Powder Coating

 The economic benefits of powder coating are numerous but the largest  benefit has to do with efficiency of the material used / over spray. The average transfer  efficiency of powder coating is 60-70% and any over spray is a solid and  can be reclaimed and re-used netting virtually no wasted product.  With liquid paint the material has a transfer efficiency of 30-35%, roughly 50%  of the product is lost in  evaporation and there is no possibility of reclaiming it.  The base price for the powder vs paint is also substantially cheaper.  

  The main advantage from a production point of view is when the  powder coated product comes out of the oven and cools down to room temperature it is completely cured  within and ready to be put to work. Standard liquid paints can  take days to completely cure and depend on the atmospheric conditions.  You can literally put a powder coated object to work on the same day it was coated.. Also in  terms of production efficiency, with less waste, better application technology, and booth control systems powder coating has become more efficient in runs and other defects,  

  Powder coating generally produces a coating twice as thick as standard paint which we measure in MIL's.  The real advantage is its ability to find bare metal and cover it were liquid paint could never be able to reach.  The longevity of a powder coated can reach 40+ years.  For this reason we have seen an increase from the automotive parts, commercial and residential construction, oil and gas, and architectural because of their excellent chip resistance, hardness, chemical resistance,  and salt life  

 There are many environmental advantages of powder coating as well. Since there are no solvents or VOCs there is no damage to the environment  during application. The waste is also not hazardous and can be disposed in the landfill. Wet paint contains harmful chemicals that have been proven to deplete the ozone and produces hazardous waste that needs to  be disposed of in an appropriate manner. Powder coating Houston

 Employee health and safely while applying powder coating is minimal compared to liquid paint.  The precautionary measures in both processes are to avoid breathing in the powder / paint and not getting it on your skin.  When powder coating it is an easier task to manage since the product is a solid and inert. During application it is recommended to stay out of the application zone and to avoid getting it on your skin.  If the powder does get onto bare skin all that is needed to remove it is compressed air or water to rinse off.  The product does not contain harmful chemicals such as  solvents or volatile organic compounds (VOC) that are often found in wet paint. 

 There is no doubt that I am all for powder coating but it wouldn’t be  fair not to mention the few down sides of the process. The main concerns with powder coating are:  

• it can be difficult to match metallic paint colors
• the start-up cost and cost of keeping an oven running are high so small parts with a low volume have a higher cost then paint 
• you can not paint on a rubber product because it will melt the rubber. 
• you cannot touch up the same way you can with wet paint, but there are touch up paint colors to match powder coat colors available