Finishing: Tricks of the Trade

Hello. My name is Kent Garrison.  I have been with Elliott Equipment Corp. for almost 6 years.  We are a family owned and operated company with two locations in Indiana specializing in the sale, design and maintenance of fluid handling, spray finishing equipment and powder coating systems.

We are known for our attention to detail, timely response and personal service.  If you would like to ask me any questions about paint guns, Air Operated Pump, Finishing Spray Booths, 2 Component Paint Proportioners,  Air Assisted Airless Spray Guns, Electrostatic Spray Guns or Powder Spray Guns, Pressure Tank Systems please email me @ kent_garrison@elliottequipment.com or visit our company website:

www.elliottequipment.com

     

 Airless & Air-Assisted Airlesss Spray Guns
I walked in to a potential customer of mine last week who welds and paints large steel parts. He happens to be spraying them with HVLP Guns and a pressure tank system. In my humble opinion; anyone who has to coat large parts where a car like finish isn't required should be using high pressure spray guns (i.e. Air Assisted or Airless Guns).


Back to the Basics

In some of our past blogs we've talked about the different spraying technologies. Air-spray, HVLP, Airless or Air Assisted Airless. If you recall, Air Spray and HVLP both use large amounts of air pressure to atomize the paint.  With Airless/Air-Assisted Airless technology we are using High Fluid Pressure (500-2000psi and above) and a very small tip to atomize the coating.  Airless and AA Guns are by nature much more efficient than Air Spray or HVLP technologies because the coatings aren't blown around by large amounts of air and have a better chance to get to the part.  

In perfect spraying environments, Air Spray Guns can be up to 25% efficient (this means 75% of the paint that comes out of the gun goes into the filters, on the floor or walls or on your painter!!). HVLP guns are a little better, in the 35-45% range and Airless/Air-Assisted are the most efficient, in the 50-60% range.

Airless Spray Guns:

Airless Guns use high pressure fluid and an airless tip with a thousandths of an inch hole in to atomize the coatings.  This is a very efficient way to paint, but the quality of finish isn't the best. This technology is used a lot in industrial/farm equipment, outdoor items like water towers or wind turbines or structural steel.

Air-Assisted Airless Guns:

Like Airless Guns; we are using high fluid pressure and small tip to atomize the coating, but also using a small amount of air to help even out the fan pattern and provide a better finish than airless. We see and recommend this technology for parts that the finish quality is more important than a cattle finish but not as high as a car.  These guns are used a lot in the wood industry, large industrial equipment and school buses to name a few.  A good example of the kind of parts I'm talking about is Bryan Steam, who use AA guns to coat their large steam boilers.


Back to the case of the potential customer I talked about at the beginning.  When I walk in somewhere and see someone using an HVLP or Air Spray Gun to coat a large part that doesn't require a Class A automotive finish, I wonder why they're not taking advantage of Airless or Air-Assisted Airless technologies.

Remember; if you're putting more paint on the part with each pass, you're not only saving $$ on coating costs but you should also be able to paint faster and save on things like booth filters.

To learn more about Airless and Air Assisted Airless Technologies, click here for a brochure or give me a call at 800-823-7527

Cleaning low or high pressure spray guns, pressure tanks systems, paint pumps or any spray finishing equipment has always been a burden to the paint industry; until now.

Crest Powersonic (Ultrasonic) benchtop spray gun cleaner is a device that uses waves of acoustic energy (a process known as "cavitation") to loosen and break up debris on instruments.  When ultrasonic energy is introduced to a cleaning solution, the foundation of ultrasonic cleaning occurs.  Ultrasonic energy causes alternating patterns of low and high pressure phases. During the low pressure phases, bubbles or vacum cavities form.  In the subsequent phases these bubbles implode violently.  That process is called "cavitation".

Cavitation provides an extreme scrubbing action that leads to unprecedented cleaning time and consistency when compared with simple soaking part in solvent and brushing.  The bubbles caused during the cavitation are so small they can penetrate mircoscopic crevices, including those found in cured paint.  As a result, ultrasonic cleaning is one of the most highly effective and efficient methods you can use for cleaning your spray finishing equipment. 

Crest Powersonic cleaners come in a variety of sizes and include automatic timers and heaters and range in price from $1000 to $2000.  Click here to download a brochure on these units.  Also see us for an environmentally friendly (Read that GREEN)  Cleaner that make these units super efficient at removing even the most stubbornly cured paints and 2K urethanes.

  Please call or email if you have any questions or would like to purchase an ultrasonic cleaner. 800-823-7527

 

• Paint Mixers
• Air Operated Pumps
• Air Spray Guns
• Fluidized Powder Hoppers
• Cartridge Style Powder Coat Spray Booths
• Powder Spray Guns

Here is a simple formula to determine the cost of your compressed air:

• Swith standard air spray guns to HVLP Guns or better (electrostatic spray gun)
• Use only enough air to properly atomize your coating and no more
• Consider changing air motor on your paint mixers and agitators to a piston style motor. This can cut air consumption in half.
• Regularly check lines for leaks 

Click here to download a brochure on the super efficient piston style agitator motor

• Eliminate problems with drafts, contaminated air and tempature control


• Creates balanced building pressure and maintain proper comfort levels


• 100% Fresh Air


• Add a bake or cure cycle to your spray finishing process

These units can be gas fired or electric, can be mounted on your building roof, spray booth roof or outside your building and ducted in.

I mentioned earlier that without an air make up unit your spray booth could become ineffective.  What can happen is called "fan cavitation".  This means your spray finishing booth  fan will spin but with no air to move it will not accomplish its goal of exhausting spray fumes out of the building. You can see where that could become a big problem fast.

This was just a brief introduction to Air Make Up/Replacement Units; if you'd like to learn more, click here for a detailed brochure.

You can also call me at 800-823-7527 for any questions about finishing spray booths, air make up units or any of your paint spray equipment needs.

• True "on gun controls" allow the user to change powder flow or recipes without leaving the booth, while spraying.  The ever popular purge air is incorporated on the gun as well, allowing a blast of air to clear the gun of excess powder.


• The new Encore Pump is a step up from standard powder coating pump.  It is the most efficient pump on the market and maximizes transfer efficiency by getting more powder to the gun using less air.


• First pass coverage and gun to part distance make this gun unique.  Because of the efficient Encore pump, user can get the gun right on the part like never before. A combination of Nordson's patented "Automatic Feedback Control" and the maximum powder delivery to gun allow for this close gun to part distance.  This feature makes it a lot easier to coat the dreaded "Faraday Cage" areas.


• Last but not least, the Encore unit features a brilliant on screen LED display.  The user can control Powder Flow, Gun Air, KV or MicroAmp settings.  There are also 20 user set recipes allowing you to save settings for each part you coat.  Nordson also has 3 preset modes: Re-Coat, Metallic and Recessed Box.

If you are looking for a competitive and professional powder coating service in the Indianapolis area, call Ryan Pace at Pace Performance Coatings 317-858-8180.

PacePerformancee Coating
468 Southpoint Circle Suite 500/600
Brownsburg IN 46112)

For more info on the new Nordson Encore Unit click here or call me at 800-823-7527

If you are thinking of purchasing a finishing spray booth or powder coat spray booth there are a few things to keep in mind.  The most important thing to think about is the size of your spray booth. You don't want to under-size a booth and have to come back and modify at a later date (time and $$).

The painter needs room to work around his part.  Spray booth size is critical to the success of the painter and his spray finishing equipment.  Here are some factors to consider when you are sizing your booth:

• WIDTH: Measure the width of your largest part then add a minimum of 2.5 feet to each side to give you painter adequate room to move around the part.


• HEIGHT: The height of you spray booth should be two to three feet above the largest part you plan to paint.


• DEPTH: Working depth should be enough to fit your largest part completely in the spray booth plus at least 3ft at the rear (filters) for clearance.

In the past we've talked about some of Nordson's more advanced powder coating equipment. Today we'll learn about a more economical, easy to use powder coating system.

This unit is called The Vantage Unit. This system uses some of Nordson tried and true technologies; such as Automatic Feedback Current, but doesn't offer a lot of the extra features that you find in the Prodigy and Encore powder coating systems.

Automatic Feedback Current or AFC allows users to set the gun current at a level that will provide optimal (not necessarily maximum) charge and field strength for each application. Control of the gun current ensures that the number of ions generated in the charge zone is sufficient to charge the coating effectively, but not high enough to create excessive free-ion current on the already-deposited coating layer.

This system is about as easy to use as you can get. I set up a Vantage last week with a customer in Lafayette, Indiana. It took about 10 minutes from the time I walked in door until to the time we started spraying.  

The only variables the user has to control are:

• Gun Atomizing Air
• Powder Flow Air
• KV or AFC Setting

You can't get much easier than that.  The Vantage is available in the standard vibratory box feed or 50lb hopper unit, and can be purchased on our online sales site for a great price. Click here for a brochure on the Vantage or if you're ready to start powder coating click here to buy it now option from our online store.

When selecting a Finishing Spray Booth there are a few things to keep in mind.  Whether you're looking for a liquid finishing spray booth or powder coat spray booth there are many styles and technologies to choose from. Let's look at a few:

• Standard CROSS DRAFT finishing spray booth.  A cross draft booth like the on pictured above is named so for the way air enters the booth. In this case, air is drawn in front open face, through the filter plenum and out the exhaust stack. One drawback of a cross draft is that the operator has to always spray towards the filters. If he/she were to stand with his back to the filters and spray, he/she would end of painting themselves as that is the direction the air is moving.


•  DOWNDRAFT spray booths are another example of spray finishing booths.  In a Down Draft booth, air is either forced in or drawn through a filter plenum on top of the booth and exhausted through a pit in the floor.  This is the most efficient spray booth on the market and allows the operator to spray facing in any direction he desires.


• A SIDE DOWNDRAFT similar to a downdraft because the air is coming from the top of the booth and moving down. The similarities end there as the air is then exhausted through a plenum running along the bottom side walls of the booth. This is more efficient than a cross draft but less than a true downdraft.

• CARTRIDGE STYLE style powder coat spray booths draw air in through an open face or filtered door and move through large cartridge style filters that are set to pulse every few minutes. These pulses help discharge built up powder to ensure free air flow.


• 3 STAGE FILTER BOOTH: This is like a standard liquid finishing spray booth except that instead of a single filter it incorporates a three stage system. These booths also do not exhaust to atmosphere, the air is thoroughly cleaned through the 3-stage filtration and recycled back into the plant.

These are a few of the spray booths we offer. Keep in mind that spray finishing booths are customizable in about anyway you can think of and also available in all sizes large and small.

To learn more please visit our website or send me an email, kent_garrison@elliottequipment.com

• Consider switching your air spray guns for more efficient HVLP Spray Gun

• Explore the benefits of Electrostatic Spray Guns (Any spray application where your substrate is metal you can greatly increase your transfer efficiency by switching to an electrostatic spray gun)

• This is a big one but have you ever thought about eliminating your liquid coating operations and changing over to a Powder Coating System? (The benefits involved with powder coating systems include: great transfer efficiency, low to no VOC's, no more throwing away dirty paint filters and no more exhausting hazardous fumes and particulate into the atmosphere).

If you're looking for idea's on how to make your coatings operation more GREEN, visit our website or call me at 800-823-7527.

• DO... Remove air cap if using and HVLP spray gun or air assisted airless spray gun
• DO... Use small brushes or needles to clean all air cap holes
• It's okay to leave air caps and tips submerged in solvent over night
• DON'T... One thing I see a lot, is guns completely submerged in a can or bucket of solvent.  This is not recommended practice. By placing the entire gun in solvent you are actually making the gun more dirty as dirty solvent will coat the inside of the air passageways and when it dries you can have paint and dirt flakes come out of those passageways and onto your part.  Not Good.
• DON'T... Another thing soaking the entire gun in solvent can do is erode any o-rings in the gun and if using an HVLP spray gun you can ruin the plastic air valve that opens when the trigger is pulled.
• DO... Use small soft bristled brushed or tip cleaning needles to clean or unplug any debris in your airless or air assisted airless spray gun.
• DO... It is okay to clean or wipe down the outside of your gun with solvent.

In this blog I'd like to talk about an easy to use single color Paint Proportioner.

What are some major issue's surrounding the use of a 2 component paint?

• Mix Time: Operators have to mix resin and catalyst before each shoot
• Waste: When dealing with a 2k paint, once mixed the paint begins to "catalyze" and will have to be disposed of if not used within a certain time window (Pot Life)
• Precise Measuring: 2k paints require a precise mixing ratio, that when left in an operators hands can subject to human error.

How will a 2k Paint Proportioner help to solve these issues:

• Paint Prep/Mix Time:  There is no operator mixing involved in with a paint proportioner.  The catalyst and resin are stored in separate pressure pots and feed through the gear meters into a mix manifold at correct spray ratio's
• Waste:  Since we are mixing on demand as the trigger is pulled, only the paint in the line is mixed material.
• Precise Measuring: When the paint or A side enters the gear meter a signal is sent to the brains of the machine telling it how many cc's of material have passed through.  When the computer decides that the correct amount has been dispensed an air signal shuts off the A dispense valve and opens the B (Catalyst) dispense valve, allowing fluid to flow through that side.  Once again when the correct amount has been dispensed the dispense valve closes and the process repeats itself as long as the trigger is pulled.

If prep time and paint waste are problems in your 2k paint applications, a Graco Pro Mix Easy will save you time and $$$.

Download a brochure here or visit our website for more information on 2 component paint proportioners.

In my previous blog we talked about a powder coating system called The Lean Cell Booth that enables a user to drastically reduce color change times by increasing air flow through the booth.  Today I'll show you how to combine the Lean Cell powder coat spray booth with another piece of powder coating equipment to bring your color change times down into 30 SECOND RANGE!!
                                      
This technology; once again manufactured by Nordson Corp, is called Color On Demand. Combined with the ALL NEW Prodigy Generation II manual gun system, Prodigy Color-on-Demand gives you an integrated solution for precision dispensing and ultra-fast contamination-free color change.

To see a video of this technology in action click here.  If you would like to learn more about this tune into my next blog post for an in-depth explanation of the process.

Graco has introduced some cool innovations to their air operated pump line.  The NXT Air Motor combines some new smart technology with common sense to make a user friendly pump.                                          

• DATA TRAK screen provides real time flow rates, total gallons/liters or ounces pumped and maintenance alarms
• Runaway feature that works great (user sets a stroke per minute max and if pump exceeds that an air actuated pin will block the travel of the motor)
• Integrated Air Controls built right into the motor (Main Air Shutoff valve, air regulator and air filter)
• Pump can be purchased with a quiet or de-icing feature

To learn more about our air operated pumps or any spray finishing equipment visit our website or download this brochure on the NXT Air Operated Pumps.

If you are interested in purchasing this type of spray finishing equipment please visit our on-line sales site: Spray Equipment Packages

HDLV is to powder guns what HVLP spray guns are to liquid. HDLV stand for "High Density Low Velocity".  This is a new concept in powder spray guns.  HDLV refers to the powder delivery to the powder spray gun, by using a newly designed powder pump and the new Nordson Prodigy powder spray gun.

The powder is delivered to the gun in "packets" of highly dense powder and then transferred from the gun at a much lower velocity than standard powder spray guns.  Because the powder is traveling at lower velocities when exiting the gun it has a much better chance at adhering to the part.





  The results are amazing:

• Unbelievable Transfer Efficiencies 
• Operators can coat parts much much faster
• Gun to part distance can be dramatically reduced allowing operators to "get right in" Faraday cage or other hard to coat areas
• The new pump design allows for fast/easy color changes

To learn more about this amazing innovation in powder coating technology call me @ 800-823-7527 or visit this page on our website.

One of the biggest headaches in the Powder Coating industry is "color changes" and the time associated with doing them.  The main time waster is cleaning your powder coat spray booth.  When you're not Powder Coating, you're not making money.  Is there a powder coat spray booth out there that can help with this process?

The answer is yes!                          

There is a new powder coat spray booth manufactured by Nordson and sold by Elliott Equipment Corp. that will increase booth air flow and decrease color change times.  The Lean Cell booth incorporates a few concepts to help with powder coat color change times.  

• The first is polypropylene booth walls.  Being a plastic composite material the charged powder is not attracted to walls, thus reducing booth cleaning time between colors.  
• The second is a tremendous increase in air volume moving through the booth.  The Lean Cell Powder Coat Spray Booth is designed to completely clear the air of powder particles in 10 seconds.

You can combine this booth technology with Nordson's new Prodigy Powder Spray Gun to achieve full color changes in as little as 30 seconds!

To learn more about this technology click here or call me at 800-823-7527

Look No Further.  Nordson's newest Powder Spray Gun system, the Encore Unit will provide you with everything you're looking for in a powder spray gun.  Features Include:

• 100kv Gun
• Lightest Gun on the Market
• Usable On Gun Controls (Adjust powder flow on the fly from the gun trigger)
• New Pump design allows for more powder with less air usage
• Higher first pass transfer efficiency
• Closer Gun to Part Distance
• 20 Programmable Recipes              

Please click here to download a brochure on the Encore Unit

Or

Click here to purchase this unit from our on-line sales website Spray Equipment Packages

If your looking for a great Powder Coat Spray Gun in Indiana please call me @ 317-271-3065