Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

[Guest]

Hey Guys, I was doing some coating yesterday. It turned out ok, but I have a couple issues. I'll post the pics and comment as I go. Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

Intake Plenum masked for blasting:


In the oven with Mirror Black:


In the oven with Clear:

I noticed while applying the clear, that very small "divots" were appearing in the powder. They were everywhere and about the size of a ball point pen tip. What could cause this? I checked the compressor for moisture(with the napkin trick) and I didn't see any dirt/moisture in it at all. Any Ideas? I thought it could be the powder, but It was doing it with the mirror black, a little with the chrome and the clear as well. The finish seemed ok with the black and clear on the Plenum, but I could tell it was orange peeled a little. There were also some orange peel and a couple of small spots messed up on the Xtreme Chrome bracket.

Finished Product (not the best Pic quality, I didn't setup any lighting):


One of the brackets for the Plenum in Xtreme Chrome:

I got some OP on this bracket as well. It was mainly in the thickest metal which leads me to believe maybe it was not hot enough or just not hot long enough. The thinner metal had a very nice finish.

**Edit**
I am using a Fluke IR gun for temps and they were within 10-15* up and down every time I checked.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Here are some more detailed pics and the other bracket I did.

Before:



After:


Now, as you can see this one has some orange peel in it too. I kept it in for a couple minutes longer too.

Here is a pic of the "divots" i was talking about.


I sand blasted the pieces, but there were no divots, just a blasted texture. Hmmmm.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Look like too much powder resulting in back ionization. What gun do you use and what kv's did you shoot at?

This is just with a Hobby gun for now . I will have to try flowing the powder really well before bringing it up to cure temp next time. I'm sure that's not the only problem here.
So you think there's too much powder and not enough kv?

[wiseguyz]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Since you can't control the kv on the hobby gun, the answer would be to increase your distance from the part as you're shooting. Once those tiny craters start to appear, back off a bit more. Also when this happens, you have reached your maximum effective powder thickness so any further attempts will only result in more cratering.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Since you can't control the kv on the hobby gun, the answer would be to increase your distance from the part as you're shooting. Once those tiny craters start to appear, back off a bit more. Also when this happens, you have reached your maximum effective powder thickness so any further attempts will only result in more cratering.

Cool, thanks a lot man. I'll try that out.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

First off don't feel too bad about having a hobby gun. Most of us started with one and learned a lot from it.

Some things to consider:

1.) Back up from the part 8-14 inches. This should reduce your spots; Starburst, back ionazation etc.

2.) Consider a primer that is sandable for a smooth finish if thats what you want. The part is a rough substrate and a KL primer could help get you smoooooth. (PBTP sells the primer)

3.) Powder Coating is not like paint. Most of the time you never spray head on to what you are trying to coat. Try to not water gun it so to say, let the powder attract itself to your part do not try to force it. If you can't get a spot coated try different angles until you are happy.


^The above should be of some help in a very generic way. Try some of the things the the members posted and work from there. If you are still having issues post up and we can try to help again. Its all trial and error in my eyes.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Thanks for the input. Well at least I have some good news. I found a good deal on a Caswell Pro, which I hope will do better with 2nd and 3rd coats than my harbor freight gun, due to the adjustable and extra 25Kv available. . After I actually start doing more than just parts for friends and myself, I am thinking of looking into either the king coat or the hyper smooth.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Thanks for the input. Well at least I have some good news. I found a good deal on a Caswell Pro, which I hope will do better with 2nd and 3rd coats than my harbor freight gun, due to the adjustable and extra 25Kv available. . After I actually start doing more than just parts for friends and myself, I am thinking of looking into either the king coat or the hyper smooth.

I have the Caswell gun I like it a lot. I think you will too. I have the EW hobby gun it's like the Harbor Freight gun. And if you get the King Coat gun you will really love it.

And welcome to the forum.

Harley

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

Thanks for the input. Well at least I have some good news. I found a good deal on a Caswell Pro, which I hope will do better with 2nd and 3rd coats than my harbor freight gun, due to the adjustable and extra 25Kv available. . After I actually start doing more than just parts for friends and myself, I am thinking of looking into either the king coat or the hyper smooth.

That's the same route I have taken so far and it seems to be working very well. Good luck.

[Guest]

Re: Intake Plenum - Mirror Black & Bracket Xtreme Chrome.

I see many Wagners to be sold in the future.....

Keep pumping out the work and you will want that "BIG" gun.