Q. What is Powder Coating? A. Powder is initially applied as a dry coating. Instead of being dissolved or suspended in a liquid medium, such as solvent or water, powder is applied in a dry granular form. The powder is created by blending the various components (binder, resins, pigments, fillers and additives) and are then ground into a powder form. Each particle contains within it the necessary components for reforming into the finished coating. After the powder is applied, typically using an electrostatic spray process, the item is placed in an oven where the powder melts and then cures into a continuous and robust coating.
Q. How is the Powder applied? A. The application process involves applying an electrostatic charge to the dry powder particles and spraying them toward the item being coated. This is earthed so the positively charged powder particles are attracted to the item being coated.
Q. Is Powder Coating durable? A. Powder coatings resist cracking and peeling and are extremely abrasion, corrosion and chemical resistant. The performance characteristics of powder coating exceed the characteristics achieved from most of the conventional solvent-based liquid coatings.
Q. Why Powder Coating? A. Powder coating offers the consumer a superior finish while adding many performance properties such as excellent resistance to corrosion, chemicals, heat, impact, abrasion, UV rays and extreme weather conditions. Not only is powder coating exceptionally tough and impact resistant but it is more cost effective than most other coating options..
Q. Is Powder Coating more expensive than liquid paint finishes? A. The powdercoating process is generally less labour intensive than the wet painting process because of the use of chemicals for pretreating and the one coat application of powder.
Q. Does Powder Coating require any preparation? A. One of the keys to a long lasting powder finish is in the preparation of the metal (substrate). Topcoat takes great care in this preparation process. We pretreat the metal prior to powder coating to ensure good corrosion protection and good powdercoat adhesion. Each item goes through a procedure of either a chemical pre-treatment or by means of sand blasting. This process is to remove all contaminants from the surface and give the item a good chemical protective coating that will ensure that the items being powder coated will have the most durable powdercoat finish available today.
Q. Can you Powder Coat over an existing finish? A. Generally no, but there are exceptions. There are so many factors that influence the answer to this question that you should phone us and discuss your particular requirements. The answer is very dependent on the condition of the item, the condition of the existing coating and the type of the existing coating.
Q. What kind of metals can be coated? A. Parts made from aluminum, steel, brass, copper, bronze, magnesium and titanium can be powder coated. (Some castings may experience out-gassing causing bubbles in the finished coating due to their potentially porous nature).
Q. Can metal parts that are die cast be Powder Coated? A. Yes, however die cast metals can be problematic due to the potentially porous nature of the product. But good quality casting usually do not cause any problems. (Spin cast molded items tend to have out gassing problems).
Q. Can parts be coated with clear Powder Coating? A. Clear powdercoat is available in both a matte and a gloss finish. The clear finish will keep the likes of freshly polished aluminum rims looking like new.
Q. Are there different Powder Coating finishes available? A. Powders come in high and low glosses, metallics, textures, and clear finishes. Powder textures range from smooth, rippled, gritty to wrinkled. Powder textures are good at hiding imperfections on the substrate and or some manufacturing imperfections.
Q. Does Topcoat use reclaimed powder? A. Topcoat only uses virgin powders. Reclaimed powder can contain contaminants which could create imperfections in the powdercoat finish.
Q. What do I need to do to prepare my items for Powder Coating? A. Remove all permanent marker pen and biro pen markings, glues, adhesive tapes and surplus heavy oils and grease. Drainage holes for the pretreatment process may need to be considered, so please talk to us first. Ensure the items in for powdercoating do not come into contact with any forms of silicone, Teflon or graphite, as these contaminants are not readily seen and are very difficult to remove.
Q. Will the baking process be detrimental to my items being Powder Coated? A. The temperature used to cure the powder is generally less than 200°C. Titanium, steel, aluminum, magnesium are not affected by these temperatures, however if there are any plastic or rubber parts that cannot be removed, these can melt or degrade when being pretreated and or baked – best to check with us first.
Q. Can the thickness of the Powder Coating be measured on an item? A. Topcoat uses a powder thickness measurement tool to assure that the correct amount of powder has been applied to your item.
Q. What about holes and threads and other areas that need to stay coating free? A. High temperature masking tapes can be applied to special surfaces such as threads or high tolerance areas to stop them from being coated. We also use high temperature silicon plugs and caps for threaded holes and shafts.
Q. Does Powder Coating drip, run or sag? A. Very rarely, because of the way powder is applied to the substrate using an electrostatic charge, the powder goes on uniformly. The powder is then heated in an oven to let the powder flow and cure to a hard and long lasting finish. The end product is drip, run and sag free.
Q. Can I use body filler? A. The high oven temperature makes the use of plastic and resin body fillers problematic. Sometimes the filler will out gas through the powdercoating during the baking cycle, causing pin holing in the finished coating. But then other times, use of high-temp filler yields excellent results
Q. Where is you shop located? A. Topcoat Powder Coating is Located in Abbotsford in the fraser valley
Q. Can I Powder Coat over chrome parts? A. Yes but the adhesion will never be as good as if the chrome plating is removed first. Roughing up the surface using sandpaper or some other form of abrasive material can dramatically improve the powdercoat adhesion. Pitted and rusty chrome cause their own set of problems.
Q. What forms of payment do you accept? A. We accept payment by cash, credit, internet banking, or company cheque.
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() { var element = document.getElementById(“weebly-footer-signup-container-v3”); element.parentNode.removeChild(element); }, false);