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QUALICOAT UK & Ireland
> Articles
Published on 01 May 2018 10:05
NLU - Setting the Standard for Architectural Powder Coating - Article
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Key Learning outcomes
How to avoid powder coat failures
The importance of the pretreatment
To understand who QUALICOAT are and how they operate
The rigorous ongoing testing of product finish
How to specify the correct coating for the location
Introduction
Architectural powder coating is used today on virtually all our commercial buildings so it is important to get the specification correct to ensure the coating offers a long life expectancy to meet the clients expectations. Where and how the coatings are to be applied is also crucial to the life expectancy of the coating. This short CPD Article is an introduction to the full QUALICOAT CPD of the same name and covers the crucial elements of getting it right!
1.0 When it Does Go Wrong
Powder coating is a VOC free coating finish which is baked onto the surface of metal to form an attractive finish for various products from architectural coatings to white goods. It can often wrongly be seen as a ‘cover all’ where a poor substrate can be hidden from view by ‘painting’. Some powder coaters, normally those who do not often undertake coatings to an architectural standard, often do not apply a high quality pretreatment to the metal, which is often an aluminium substrate and this is often where projects go wrong.
So what does this ‘pretreatment’ do?
As the powder coating is not completely airtight and watertight the pretreatment must completely seal the aluminium and stop all form of corrosion due to air and water contact. The pretreatment must also offer a good ‘key’ for the powder coating to adhere too. Part of the pretreatment process is also an etch which takes away surface impurities which can often lead to premature failure such as silicones and other oxides.
Poor pretreatment issues can show in within a short period of one to three years, or even earlier, if the project is in a particularly harsh environment such as near the cost. It is crucial to know what the pretreatment is being offered on any project which is being powder coated. The importance cannot be overstressed and is just as important as choosing the right colour and finish of the powder coat itself.
To this end it is important to know where the powder coating is to take place and down what powder is being used alongside the pretreatment system when sourcing architectural powder coating.
Poor pretreatment. Specifying QUALICOAT will ‘eliminate’ this form of failure, by increasing levels of pretreatment etching prior to powder coating.
Provider company overview
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About
QUALICOAT UK & Ireland
c/o Aluminium Federation Ltd
Bragborough Hall Business Centre
Welton Road, Braunston
Daventry
NN11 7JG
Jan Lukaszewski
Tel +\+44 (0) 121 601 6363
j_lukaszewski@alfed.org.uk
The information contained in the CPD article web pages is not intended and accordingly shall not be relied upon either as a substitute for professional advice or judgement or to provide legal or other advice with respect to any particular circumstance. RIBA Enterprises accepts no responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the information contained.