steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
I’ve seen a video on YouTube on Eastwoods official page. They said never to vacuum up powders as they can ignite. Now I’m not so sure?
The Powder Coating Thread
- Thread starter steviejr92
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Silver Blues
Well-known member
Cool thread, I'd love to get into DIY powdercoating eventually as I am always drooling over the myriad amazing colours on Prismatic's website, but it's ludicrously expensive to get even one enclosure custom coated where I am 
Yeah, finely-divided plastic and metal powders tend to be super flammable, but depending on the environmental conditions and your vacuum it can be more or less of a hazard. E.g. I have no issue vacuuming up sanding dust from preparing boxes for rattle can finishes or whatnot because the powder is mostly oxide and not that dangerous.
I’ve seen a video on YouTube on Eastwoods official page. They said never to vacuum up powders as they can ignite. Now I’m not so sure?
Yeah, finely-divided plastic and metal powders tend to be super flammable, but depending on the environmental conditions and your vacuum it can be more or less of a hazard. E.g. I have no issue vacuuming up sanding dust from preparing boxes for rattle can finishes or whatnot because the powder is mostly oxide and not that dangerous.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
I had no idea! What kind of conditions are acceptable to shop vac the powder? I should do some research on this.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
Smrtokvitek
Well-known member
He uses a triboelectric gun, so no external power source is needed. This one is for around $100 from eBay. It looks like it works fine even for 2 coats and I like the results he is getting. The laser etching of the paint is quite a clever way how to do labels in my opinion. I would like to try it but it is a lot of equipment for painting a few enclosures from time to time.
temol
Well-known member
From what I remember, not all powder types are compatible with this type of gun.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
temol
Well-known member
question for practitioners - how do you deal with the excess of powder accumulating near the edges - on the opposite side from the currently sprayed one? I often shoot the powder on the two sides of the piece. I start from the inside. But there is always some powder that escapes to the other side. This can be a problem with textured finishes because it changes the texture where the powder is thick. Same with transparent finish.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
Im having the same issues. I was thinking maybe if i dropped the voltage down and put the nozzle on that would prevent it but i havent tried it in practice.
temol
Well-known member
The store where I buy powders lists what technologies are compatible with a given powder. There are two - corona (HF gun) and tribo (nordic pulver type gun). Many special finishes (for example metallics, antique) are only recommended for corona.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
Ok great to know! Thank you for this!
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
I try to shoot all sides equally. I made my booth big enough that I can hang enclosures far enough away from the sides to get the gun in to coat them. I will note that I don't coat the insides of my boxes, so I hang it with the top facing toward me and don't move it at all during the coating process.
temol
Well-known member
In my enclosures, the side edges of the upper piece are wider by about 2mm than the lower piece, so I have to cover 2 sides.
An example.
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
May i ask what are you paying attention to and looking for when your powder coating?In my enclosures, the side edges of the upper piece are wider by about 2mm than the lower piece, so I have to cover 2 sides.
An example.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Right, that does complicate things a bit. Have you tried shooting "sideways", i.e. have the thin edge facing you and shoot from the sides like that? You would probably waste more powder with overspray, but it might help consistency of making it stick evenly. I obviously don't have experience with folded enclosures (which, I've said before, look incredible), but just a thought.In my enclosures, the side edges of the upper piece are wider by about 2mm than the lower piece, so I have to cover 2 sides.
An example.
temol
Well-known member
I try to keep (more or less) even coverage. I avoid thick powder layers. Except hammered finishes. I have bad experience with most of them. They seem to like much thicker layers. And despite the fact that I put a lot of powder, I often have small "eyes" with aluminium shining through. See the picture.
I use strong flashlight to inspect powder buildup. With a flashlight you can monitor thickness of the powder (100% powder coverage, no alu visible under the powder) and evennes of the coverage - texture of the powder (flashlight at very low angle above the surface, like car headlights illuminating the road).
You need to make sure that the element that will be powdered in a moment is free of dust particles, threads, hair, etc. The electrified element likes to attract various particles, which are later difficult to remove without disturbing the delicate powder.
Yeah, I've tried that. It all depends on the enclosure. It's problematic with small edge/corner radius (faraday cage effect).
steviejr92
Authorized Vendor
@temol thank you so much for this!
Ok right there is where I knew I could’ve done better. At first I tried to add as much powder and add a super thick layer thinking that was the way to go. I’m going to try a more even coat with less powder. I ran out of powder already
that should let you know I was laying it on thick. I think I might try either black or textured black this time.
Ok right there is where I knew I could’ve done better. At first I tried to add as much powder and add a super thick layer thinking that was the way to go. I’m going to try a more even coat with less powder. I ran out of powder already
that should let you know I was laying it on thick. I think I might try either black or textured black this time.
Alan W
Well-known member
Do you have good oil and water filters on your air supply? (again, my reference is spray painting, not powder coating…) Those type of “fish eyes” are almost always from small spots of contamination on the surface—or from small water or oil droplets that are in the air supply. In humid climates, professional booth installations will include a chiller unit on the air supply, to condense much of the moisture that becomes a real problem when air is compressed. One good habit is to always bleed your compressor tank before spraying; the amount of water in there can be quite surprising.
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
That's a good point, and in-line moisture filter is more or less a must in more humid climates. When I first started I was living in the Mojave desert and I could get away without a filter, but now when I run without a filter my powders get clumpy and the coating is uneven. @temol I've unfortunately never been to your part of the world (yet, though it's on my bucket list), I understand it's a bit humid there yes?