Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Picklex and non-chromate pretreatments for powder coating
Q. We manufacture metal display rack and shade structures primarily used in garden centers. We are in search of treatments that would be an alternative to chromating. Some of our clients are specifying chromate, but we are not set up for it and fear it due to EPA regulations.
Any suggestions for other pretreatments for powder coating?
We are looking at Picklex®
[affil links]. Has anyone used this product or know anything about it?
Our goal is a minimum of a 500 hour salt spray.
Thanks for your help in advance.
metal fab & finishing - Union Springs, Alabama
2003
A. Hi Van. A report on Picklex®
[affil links] was published in the April 2003 issue of Plating & Surface Finishing magazine under the title "Non-Polluting Metal Surface Finishing Treatment and Pretreatment/Conversion Coatings" by Ferguson and Monzyk. If chromating is specified, the substrate must be aluminum? You may also wish to look at MIL-DTL-5541
[on DLA] which now includes some approved pretreatment products for aluminum that are not hex chrome.
We welcome a discussion of aluminum pretreatment in generic terms but, sorry, we can't have readers offer testimonials pro or con re. specific proprietary products ( huh? why?).
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003
A. There are a few pretreat suppliers that produce a "dry in place" chromate conversion. GE Betz (GE Water and Process Technologies) and Henkel for sure, possibly PPG or DuBois. This will most likely require an additional stage in the pretreat, but it won't adversely effect waste water treatment and disposal.
Andy Peal- Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
2003
A. Several vendor supporters of finishing.com market phosphating products that leave a visible coating on aluminum (my company is not one of them). Look for a phosphating product that contains Molybdenum. Apply this product very lightly and top off with 2 oz/100 gal chromic acid which is easy to treat (not like chromate which is 2 oz per ONE gallon). Even if you leave the chromic acid off you will still bond powder coat much better than over a heavy chromate which tends to shear.
Robert H Probert
Robert H Probert Technical Services
Garner, North Carolina
2003
A. As a powder and waterborne surface coating mfgr. and as I slowly go down the list of Q's one wonders why the applicators have to ask for help - where is the technical help from the powder mfgr? No disrespect but we would not last a minute if our customers could not get the help they require.
Dear Van,
It is possible to obtain 1000 hoursASTM B117 (salt spray resistance) No chromate or phosphate or etch primer - in the UK they use a waterbourne primer which is applied, air-dried, powder coated using polyester powder and baked to achieve over 1000 hours salt resistance. No chromates used, low VOC's. Don't fall behind!
Birmingham, United Kingdom
2003
Hi Terry. Yes, customer service has declined in every field. We all agree with the desirability of technical service, but sometimes it isn't readily accessible, especially for small users.
But no matter how good tech service is or ever was, let's admit that no rep recommends their competitors' products anyway :-)
So there has always been a need for technical interchange, books, conferences, troubleshooting forums, journal articles, consultants, independent training, professional societies, technical education groups, etc. This forum is similar to those in printed journals, but offers an immediacy and personal interaction not practical in printed media.
Thanks.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003
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