If Powder Coating Is Sooo Good........

this guy knows nothing about powder, I mean really, this much info and its all wrong....damn, thanks for participating.
I have to wonder, when people ask a question no matter the subject, why do some bother to answer if they truly do not know? baffles me.

 

Powder coating does have its uses. I could never have have painted the chassis on my tube framed 5 passenger off road vehicle to even come close to the gloss and coverage of powder coating. I also had all the aluminum body panels coated and there was zero warping. Also, it is very scratch resistant and durable. Sprayed paint could never handle the abuse of powder coating.

That being said, it did fade after a few years.

 

1. Powder coating technology has not caught up with conventional painting with uv and corrosion resistance and cost for manufactures. 2. If powder coating was as good or almost as good as conventional paint and was cheaper, car manufactures would already use it. 3. To repair a powder coated car you would have to strip a car down to its bare shell in order to re-coat. Gas tanks, leather interiors and adhesives would not handle the temperatures.

 

It's the HAMBster way. No shortage of bad information relayed as Gospel. Ron

 

great spew, what alternate universe did you cross over from?

 

no reason to get butt hurt, but you obviously dont know squat about powder as has been proven by your previous post and now your tweaked because someone that DOES know about modern powder technology has commented.
I dont mind explaining some to you if you need, heck, who knows, you might learn something, whether its what you expected or not, its always good to learn new stuff.

 

if you can't actually point out what was wrong thats ok, but seriously? just flapping your gums and running me down dosen't exactly point towards your "grand" knowledge

 

Some get it-Some don't.....Would I coat a body? Probably not.
Anything else-Ab-so-F'n-lutelly....I guess because I can.
Time/expense/finnish/durabillity........
Never,Never had any issues with my own work. That's MINE,not a pro shop,or farmed out work. And I know the guy's that do this for a living are more skilled/have better equipment than I do.
TRDSTR- I get it,and am VERY happy that I do!
sheesh-Really? Have you tried yourself? or just farmed out and had a bad deal? We're here listening.
I would like to know MYSELF why you think PC might be"bullshit", and those are my words,not yours.

 

no gum flapping nor running you down, but you were incorrect and I feel that correct info should be given. This is a subject I do know and dont mind sharing how I do some things with powder.
ok here we go:
Originally Posted by sheesh
only some powdercoat colors are UV resistant and they oxidize pretty quick, (If you purchase from a reputable dealer, you get quality products, same in the paint industry, Earl Shives paints cars too but you wouldnt do your 32 in it)
it does not flow out well so there can be texture issues,
Negative, again, good stuff flows like glass now a days)
dosen't sand and buff worth a crap,
Negative, sands and buffs just as well
without a really good epoxy undercoat steel will rust as its not all that water proof,
Are you kidding, total encapsulation with todays premium products isnt waterproof? Do I really need to address this one? There are powdered primers and such as well
it will not bridge a gap nor will it flow into overlap areas,
trust me it will, as evidenced in a lot of steel rims I see done, the coaters go on so heavy it crosses the gap in some places and none in others, I dunno why you think it wont flow over lap, I do multi layered powder jobs all the time, flows out right nicely
spot repairs are visible,
and sometimes not, just like paint.
for a car the biggest issue is you can't lay down an even coat so metallic colors are striped or splotchy.
I could do it no worries, good equipment, good experience, I specialize in flakes and candies, not car panels obviously, but big stuff like gas tank skid plates on huge lifted 4x4 trucks, big front skid plate panels etc etc etc, my work goes to SEMA each year on various vehicles and the flakes are always perfect as it should be. Just saying it can be done and I cant be the only one that knows how.
There is a filler material being sold but Ive always used jb weld for steel
Truth here, I use it also for small dimples when I do moto tanks etc etc

 

Lets see powder coating requires the object to be coated to be placed in an oven at 450 degrees F. The seats would melt, the rubber would explode and the gas tank, well you get the idea. Would not be pretty.

Mike

 

Is there in metal in a new car.....plastic melts in the oven.............

 

All of the answers about fading in the sun and not lasting etc. I've got parts powder coated years ago and they look like the day they where done also this from BMW;

Powder-Based Clear Coat

As early as in May 1997 the BMW Group was the world�s first automobile manufacturer to use environmentally friendly powder-based clear lacquer, which gives the colors an even more brilliant shine. Since then this technology has been constantly refined and developed even further. The white high-tech powder is applied by spray pistols. When the powder leaves the pistols, electrostatic charge is built up through electrodes, that allow the powder particles to stick to the earthed body. When the car goes into the hot chamber, the white powder melts because of the heat, becomes transparent and unites with the colored water-soluble paint.


Powder-based clear coating offers many advantages: The highest possible standard of quality is offered to the customer, as the highest BMW quality standards in terms of looks and functionality are fulfilled.

Application of powder clear coat in the BMW plant Dingolfing / Germany
Fully automatic application of powder clear coat

Pat

 

Great information that I never knew, I got the tank on my bike powder coated candy copper over swirls I made in the metal, I was unaware about metal flake powder coat and would be interested to see some stuff.

Here is a picture of the swirls in my tank



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Some of the questions about powder are certainly valid. The truth is it is definitely something that can be done on the exterior of an automobile.

As has already been stated, BMW in Germany is WAY ahead of the curve with both hydro primers and basecoats and powder clear coat on production automobiles. And, yes, these cars can be repaired when they are damaged. They have been doing it successfully for some years. BMW in the States uses hydro primers and basecoats, but conventional 2K solvent base urethane clear.

The Smart car has powder coating on the entire steel swoop or space frame on the exterior of the vehicle. I worked for the company that developed that powder and they won multiple awards for the product which was considered very high performance, environmentally friendly and low maintenance. Basically when you see a red Smart with the dark gray or black swoop, that swoop is steel and powdercoated. The rest is plastic and has 2k urethane.

I also worked on a top secret project called Trillium in the United States for Jeep. The idea was that they would completely powder coat new Jeeps, mainly for the advertising purposes of having one of the toughest coating systems out there. The Jeep hoods we coated in our lab looked like absolute glass. The coating was stunning.

Unfortunately, the project was cancelled for several reasons. For one, the problem of taking a multi, multi million dollar paint line investment and converting it to powder coat. A hard sell. Two, powder coats go on the car at twice the film thickness or better. Even with better transfer efficiency, that means twice as much coating on every car. When you start to think about doubling the cost of painting an automobile, it is difficult to further consider, maybe not enough to be offset by the marketing advantages.

Keep in mind powder coat is essentially dry paint that is chipped up and applied to the vehicle and then melted again. It is a formulation just like paint and there are bad coatings and good coatings. Multiple resins including polyester and epoxy are used just like paint. Obviously, the cheapest powders are applied to lawn furniture, toys, wheel barrels, etc. There are also very high quality coatings available with high gloss, great hardness and long term weathering.

Many guys here are making generic statements about something they really know nothing about except for maybe one little bit of personal experience or hearsay. There is more to the story and much to learn if one is really interested.

I find it interesting to read of the several hobbyist vehicles above that have experimented successfully with powder. Of course, all that being said, I really just miss true nitrocellulose lacquer!

 

^^ very nice! there are candies in just about any color you like, pimp bike!

I need to update my site but there are a few photos of some old lace jobs I did in powder,, various flaked layers etc etc.

 

I've heard plenty about ceramic jet-coat, how does it differ from a high temp ceramic powder coat? I have had hit and miss with VHT header paint (and yes I follow directions and bake it on)


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Well just like anything, prep and quality materials rule the day, or the job. There was a Mustang floating around Motown that was powder coated, the body, fenders, all of it. A medium red color, and even in the low quality phone pics I was shown, I wasn't impressed. But then again, I'm a painter. I powder stuff, have a couple sources I trust. Good apps exist for the tech but you need to know your jobber and your business. Lazy, like stupid, is the latest pandemic in our society. Try to avoid both at all cost.

 

the average high temp powder is great for motorcycle headers, not at all gonna last with the heat of a v-8.

 

^^^this!
With anything, prep is massively important and quality of product is of equal importance and skill level is a must, add em together in the right percentage and success with anything.

 

I was going to say this...if it's flaking off from rusting underneath, then someone didn't do their prep right.

 

The frame, wheels and running gear on my Zipper were powder painted 15 years ago and still look like new. Too bad there isn't a BS filter on the HAMB as there are a lot of BS statements on PC in this thread

 

I have powdered panels as large as 6ftx10ft gloss black, just beautiful. I have done Harley tanks and all manner of things. Prep work is the key to your results. There is alot of misinformation here perhaps due to a bad experience. The powder primer is a
very good base coat in its self. There are many many very good coaters doing fantastic work these days. It surly has its place in modern coatings.

 

Of the 5 powder coating shops I have used so far NONE of the paint held up. Most parts have loosened paint before I can install the part. I am not giving up. We have several shops in my area that provide the service. Hopefully I will find a good one. peace

 

I can't believe no one has mentioned that paint looks BETTER than powder as the main reason?
Powdercoating is mostly opaque, and has a lot of solids in it, that's one reason it's so tough. Paint on the other hand, contains more trasnparent resins, so it has much better depth of finish. NOT shine, but depth, loke a good lacquer job, or candy paint. You can SEE through layers of it.
While some of today's BC/CC paints are gettting more opaque, but still shiny, due to the clear, it still looks better than powder.
I use powder on chassis stuff, but it doesn't look good enough for me to do on bodies.

 

I have just as good if not better luck with properly prepped painted parts than professional powder coating.

 

the paint only has to last one day longer than the warranty. anything else is waste and $ lost to the manufacturer.

 

I had heard a lot of the bad rumors about powder also, until I took my new wheels to a local powder coater that is super anal. Saw some of his work (swirls, metallics, clears) and also learned that he uses a very good zinc-based primer coat before the top coat. My wheels turned out beautiful, no orange peel, very high gloss. I'm happy.

But a whole car? problematic to repair, I would think?

 

Love your Deuce! Would dig having one just like it.

 

Don't quote me on this. I may be wrong. I remember being wrong once before.... But I could also be wrong about that.
Many years ago I worked for a company that makes large yeller tractors and things.
Notice those yeller things are no longer the original Caterpillar yeller. As far as I remember over 25 years ago they switched to powder coating almost all parts. If it works for heavy equipment shouldn't it be fine on an old 32 Ford?

 

Pre-coating prep is even more important with powder compared to paint. Paint can cover poor prep (you may have problems later, but it'll look good for at least a while), but with powder, the surface has to be CLEAN AND DRY! I usually coat parts straight out of the blast cabinet, I'll just blow any dust off with compressed air then coat. But if you have parts that were heavily corroded or in contact with grease/oil, you have to be extra diligent to make sure every trace of contaminants is gone. Preheating and a second trip to the blaster can be needed. This is particularly true with aluminum or castings. Powder has suffered from a lot of hype (it's easy to do! Lasts forever! Etc, etc...), and for most 'simple' parts it's as about as idiot-proof as anything I've seen. But for 'less simple' parts, you need to know what you're doing. When I first started doing home coating, I had lots of miscues (a least favorite thing is removing a bad coating; even a crappy coat will stick far better than paint) but I learned from my mistakes and rarely have problems anymore. I don't have a large oven, so I still farm larger items out and there's a lot of so-called pros that do extremely crappy work, almost always caused by poor prep.

Powder isn't a 'miracle' coating, but if you understand it's limitations, do the prep right and apply it right, it's about a close as you can get.

I'll tell you one place where it simply can't be beat by any other coating method.... battery trays and holdowns. If you have a nasty, rusty tray, sandblast it clean (and I mean every last trace of rust), preheat it to 200 degrees (for a thicker coat), then coat. Repeat the preheat/coat a few times and the finished part will look like it's molded out of plastic and will impervious to future corrosion as long as you don't breach the coating.