The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Bad powder coating

I just got my rims back from a commercial powder coating company. I am sitting here absolutly shocked at what they might consider to be an acceptable job. It is just bad.

How do I take powder coating off. They must make something that removees this stuff.

I am just stunned.

Any help is welcome.

YOUVE WASTED YOUR MONEY. SANDBLAST THEM CLEAN AND HAVE THEM PAINTED. POWDERCOATING IS WAAAY OVERRATED. ITS CRAP,,IT FADES,,AND CHIPS. IVE WASTED PLENTY OF MY OWN MONEY ON IT,,,NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Bill - see here about removal , but why not start with talking to the jobber about some satisfaction? what exactly is wrong? rough surface, or patchy?

powder coating cosmetics are only as good as the metal below - it doesn't "fill" pitting or irregularities, so if the metal wasn't smooth to start, powder coating won't fix it, and the coating must be applied to clean bare metal, so you can't do any "body work" other than file and sandpaper work, no filler - if you gave them rust pitted parts, it's yer mistake tho' they should have warned you

if the job is patchy, blotchy, thick and thin, tell them you want it done right or yer money back

and delux54 - DON'T YELL!! it's not polite - powder coating properly done is great, resists chipping and scratching much better than paint and I've never seen any fade, tho I suppose some colors might, just like red paint usually doesn't hold up as long as other colors

Bill

Bill,

The wheels were straight from Stockton wheel. New rims on old, very good, artillery centers. The coating has everything wrong that you wrote, thick, thin, patchy. I couldn't believe it when I opend the boxes. Thanks for the link on the removal. I am going to call the jobber and see what they can do fo me.

I just got back from the hospital, knee replacement, so I'm not to mobile right now. I shouldn't have tried to rush the job.

Thanks,

Bill

We had wanted to coat our 20" wheels, but decided against it. The problem with ours was that we couldnt get the rims clean enough to do it. Rims with a rivited center plate are very hard to blast clean, you always end up with little places were the outer part and the inner part meet,that you cant get to. If you end up with a bad spot, the coating will just release from the metal over a period of time. Another problem is with the lock rings. You can only have so much of a build up on these parts or they wont assemble properly. One more place to watch is the center hole. As most of these trucks use the hub to center the wheel, excess material will just be scraped off when installing the rim. This will sometimes bare the metal and rust will form and then work under the coating. We decided to have the rims painted with paint used on tractors. Its a lot tuffer than car paint, is single stage and easy to touch up if you damage it. We have coated many other parts of the truck, and havent had any trouble with fading. One thing to remember is that it will only look as good coated as it did bare. If your metal looks like a golf balls surface before, it still will after, just a differnt colored one. You cant fill it in with body putty, as most ovens will cook the putty off the metal. Try to find a coater that use these steps, 1) cleans the parts with a degreaser. 2) heats the parts up before coating them. You will find that it makes them a lot better in the end.

Bill - I have a set of wheels at Stockton now, they will powder coat them before they send them back. Did Stockton do the poor job on powder coating or did you have them powder coated after you got them back form Stokton? Bug

I have had great success with powder coating. There are indeed a few steps you need to take before the coating takes place. 1. Bring your parts clean to the coater. If he is good he will bake your parts to help them out gas the oils in the metal. 2. He will media blast the part to provide a good surface for the powder to adhere to. 3. He should then wipe down the part prior to hanging it the rack for powder. Powder flows around 410 degrees than cures as it cools. You can also wash the part after the media blasting in a soda bath.
There are two ways to effectively remove powder. 1. jasco. 2. burn off oven which hits about 900 degrees. It's all in the prep. Hans

I have used Accurate powder coating in San Carlos Ca. 650-802-8180 Warren is his name

My powder coating was not done by Stockton.

I looked up jasco. http://www.jasco-help.com/index.htm

These appear to be paint stripping products. There are a number of different products. Is there one in particular that works on powder coating?

Powder totally rules over paint, don't give up on it after a single incident with a person who is obviously a powder-coating idiot.

Eastwood sells a remover that will take the powder off.

It is interesting to see these comments. For starters powder is vastly superior to paint. My old rusty rims turned out fabulous after powder and it got into the cracks just fine. It is so tough I don't think it can be chipped with an axe. My man failed to mask a portion on my spindles and it took me 2 days to get back to metal using a brand-new quality bastard file. It took 2 weeks for my arms and hands to quit hurting. Angry deluxe54panel got ripped like you did; he did it himslef or hired someone who either didn't prepare properly, used old cheap or contaminated powder, didn't apply it properly, didn't have the heat set high enough, or didn't leave the stuff in the oven long enough.

Hang in there and good luck.

I have used aircraft paint remover to remove powder coating with much success. If you go this route, make sure you use good rubber, not latex, gloves and a respirator. I tried using latex gloves and it ate right through them. That stuff burns when it comes in contact with your skin.

I also am happy with all the powder coating I have had done. I've had parts that were powdercoated,sandblasted,and repowdered another color. There are some coatings that will fade with UV rays over time. Ask what kind of coating you are getting and if it is UV tolerant.

All powder coaters are not created equal. Powder coating done right is far superior to paint. Bill is correct that coating won't hide rust pits or other defects in the metal. I'm very pleased with the coating done on my wheels by Prizm. They are getting quite the reputation & are getting work from all over the country.

I keep hearing that powder coating is seperior to paint,this is not true in all situations.Powder coating is alot more durable than paint but it does not have the smooth finish like paint.You CAN NOT cut and buff PC like you can paint.

I have used the Eastwood home powdercoated for about six years now, I am real happy with the way it comes out. To remove a poor jog of coating, just use your torch, it burns right off! You don't overheat or even discolor the metal, it just turns to ash right away. I have done intakes and trim with great results. And yes you can polish it out! Its works just like paint, sand then polish.... it seems a bit soft but will leave a glass smooth surface.

The cleaning and prebaking is the key! Joe

Evrone recommends the parts be clean when taken to the jobber. How long can a part sit after sandblasting before it can't be powder coated. is there something that can be put on the part to prevent flash rust until it's coated without hurting the PC process?

craig49, I just had two fenders blasted off my 52 panel and the guy told me he shot a coat of "rust stop" (probably his words and not a brand) on the fenders and they could be painted over. If it can be painted over I wonder, like you, wonder is stuff shot with a rust preventer can be coated over. Is there such a thing as "rust stop" by brand name? I wonder. At least the fenders have not even attempted to rust as of now and its been 4 weeks.

And lets not forget that its not just the metal that causes bad powder.Its the bad prep work such as not cleaning the parts before powder,and the curing time.Even though its done, the powder is still soft, and is easily damaged.Oh and Bill I sent you a private message.

I use powder coating all the time. I thingk it's the greatest thing since sliced bread! Just had the wheels done on my 56 by the Les Schab tire center in Lakewood WA. They did all the prep turned out great. All for just $27.50 a wheel .My time is worth more than that, :p Paint them I thingk not! Newly powder coated wheel

take them back have them redone
or
file a claim to the BBB

powder coating is very good when done on parts that have odd surfaces that need sanding
i DO NOT powder sheet metal bits.