Powder Coat painting

[bennelson]

Does anyone here have experience with powder-coat painting?

I have heard that it is the recommended way of painting battery racks and other components in an electric car conversion. Supposedly, powder-painted items are non-conductive!

I saw Harbor Freight has a powder coat paint system for $60.Looks like it requires an air compressor to use with it.

I saw some info in another catalog warning not to bake the items you powder-coat in an oven used for food. Is this a for real health warning? Or just the typical cover yer arse legal requirement.

System is suddenly much more expensive if I have to buy another oven to go with it!

Your comments?

Not sure if this link will work or not, but this is what I was looking at on Harbor Freight.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
Or do a search there for item number 94244

[justpassntime]

The oven would be cheap look in the paper or even CraigsList.org you can get them free. I wouldn't try your own oven.

I am sure there is some chemical reaction that takes place and releases some type of toxins that probably wouldn't be good for maintaining healthy flesh and bones.

Hey haven't you had enough of ovens already?

[Daox]

Powder coating is great because of its very durable finish. However, the work involved in powder coating is a bit involved. The preferred method is degreasing, sand blasting, rinsing, preheating, powder coating, then baking.

I actually have this setup at home right now. Just a small enclosed sand blaster, similar powder coating system, and a household oven that I picked up (no, you can't use an oven you plan to use for food because of gas venting that happens during the curing process). Its great for doing small parts, but anything that can't fit in an oven is a problem.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Daox

I actually have this setup at home right now.

Powder-coating party at Daox's house!!!!!

I will just have to design my battery racks to fit in his oven!

[Daox]

If you wanted an easier way to go I'd suggest underbody coating as it is rubbery and a good insulator. However, powder coating looks way better and you can choose from a huge assortment of colors. I get my paint from Columbia Coatings. Take a look and see what you like.

Keep in mind I haven't used it a ton yet an am not that great with it.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Daox

Keep in mind I haven't used it a ton yet an am not that great with it.

Right, just like you aren't great at welding...

Yeah, rubberizing everything is another alternative, it's just that I have heard such good things about powder coating that it almost sounded like it would be worth borrowing or buying equipment to do it for this project.

[Daox]

Well, I say that because some of my first parts I did are currently on my Tercel. Some of those parts have taken a beating and/or lots of assembly/disassembly and the powder coating hasn't held up on all of them (better than regular paint I have to admit though). I have recently switched to a more agressive blasting media which should clean better and help this, but I haven't used it yet.

In any case, feel free to pick out a color, design up those racks, and we can bake you up some nice looking parts.

[bennelson]

Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black.

Black.


Glossy black.

[Daox]

Ahhh, see, you would think it would be that easy, but its not. You have eight choices of black (or more if you wanted metalic)!

Matt Black (no gloss) I've used and like this finish.
Low Gloss Black (30%-40% Gloss)
Satin Black (50%-60% Gloss)
Sheen Black (80% Gloss)
Super Mirror Black (95%-110% Gloss)
Black River (textured)
Black Mini Tex (textured) I've never used it, but have seen pictures that make this stuff look good.
Black Wrinkle (textured)

Things are never as easy as they seem.

[bennelson]

Yipes!

That's a lot of colors!

Can we just powder coat the whole car this color?



Oh wait, it wont fit in the oven!

[Daox]

Here are a couple pictures of my matt black jobs. You can see some rust pitting in the battery hold down picture. It covers it a bit, but its still there.






This is their zinc rich primer. You can paint over it with spray paint of your choice.