Coating fisheye additives should be considered only after the low-surface-energy source is controlled. Oil, silicone, release agent, lubricant, cleaner residue, compressed-air contamination, dirty containers, and cross-contaminated tools can all create circular film retraction. WD-D547 is the broad wetting/anti-cratering route, 3467 is the compatibility-focused surface-control route, and FS-D9013R is a solvent/UV fluorocarbon route for situations where silicone additives cannot be used.
These products are not cleaners. First reproduce the defect, map where and when it appears, and compare cleaned and contaminated controls. If a route merely allows the coating to flow over contamination, production adhesion and durability may still fail.
Coating fisheye diagnostic map
| Evidence pattern | First action | Additive route if confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Broad dewetting or cratering remains on a clean substrate across water/solvent/UV systems | Standardize surface and application, then run a low-dose wetting ladder | WD-D547 |
| Substrate wets, but resin/additive compatibility or film flow creates isolated craters | Remove optional additives and rebuild one at a time | 3467 compatibility screen |
| Solvent or UV system cannot use silicone and needs strong anti-cratering | Confirm system and recoat process | FS-D9013R, except prohibited UV vacuum-electroplating primer use |
| Defect tracks one tool, air line, operator, mold release, or substrate lot | Eliminate the contamination source | No additive escalation until the process is clean |
| Termék | Published fit | Supplier starting guidance | Critical boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHLUMICRYL® WD-D547 | Water, solvent, solvent-free, and UV; wetting, spreading, anti-cratering, recoat, and leveling | 0.1–0.5%; direct or diluted addition | Use only after contamination and preparation are controlled |
| CHLUMIAG® 3467 | Water, solvent, and UV; compatibility-prioritized surface control | 0.05–1% solvent; 0.5–5% total formulation waterborne | Public page says avoid mixing with other additives; test alone first |
| CHLUMICRYL® FS-D9013R | 13% fluorocarbon copolymer in dibasic ester; solvent and UV only | 0.1–1.0%; dilute with suitable solvent; any production stage | Not for waterborne; not for UV vacuum-electroplating primer because it affects recoat |
Audit contamination before changing the formula
Inspect substrate cleaning, rinse water, wipes, gloves, release agents, lubricants, compressor oil, air dryers, hoses, pumps, tanks, filters, mixing blades, recycled solvent or water, booth overspray, and nearby silicone products. Plot fisheye locations by part, shift, line, and time. A random formulation trial cannot substitute for this traceability.
Prepare four controls where practical: known-clean substrate with clean equipment, suspect substrate with clean equipment, known-clean substrate with suspect equipment, and the current production condition. This separates surface and process sources before additive screening.
Use WD-D547 for broad wetting loss
WD-D547 is the broad first screen when a controlled surface still shows insufficient wetting or anti-cratering behavior. Its public page covers waterborne, solvent, solvent-free, and UV systems and gives 0.1–0.5% guidance. Start low and compare the same film build and application conditions.
Record fisheye count and diameter, wet-film retraction, leveling, sag, foam, gloss, haze, adhesion, recoat, and storage. Reject a dose that reduces crater count by masking contamination while weakening adhesion or increasing another surface defect.
Use 3467 for compatibility-focused surface control
Choose 3467 when the substrate wets but the formulation still shows compatibility-sensitive craters or uneven flow. Its page supports water, solvent, and UV systems and emphasizes compatibility. The waterborne dosage range is much wider than the solvent range, so build a compact ladder based on internal experience and current technical guidance.
The public page also says to avoid mixing with other additives. First remove nonessential surface additives, evaluate 3467 alone, and then rebuild only necessary combinations in the exact production order.
Use FS-D9013R only inside its system boundary
FS-D9013R is the specialized route when a solvent or UV coating needs anti-cratering and silicone additives cannot be used. Its page describes long-wave leveling, fast leveling, high-temperature resistance, and recoat capability. It must be diluted with a suitable solvent.
It is not a waterborne product. It is also explicitly unsuitable for UV vacuum-electroplating primer because it affects recoating. Preserve that prohibition in both laboratory and production decisions; “fluorine” is not a universal fisheye solution.
Build a repeatable fisheye experiment
- Fix cleanliness. Document substrate lot, cleaning, handling, air supply, equipment, and container history.
- Fix material state. Hold resin and additive lots, pH or solvent balance, solids, viscosity, filtration, age, and temperature.
- Fix application. Hold film build, atomization/drawdown, flash, airflow, humidity, and cure.
- Count defects. Use a fixed area, lighting, magnification, size bands, and photographs.
- Change one product route. Compare a blank with a short dosage ladder and repeat it on production-relevant parts.
Measure the surrounding film, not only crater count
ASTM D823 describes methods for producing uniform coating films on test panels, helping control film-build variation during comparisons. ASTM D3359 rates tape adhesion on suitable metallic substrates and notes limits in sensitivity and multicoat interpretation. ASTM D523 covers specular gloss measurement.
Also report crater/fisheye count and diameter, defect timing, sag, leveling, orange peel, pinholes, foam, haze, color, cure, water/chemical resistance, adhesion failure location, recoat, and storage. Use the customer’s substrate and acceptance criteria; a laboratory drawdown is only a controlled comparison.
Common fisheye-selection errors
Adding more surfactant before tracing oil or silicone
Stop the source first. Otherwise the formulation becomes dependent on an uncontrolled contamination level and may fail when that level changes.
Using FS-D9013R in waterborne coating
The product page lists solvent and UV systems only. Use WD-D547 or 3467 for a documented waterborne route, subject to compatibility and adhesion testing.
Ignoring the UV vacuum-electroplating restriction
FS-D9013R is specifically excluded from that primer because it affects recoat. Do not override this boundary based on a short fresh-film appearance test.
Related defect guides
Use the pinhole guide when the defect may be entrained air or outgassing, the coating defect guide for function-level comparison, or the UV primer anti-cratering guide for UV-specific recoat constraints.
Request a coating fisheye diagnosis
Send the water/solvent/UV system, resin and additives, substrate and cleaning, release agents/lubricants, equipment and air-line history, filtration, application, film build, flash/cure, defect timing and photographs, recoat process, and adhesion requirements. Ask Longchang Chemical to compare WD-D547, 3467, or FS-D9013R.