Primer again - something changed

No I'm not going to debate the various primers but I felt I had to report what seems to be a big difference. My decade old build has gone full circle and I just started building a new set of tail feathers. I have used Duplicolor self etching primer over the entire build. Not a single problem and tough as nails. Now I bought some new Duplicolor primer and I see it is noticeably darker and chips and flakes like crazy. The can is also different the old has a light gray label but the new one is dark green. The old can has a part number of

DAP1690/B1736/RO 09:11 P VOC 60/1.20

The new has a part number of

EDAP1690 HL1414JJ P 1.2 04:30

I contacted customer support to ask about the "E" appended to the part number and got a "I'm sorry but I do not know of any formula change" response. I believe something changed because it chips like mad even when top coated. Any information on this from the great collective knowledge bank out there?

Thanks, Paul

I've found that Duplicolor primer needs to cure for a couple of days at room temperature or higher before it develops any semblance of toughness. I did notice a change in the cans in the last 6 months or so, but the product itself seems about the same.

If the "E" in the new part number indicates an environmentally "friendly" formula, California was likely an early adopter, and that's what I've been using all along.

I checked the MSDS

I just did a search for the MSDS and found two one from December 14 and one from May of 15. a line by line check didn't reveal any differences. I will try searching for the EDAP part number. The difference between the old and new is dramatic.
Guess we'll see.

Thanks for the reply
Paul

Are these the two cans you're talking about?





I've used the dark green as it's what the local auto places sell, but the gray label is what I get from Amazon in 6 packs. I prefer the gray label one, but don't know if there's any fundamental difference.

And actually now that I think about it the first batch of cans I got from Amazon was this:



which is DAP1690, the other gray one above is DPP101 which is what I've gotten since as the DAP1690 is no longer available.

Yes its the last one and the new dark can one

The thing I noticed is the paint color in the EDAP 1690 is darker green and that is one that is flaking in spots. The first batch you got from Amazon is what I used for the vast majority of my build. it is the DAP 1690. It has always been like cast iron and sticks like glue. The new stuff chipped off even after being prepped the same as always and sitting for a week. I may actually call the company on Monday and see if I can get to the bottom of it all. That would be just for my peace of mind. The next issue will be what I switch to so I can stop wearing kid gloves when handling the parts. Right now even dimpling is chipping the primer.
Thanks for your reply.
Paul

And the answer is...

The jury is still out. I found out that Duplicolor is a Sherwin-Williams company. With a little poking around I found the customer support number. A phone call and I heard "we are experiencing high volume so wait times are longer" They offer to call you back within 30 minutes... and they did! I asked about changes in formula and the support rep looked it up and it is the same formula since the early 90's. When I asked about the E in front of the part number he said that was just a warehouse designation and the real part number is still the DAP 1690. I just got a couple cans delivered by UPS today as a replacement from my enquiry by email. I won't be able to give it a try until Saturday at the earliest but I'll report back. The rep said it could have been a faulty batch.

Paul

Looks like I have an answer

I took the opportunity to do a little testing this weekend and it appears the can that Duplicolor sent me performs like the good old formula. I must have had a bad can or two from the same lot. In any case. It appears all is back to normal and Sherwin-Williams stands by their products.

Prime on!

Paul