Zinsser Cover Stain

[Mike88]

Hi all.
This is my first time posting and I'm hoping for help please.
I've been using Zinsser cover stain as a primer on home diy painting for a while and found it brilliant.
I know it stinks but when I have to paint skirting, etc, I have multiple fans running so as disperse the fumes and smell.
I recently bought a 5 Litre tin of it as it was on special offer in our local paint merchants and I was almost out of it anyway.
I've now used the new tin on 2 projects and I'm finding that it's taking ages to dry.
I've cleaned the wood, sanded it and then cleaned it again with methylated spirits before applying the Zinsser.
When it does harden properly there's no scraping it off but it's taking days to go to that point.
I was talking to a professional painter and decorator a few weeks back, before this problem arose and we got talking about cover stain after i told him i had a new tin of it at home. He told me that it's now a new formula so as to not have it smell so bad and I'm wondering if this new formula is affecting the drying time.
When I used it previously over the years, it used dry very fast be able to be sanded in a couple of hours.
Has anyone come across any issues with cover stain recently or do I maybe have some defective paint?

[Someone-Else]

Has anyone come across any issues with cover stain recently or do I maybe have some defective paint?

You do seem to have answered your own question

it's now a new formula so as to not have it smell so bad

[dynamod]

Coverstain tends to split decorators down the middle for some reason. I hate the stuff, and won't use it in any circumstance, always looking for alternative products. It's waaay too thick, requiring thinning out to achieve any sort of flow. Besides, if you're priming bare wood, then an acrylic wood primer is a far better option, and if adhesion is important there are plenty of good high grip primers out there.

If opacity is your goal, undercoat would be a more suitable choice, but...........................

............with all this said, I would still choose acrylic/water-based alternatives at any and every turn. Oil paint takes ages to dry to re-coat (despite what the tins say) has too strong a smell (for my liking) works far slower than water-based paints, and white STILL yellows at a wholly unacceptable rate.

If you feel you still want to stay within the Zinsser range, then Bulls-Eye 123 would be a better option.

To your original question - it's difficult to say, but if the paint wasn't defective, either surface contamination or high humidity may be the culprits. MEKO has been removed from a number of paints, and has dramatically prolonged drying and re-coat times. It's an anti-skinning agent, but its removal has rendered a few coatings all but unusable.

https://dacrylate.co.uk/knowledge/meko/

[Mike88]

if adhesion is important there are plenty of good high grip primers out there.

I'm painting melamine bedroom units so adhesion was the priority for me.
I know that BIN from the Zinsser range is probably better suited to painting melamine but I find that stuff harder to work with than cover stain.

Is there any water-based adhesion primers you'd recommend for melamine / laminates, that would be better than the Zinsser 123?

[dewaltdisney]

BIN would be good for melamine. With BIN it is all about speed and getting an even spread. Wipe and degrease the melamine with Methylated spirit. Use a roller to get the BIN on quickly and roll out evenly. The first coat will look rubbish but the second coat goes on well. Cling film the roller in between coats to keep it useable and chuck it when done. Even out any ridges with a light sanding and a wipe down between coats. When hard go straight to top coat(s)

DWD

[dynamod]

BIN isn't the easiest paint on large areas, though it grips like jam to a carpet.

Crown Grip Extreme, Tikkurila Otex (solvent) Dulux Supergrip (one of the few good paints they make)

Thorough meths clean will go a long way here, as will leaving the primer to dry for a few days, to allow it to achieve full adhesion