Q. Joe, I have a question concerning the relationship between pretreatment chemicals (currently using a zirconium-based pretreatment in a six-stage system with an alkaline cleaner in stage one) and powder coat thickness. Can the condition of the bath play a role in how thick the dry film thickness is on a part?

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Blasted Cast Iron Q: Joe, I’ve contacted you before so maybe you can help me again. I run a small to medium sized powder coating line...

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Each issue, we take the padlock off the PCI® Test-Lab door for a few minutes so our favorite technical editor and “powder guru” Joe Powder can run in the yard. When he’s not gnawing on a rawhide bone, he loves to answer readers’ questions. Go ahead and send him one at askjoepowder@yahoo.com... he doesn’t bite. Maybe it’ll end up in the next issue!

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Joe Powder is our technical editor, Kevin Biller. Please send your questions and comments to Joe Powder at askjoepowder@yahoo.com

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Q: Good Morning Joe

I read your section in the Powder Coated Tough magazine and appreciate your knowledge and expertise. I have a couple questions about super-durables. I’ve talked with many of the leading suppliers of powder coatings and get the same answer from each one on this question. Are “true” super-durables (powder coatings to meet or exceed AAMA 2604 standards) available in all RAL colors? Each supplier tells me bright colors don’t have the color pigments available to meet AAMA 2604. In our experience, over 20 years in the powder coating industry, some suppliers abuse the term “super-durable” in my opinion. When I order powders and use the term “superdurable” I would expect it to meet a certain standard. Seems the only standard to go by is AAMA. I guess my question to you is, what is a true super-durable in the powder coating industry? I look forward to your response and again I appreciate you taking the time and your expertise. I hope you have a great week!

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Q: Hey Joe,
I am looking at a report that a major company just sent in. The steel parts are showing signs of rust after 24 hours and visible signs of rust after 48 hours in a 5% salt fog solution.

Somewhat new to this world of powder coating – how is this possible? Some holes and slots that have been punched out I can somewhat understand. But when I see aluminum wheels and outdoor items holding up season after season I would have thought the powder coating would hold up longer?

Is there a method of correlation between hours in a salt chamber and what this means to user conditions?
Thanks,
John D

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Each issue, we take the padlock off the PCI® Test-Lab door for a few minutes so our favorite technical editor and “powder guru” Joe Powder can run in the yard. When he’s not gnawing on a rawhide bone, he loves to answer readers’ questions. Go ahead and send him one at askjoepowder@yahoo.com... he doesn’t bite. Maybe it’ll end up in the next issue!

[Read the rest of this article...]

Each issue, we take the padlock off the PCI® Test-Lab door for a few minutes so our favorite technical editor and “powder guru” Joe Powder can run in the yard. When he’s not gnawing on a rawhide bone, he loves to answer readers’ questions. Go ahead and send him one at askjoepowder@yahoo.com... he doesn’t bite. Maybe it’ll end up in the next issue!

[Read the rest of this article...]

Each issue, we take the padlock off the PCI® Test-Lab door for a few minutes so our favorite technical editor and “powder guru” Joe Powder can run in the yard. When he’s not gnawing on a rawhide bone, he loves to answer readers’ questions. Go ahead and send him one at askjoepowder@yahoo.com... he doesn’t bite. Maybe it’ll end up in the next issue!

[Read the rest of this article...]

Q Joe, I work for an overhead doors company and we powder coat the extruded aluminum rails for our full-view doors. We have had issues in the p...

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