraction of Causing Voids

water by water On substrate
after evaporation In primer after pre-treament
miscible solvents of solvents

OSMOSIS POROSITY OSMOSIS

Introduction of electrochemical
Increase water corrosion. Transport of ions.
vapour permability (Electro endosmosis)

Cathodic disbonding
Blistering
Loss of adhesion
Source: TNO CORROSION

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 ISO 4628 / 3
Designation of degree of rusting
Rating
Designate the degree of rust formation by
reference to the pictorial standards
Degree Area rusted %
Ri 0 0
Ri 1 0,05
Ri 2 0,5
Ri 3 1
Ri 4 8
Ri 5 40/50
Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 3
Designation of degree of rusting
Correlation between ISO and European rust scales
ISO rust scale European rust scale
Ri 0 Re 0
Ri 1 Re 1
Ri 2 Re 2
Ri 3 Re 3
Ri 4 Re 5
Ri 5 Re 7

Approximate correlation between ISO and ASTM rust scales

ISO rust scale European rust scale
Ri 0 10
Ri 1 9
Ri 2 7
Ri 3 6
Ri 4 4
Ri 5 1 to 2

Paint School
 Assessment of area ratio
for coating breakdown

0.1 % 1.0 %
. .
. . . .
.
. . .

3.0 % 10 %

20 % 30 %

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 3
Designation of degree of rusting
Test report:
The test report shall contain at least the following information:
a) the type and identification of the product tested
b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 4628/3)
c) the numerical rating of the rusted area
d) the numerical rating of the size of the rust spots, if desired,
for example: Rust: Ri 3 (S4) =
rusted area, as a percentage of rust, approximates standard 3,
the sizes of the individual rust spots of the order of a few
millimetres.
e) the date of the examination

Paint School
 ISO 4628 - 3
Degree of rusting
Ri 5

Paint School
 Pinpoint rusting

Appearance
Points of rust
Caused by
Small pores (pinholes), openings or defects in
the paint film down to bare steel
Holidays due to overspray, dry spraying etc.
Too high substrate roughness
Repair
Grind down to bare steel
Recoat

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 Pinpoint rusting

Rust penetration

Pin hole

Dry topcoat

Primer

Blast-cleaned
steel

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 ISO 4628 / 4
Designation of degree of cracking
Rating
Rate the quantity of cracking by reference to table 2 of ISO 4628/1 and using as
examples figures 1 or 2, depending on the type of cracking

Rating scheme for the designation of the size of cracks

Class Size of cracks
0 Not visible under 10 X magnification
1 Only visible under magnification up to X 10
2 Just visible with normal corrected vision
3 Clearly visible with normal corrected vision
4 Large cracks generally up to 1 mm wide
5 Very large cracks generally more than 1 mm wide

Three main types of failure by cracking are to be distinguished:

a) surface cracks which do not fully penetrate the top coat
b) cracks which penetrate the top coat, the underlying coat(s) being substantially unaffected;
c) cracks which penetrate the whole coating system

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 4
Designation of degree of cracking
Test report:
a) the type and identification of the product tested
b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 4628/4)
c) the numerical rating of the quantity of cracking
d) the numerical rating of the size of cracking
e) the depth of cracking (a. b. or c), where possible,
for example: cracking 2 (S3) b
If necessary, the standard assessment may be amplified in
words, for example linear cracking . The use of such
comments shall, however, be avoided wherever possible
e) the date of the examination
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 ISO 4628 - 4
Evaluation of cracking
Quantity

1 2 3 4 5

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 ISO 4628 - 4
Evaluation of cracking.

Quantity

1 2 3 4 5

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 Evaluation of cracking

Left: Thick old alkyd paint has been under stress

Right: Too thick paint film (Cracking)

4934-0063 0807-30

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 ISO 4628 / 5
Designation of degree of flaking
Scale for the quantity of flaking
Class Flaked area
The main types of failure by
0 0
1 0,1 flaking are to be distinguished:
2 0,3 a) Top coats flaking from
3 1
underlying coat;
4 3
5 15 b) Whole coating system
flaking from substrate
Scale the average size of areas
Class Size of flaking
0 not visible
under X magnification
1 up to 1 mm
2 up to 3 mm
3 up to 10 mm
4 up to 30 mm
5 larger than 30 mm

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 5
Designation of degree of flaking

Test report
The test report shall contain at least the following information:

a) the type and identification of the product tested

b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 4628/5)
c) the numerical rating of the quantity of flaking
d) the numerical rating of the size of flaking
e) the depth of flaking (a or b),
for example: flaking 3 (S2) a

Paint School
 ISO 4628 - 5
Evaluation of flaking.
Quantity

1 2 3 4 5

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 ISO 4628 - 5
Evaluation of flaking.
Quantity

1 2 3 4 5

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 ISO 4628 / 6
Evaluation of chalking
Part 6:
Rating of degree of chalking by tape method
Self-adhesive, transparent tape, of width
25 mm + 10 mm
Chalking is removed by adhering to the tape
Black or white background
Comparing the amount of chalk on the tape
with pictorial reference standard

Paint School
 ISO 4628 / 6
Rating of degree of chalking by tape method
Test report
a) all details necessary for the identification of the product tested;
b) a reference to this International Standard (ISO 4628-6);
c) the type of weathering (artificial or natural) of the coating;
d) all details necessary for the identification of the adhesive tape
used;
e) all details necessary for the identification of the substrate used
as background for the adhesive tape;
f) the numerical rating of the degree of chalking;
g) any deviation from the procedure specified;
h) the date of the examination
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 Chalking

Appearance Almost like dust on top of the coat

The gloss will be reduced
Pigments and extenders exposed on
Caused by the paint surface, due to
Exposure to sun / UV light
Degradation of the binder
Weathering of the paint
Insufficient mixing of the paint

Repair Grind and/or wash top layer of the paint

Recoat
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 Chalking

Sun light

Epoxy topcoat
Primer
Blasted
steel

Chalking

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 ISO 4628 - 6
Chalking
Extreme case of chalking
Due to degradation by exposure to sunlight

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 Standards relating methods for
evaluation of degradation of coatings
Property Standard / Test method
ISO 4628 - 2, ASTM D 714
Blistering DIN 53209, BS 3900 H2

ISO 4628 - 3, ASTM D 610

Rust grade DIN 53210, BS 3900 H3

Cracking ISO 4628 - 4, ASTM D 661

DIN ISO 4628, BS 3900 H4

Flaking ISO 4628 - 5, DIN ISO 4628

BS 3900 H5

Chalking ISO 4628 - 6

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 Bleeding

Appearance Discolouration of a paint, particularly in

topcoats
Caused by Coloured ingredients in a previous coat or on
the substrate is dissolved by solvents in the
subsequent coat, e.g.
Soluble pigments (Poor solvent resistance)
Tar, Bitumen, etc.
Surface contaminants (coloured)
Repair Re-blasting and re-application

Note: Bleeding may continue through

additional coats unless source is removed
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 Bleeding
White topcoat
Tar containing
primer
Blasted steel

Discolouration
Bleeding

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 Bleeding

Tar epoxy bleeding through yellow vinyl coat

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 Delamination
(Adhesion failure)
Appearance
Loss of adhesion:
Intercoat delamination: Between coats
Substrate delamination : Between primer and substrate
Caused by
Primer not compatible with subsequent coat
Contamination of substrate or between coats
Recoating interval too long
Blooming / sweating
Repair
Remove loose paint layer or down to substrate
Recoat

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 Delamination
(Intercoat delamination)
Oxygen Humidity Contamination
Topcoat
Primer
Blast-cleaned steel

Topcoat
Intercoat
delamination
Blast-cleaned steel

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 Delamination (intercoat)

Intercoat delamination due to:

Too long recoating interval Condensation

4226-36
4226-37

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 Mud-cracking

Appearance
Cracks occurring during the drying process of the paint
Appearance of the surface of cracked mud
Caused by
Particularly for inorganic Zinc applied at a too high film
thickness
Repair
Re-blast to Sa 2½ or grind off
Apply the inorganic Zinc

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 Mud-cracking

From above

Cross section

Primer

Blasted
steel

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 Mud-cracking

Mud cracking of Zinc silicate

Paint applied at too high a thickness

4934-62

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 Cracking / Alligatoring

Soft coat under a hard coat

0807-19
4934-61

Paint School