ETS20
ETS20 Clear polyester (PE) primer/sanding sealer
Clear polyester primer cured by a peroxide hardener (EC1/EC2) with the EA1 accelerator; high solids and hardness. Minimal shrink-back over time, sands well by hand or machine. Recommended for high-gloss work and gloss table tops: a few coats build a thick, level, closed-pore base.
- base for high-gloss / piano finishes (gloss PU, PE or acrylic topcoats)
- gloss table tops
- furniture fronts and panels in various wood species
- clear closed-pore finishes
Mix calculator
Ask about ETS20
Answers are based on the ETS20 data and the products it mixes with.
Mixing matrix
- EA1Accelerator% by weight: 2 %official% by volume: 2 %official
Standard recipe at 20 °C.
Stir the accelerator into the base first, then add hardener. NEVER combine EA1 and the peroxide hardener directly — violent reaction. The newer EA1* hardens faster, leaves no styrene smell, but cuts pot life by ~10–15 % (dealer).
- EC1Hardener% by weight: 2 %official% by volume: 2 %official
Standard PE hardener (catalog).
Peroxide-based (2019 catalog).
- EC2Hardener% by weight: 2 %official% by volume: 2 %official
Slow hardener — for longer pot life: hot shop, big batches, airmix/airless (medium/high pressure) rigs.
Catalog: extends pot life of the mix; the EA1 dealer page recommends EC2 for medium/high-pressure systems.
- EC1Hardener% by weight: 2–3 %dealer% by volume: 2–3 %recommended
Faster cure (cold shop): EC1 up to 3 %, or EC1 3 % + EA1 3 %.
Pot life drops sharply — mix small batches.
- EA1Accelerator% by weight: 2–3 %dealer% by volume: 2–3 %recommended
Together with EC1 3 % for fastest cure.
- EA1Accelerator% by weight: 1–1.5 %dealer% by volume: 1–1.5 %recommended
Longer pot life, typically in hot weather 25–35 °C: EA1 1.5–1 %, EC1 2 %.
From the dealer ETS20, EC1 and EC2 pages.
- % by weight: 10–15 %official% by volume: 15–20 %official
S10 — fast, the catalog's thinner for PE primers; S11 — medium evaporation (listed for PE gloss lacquers), use in heat or on big flat panels.
2019 catalog allowed 5–15 %. Thinner barely affects PE cure — it only sets viscosity and flow.
- S13Thinner% by weight: 10–15 %dealer% by volume: 15–20 %dealer
Dealer lists S13 (specific gravity 0.835; fast; dealer describes it for PE lacquers and stains); also used to flush equipment.
The 2025-26 catalog thinner table lists S13 as fast, for stains, patinas, PE primers and PU/acrylic/UV materials.
- % by weight: 15 %schedule
Recipe from official schedules for the sibling PE primers (ETS50 coffins via twin-intake airless; EPS20 MDF fronts), 250 g/m² per coat. ETS20 itself is not in any schedule — use as an analogue.
| Role | Material | % by weight | % by volume | When |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accelerator | EA1 | 2 %official | 2 %official | Standard recipe at 20 °C.Stir the accelerator into the base first, then add hardener. NEVER combine EA1 and the peroxide hardener directly — violent reaction. The newer EA1* hardens faster, leaves no styrene smell, but cuts pot life by ~10–15 % (dealer). |
| Hardener | EC1 | 2 %official | 2 %official | Standard PE hardener (catalog).Peroxide-based (2019 catalog). |
| Hardener | EC2 | 2 %official | 2 %official | Slow hardener — for longer pot life: hot shop, big batches, airmix/airless (medium/high pressure) rigs.Catalog: extends pot life of the mix; the EA1 dealer page recommends EC2 for medium/high-pressure systems. |
| Hardener | EC1 | 2–3 %dealer | 2–3 %recommended | Faster cure (cold shop): EC1 up to 3 %, or EC1 3 % + EA1 3 %.Pot life drops sharply — mix small batches. |
| Accelerator | EA1 | 2–3 %dealer | 2–3 %recommended | Together with EC1 3 % for fastest cure. |
| Accelerator | EA1 | 1–1.5 %dealer | 1–1.5 %recommended | Longer pot life, typically in hot weather 25–35 °C: EA1 1.5–1 %, EC1 2 %.From the dealer ETS20, EC1 and EC2 pages. |
| Thinner | S10 / S11 | 10–15 %official | 15–20 %official | S10 — fast, the catalog's thinner for PE primers; S11 — medium evaporation (listed for PE gloss lacquers), use in heat or on big flat panels.2019 catalog allowed 5–15 %. Thinner barely affects PE cure — it only sets viscosity and flow. |
| Thinner | S13 | 10–15 %dealer | 15–20 %dealer | Dealer lists S13 (specific gravity 0.835; fast; dealer describes it for PE lacquers and stains); also used to flush equipment.The 2025-26 catalog thinner table lists S13 as fast, for stains, patinas, PE primers and PU/acrylic/UV materials. |
| Thinner | S10 / S11 | 15 %schedule | — | Recipe from official schedules for the sibling PE primers (ETS50 coffins via twin-intake airless; EPS20 MDF fronts), 250 g/m² per coat. ETS20 itself is not in any schedule — use as an analogue. |
Percentages are per 100 parts of component A.
Characteristics
- Solids
- 92 % part Adealer
- Viscosity
- 12 ± 2 sdealer
- Density
- 1.1–1.25 g/cm³recommended
- Gloss
- not applicable (sanded primer)recommended
- Pot life
- 20 min / 1.5 h as printeddealer
- Drying · Dust-free
- 20–40 minrecommended
- Drying · Touch-dry
- 40 mindealer
- Drying · Sand or stack
- 12 hdealer
- Drying · Full cure
- 24–48 hrecommended
- Drying · Conditions
- 20 °C
- Hardness
- high (described as a key property)catalog
- Elasticity
- low — hard/brittle in thick buildsrecommended
- Chemical resistance
- high physical-chemical resistance (PE family statement)catalog
- Shrinkage
- minimal shrink-back over timeofficial
- Thixotropy
- norecommended
- Lightfastness
- may shift the colour of an underlying staincatalog
- Cure mechanism
- Chemical cure with peroxide-based hardener plus metal-salt (cobalt) accelerator; volatile loss (styrene) is small, so solids approach 100 %.catalog
Application
Conventional spray
- Nozzle
- 1.8–2.2 (typ. 2) mmrecommended
- Pressure · air
- 3–4 barrecommended
- Spray viscosity
- 25–35 s DIN4 / VZ-4recommended
- Consumption
- 200–250 g/m²official
- Wet film
- 180–230 µmrecommended
- Coats
- 1–2schedule
- Flash-off
- 30–40 minschedule
- Recoat
- second PE coat after 30–40 min (once gelled, still within the same day); topcoat only after sanding at ≥12 hschedule
- Sanding between coats
- none between PE coats laid wet-on-gel; after 12 h sand P240–P320 (machine/belt) for colour/PU topcoats, P360–P400 under clear PUschedule
Mix only what you can spray in 15–20 min — it gels in the cup. Flush the gun with S10/S13 immediately afterwards; cured PE will not wash out.
HVLP
- Nozzle
- 1.8–2.2 (typ. 2) mmrecommended
- Pressure · air
- 2–2.5 barrecommended
- Spray viscosity
- 22–30 s DIN4 / VZ-4recommended
- Consumption
- 200–250 g/m²official
- Coats
- 1–2schedule
- Flash-off
- 30–40 minschedule
15–20 cm distance, 50–75 % overlap, fan wide open. Small batches — ~20 min pot life.
Airless
- Nozzle
- 0.28–0.33 mmrecommended
- Pressure · fluid
- 100–150 barrecommended
- Consumption
- 200–250 g/m²official
- Coats
- 1–2schedule
Only on a plural-component rig (base+accelerator and hardener fed separately, mixed at the gun) or with slow EC2 — a standard EC1 mix will gel in the hose within ~20 min. Methods page: airless is ideal for primers on big flat panels.
Airmix (air-assisted airless)
- Nozzle
- 0.28–0.33 mmrecommended
- Pressure · fluid
- 20–80 barrecommended
- Pressure · air
- 1–2 barofficial
- Consumption
- 200–250 g/m²official
As with airless — EC2 or a plural-component rig.
Process and compatibility
- Substrate preparation
- Sand bare wood/MDF P150–P180 (P220 on MDF), K60–K80 pads on profiles; dust offschedule
- Sanding
- After 12 h at 20 °C; P240→P280→P320 under pigmented/PU gloss, P360–P400 under clear gloss; mechanically or by handdealer
- Temperature and humidity
- 18–25 °C, RH ≤ 75 %recommended
- Don'ts
- never put EA1 accelerator and peroxide hardener together directly — add each to the base in turn
- don't mix more than you can spray in ~20 min
- don't leave mixed material in the gun/hose — flush at once
- don't spray onto oily/resinous species without an isolating primer
- don't go over a stain without a test panel — PE can shift the stain colour
- don't sand before 12 h at 20 °C — paper clogs
Storage
- Shelf life
- not published (typically 6–12 months)recommended
- Storage temperature
- 5–25 °Crecommended
- Packaging
- 25 kgdealer
Safety: Contains styrene — toxic (2019 catalog lists toxicity as a PE drawback) and flammable. Spray in an extracted booth with an A2 organic-vapour respirator, gloves and goggles. Peroxide hardener is an oxidiser: store apart from the accelerator, never let them touch each other, rags or metal swarf; eye splash — rinse and see a doctor.
Sources
Value tags: “official”, “dealer”, “catalog”, “schedule” are Technocolor data; “workshop” is from our own datasheets; “recommended” is our engineering estimate (hover to see the reasoning).
- official page: properties, 200–250 g/m², EC1/EC2 2/2 %, S10/S11 10–15 % wt / 15–20 % vol, EA1 2/2 %
- dealer: description, area of use, S13 10–15/15–20, cure-adjustment notes, solids 92±1, viscosity 12±2 s VZ-8, pot life 20 min/1.5 h, touch 40 min, sand 12 h, 25 kg
- 2022 catalog p.12: solids 92 %, thinner table S10/S11
- 2019 catalog: solids ~92 %, thinner 5–15 %, PE cure chemistry and drawbacks
- EC1: 2 %, reduce EA1 to 1–1.5 % at 25–35 °C
- EC2 slow hardener
- EA1* reformulation, pot life −10–15 %, EC2 for medium/high-pressure rigs
- S13: specific gravity 0.835 ± 0.01, fast, for PE lacquers and stains, flushing
- sibling ETS50 schedule: EC1 2/EA1 2/S10-S11 15, 250 g/m², twin-intake airless, 30–40 min between coats, 8–12 h, P360–P400
- sibling EPS20 schedule: same recipe, PTS71 isolant, 30 min @30–35 °C, 12 h, P240–P320
- application methods: airless ≤200 bar, airmix ≤20 bar + 1–2 bar air
Not covered by the sources
- no Technocolor TDS/SDS PDF found for ETS20
- solids conflict: dealer/2019/2022 = 92 %, 2025-26 catalog p.12 prints 96 % (verified on the scan)
- meaning of pot life «20 min / 1.5 h» not specified
- dust-free and full-cure times not published
- density not published (back-calculated only)
- spray viscosity, nozzle and pressure not published (all derived)
- shelf life and storage temperature not published
- no hardness/elasticity/lightfastness values
- ETS20 appears in no official finishing schedule (only siblings ETS50/EPS20)
- whether part A is pre-accelerated or contains paraffin (affects recoat/sanding) is not stated