CMD Powder Coating

[lpcoating]

Thought I'd share some pictures of our new pretreatment / powder coating operation. System came on line about a month ago. Still have some fine tuning to do but it's fully operational. This was supposed to be up and running last July but current world situation delayed the project.

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[lpcoating]

The oven is 8' high, 10' wide and 12' deep. Pretreatment is a heated chemical and rinse wand held pressure washer. We can treat carbon steel, SS and Aluminum. We are adding more lights to the room and building some more parts racks. If anyone ever wondered what my 838 name means, it's for Loomis Powder Coating. Had the business for 9 years and sold it when I started at Cameron as I was basically working 2 full time jobs. My experience with it will save a lot of headaches at CMD.

Guy

[rickf]

I did some work with my brother in law many years ago in Bristol, Pa. at a manufacturing plant where they did all the powder coating of all of the stuff like all the hand trucks for U-haul and a couple other big companies. That operation was massive! There was an overhead conveyor that took all the parts through the treatment area and then the coating area and then the oven, yes plural, three ovens. Then the line snaked back and forth in a cooling pattern. They were also a fabrication plant, I think they may have also made the hand trucks there.

Your setup looks sanitary compared to theirs!

[lpcoating]

It was my Saturday to cover the guys working. I mopped the floor and picked stuff up!

[Mr. Recovery]

Nice, I have a small Eastwood unit and bake stuff in an old oven AKA: wheels and small parts, works well as long as the oven isn't in the kitchen! Don't ask!!

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[Hambone]

Nice, I have a small Eastwood unit and bake stuff in an old oven AKA: wheels and small parts, works well as long as the oven isn't in the kitchen! Don't ask!!

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Probably doesn't smell as good as baked beans.

[rickf]

Burnt plastic! I have not found powder coating to be the magic bullet it was made out to be. Once moisture gets behind it then it is just like undercoating, the powder coating hides all the damage being done under it until it comes off in huge rusty sheets. I still prefer paint, when it starts to rust you see it right away and you can sand and repaint. Done.

[raymond]

My experience with powder coating is that it works real well right up until it doesn't.

[lpcoating]

I'll strongly disagree with you on your comments Rick. The key to powder coating, like any quality finish, is surface preparation and proper cure time. If one or both of these criteria are not met, then yes, you'll have issues. Done correctly, it's very durable. I've never seen peeling of powder coat when done properly. Just doesn't happen. If you've seen that, someone doesn't know what they're doing.

Guy

[raymond]

My experience with powder coated parts on our fleet at the oil company was that a rock chip inevitably enabled water to get behind the powder coating. Add in the fact that here in NE Mo, we salt the heck out of roads in the winter, and you end up with paint coming off in large sections with heavy rust underneath.

[lpcoating]

Properly pretreated and cured you don't see failures as you're describing. A lot of people take short cuts or don't leave in the oven long enough. Cure times are dependent on substrate thickness. A piece of 16ga gets up to cure temperature much quicker then a piece of 1" plate. You can't tell by looking at it if it's under cured. It's like rebuilding a 151 engine and leaving the rod bolts loose. It'll fail if you don't know what you're doing. Or don't give a crap about quality.

Guy

[SturmTyger380]

Paint is not really better. I stripped the frame of my M37 from the original black primer. Big flakes of paint came off where they didn't prep the metal well, and there was a coating of rust you could never see underneath.

[lpcoating]

The intent of this thread was to show what's going on at CMD. Not a debate over what's better or worse, negative comments, etc. We've been very busy and are investing in the company. Simple as that. Actual good news. We also purchased a 9KW Fiber Laser that can handle 6' x 12' sheets and will run circles around our current CO2 machines. Although I'm cautious to post pictures as I'm afraid to hear that a blow torch is better.

Guy

[rickf]

Thick skin Guy, thick skin. You were in the powder business so I am positive you have seen all of the things we are all talking about. I have no doubts that if, like you say, things are done correctly from start to finish then powder coat will last as long or longer than paint. BUT, How much does it cost to get to that level of preparation and quality of work? You have to face it Guy, 98% of the powder coating out there on the streets is basically what we have been describing. It simply does not last. One of the main failure points I see in powder coating is poor welds and the fact the powder does not adhere well to the very rough edges of a poor weld. That is the entrance point for water and moisture.
As far as your investing in the company with the new equipment. Those of us who know you know damn well what kind of work you do and that the powder coating you do will be top notch. Convincing all the others out there that have been through the failures of powder coating will be a bit tougher to convince. With the panels it only took one time seeing them and working with them to know what the quality was. Powder takes a long time to show it's traits. Hopefully people will buy from your reputation and not from their past experience.

[raymond]

Guy

No offense or disparagement was intended. Just relaying my experiences with some powder coated stuff we used on the company trucks.

Probably the worst luck we had was with a ladder rack on our service truck our maintenance man used.
It was a high dollar brand name.
Manufacturer would not honor warranty.
We replaced it with an aluminum rack.

We also had trouble with fire extinguisher holders on the fuel trucks, and again, replaced with aluminum.