Powder coating is becoming one of the most wanted surface finishing techniques now a days. The definition of powder coating is the process of applying dry paint to a part. In comparison to normal wet painting such as house paints, the solids are in suspension in a liquid carrier, which must evaporate before the solid paint coating is produced.
While liquid finishes contain solvents which have pollutants known as volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), powder coatings contains no solvents and release negligible amounts, if any, of VOC’s into the atmosphere, hence eliminating the need for costly pollution control equipment. In addition, most powder coating overspray that does not adhere to the part can be retrieved and reused, virtually eliminating the waste found in liquid finishing systems.
With no VOC’s, the air used to exhaust the powder spray booth can be recirculated directly into the plant, eliminating the cost of heating or cooling the make-up air. Energy is also saved with the curing ovens. Solvent-based coatings must heat and exhaust huge volumes of air to ensure that the solvent fumes do not reach a potentially explosive level, but the exhaust requirements in powder coating ovens are lower.
Greater efficiency is achieved because powder coating requires no drying or flash-off timet parts can be racked closer together on a powder rack or conveyor, and more parts can be coated . Powder coating does not run, drip, or sag, and this results in significantly lower reject rates.
Powder coating provides an attractive and durable finish, offering excellent resistance to corrosion, heat, impact, and abrasion.
HOW IS ELECTROSTATIC SPRAYING DONE?
The powder is applied with an electrostatic spray gun to a part that is a grounded.
Before the powder is sent to the gun it is fluidized which means “to separate the individual grains of powder and to improve the electrostatic charge that can be applied to the powder and by doing this, the powder will flow easily to the gun.
Because the powder particles are electro statically charged, the powder wraps around to the back of the part. By collecting the powder and filtering it, the efficiency of the process can be increased to almost 100% material usage. To obtain the final coating the powder coated items are placed in an oven and heated to temperatures that range from 320 to 410 degrees F. The particular powder used will determine the temperature needed.
There are a total of 4 stages until the powder coating process is completely done.
1st stage – Melt
2nd stage- Flow
3rd stage- Gel
4th stage- Cure
WHY POWDER COAT?
The choice of colors and finishes are limitless as long as the powder coating manufacturers offer it. Powder coating produces a high specification coating which is tough, hard, and abrasion resistant.
We are proud to serve the Tampa, Brandon, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, New Port Richey, Hudson, Brooksville, and any other Florida areas with our powder coating and painting expertise. If you’re not from the area, ship your parts to us and we’ll gladly powder coat them and ship them back to you in a safe and timely manner.
