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Powder Coating vs. Painting w/Hardener

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4K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  DCG 
#1 ·
My powder coater tried to talk me out of powder coating my rear step bumper and instead painting it with a hardener after sandblasting and priming. While installing it, the PC chipped so now I have some exposed metal that I had to treat and paint anyway. Also, when you powder coat, if you need to repair the part and have to use body filler, then you can't bake it in the oven after the powder coat is sprayed on.


Thoughts from the experts on this board? Painting with a hardener or Powder Coating parts like rear step bumper, brake light bars, etc?
 
#3 ·
Not all paint is created equal. Neither are all powdercoats created equal.

What kind of powdercoat failed on you? Was a cross-linking powder or a straight plastic powder? What kind of either? Of course, your powdercoater will not tell you. They will powdercoat with whatever they powdercoat everything with.

Paints: Polysiloxane, Siloxane, Long-chain Alkyd, Medium-chain Alkyd, Short-chain Alkyd, Acrylic polymer, Latex polymer, Single-component Urethane, Two-component Urethane, Single-component epoxy, Two-component epoxy. Novolac, polyamide, polyamine, phenolic, coal tar and water based epoxies.

What type of paint would you like to use? I'm assuming you want indestructible paint. :)

The stuff used on heavy construction equipment is 2 part polyamide epoxy. Usually brushed on to create an extremely thick coating, something like 4 or 5 mils.

If you really want an indestructible finish, hot dip galvanize with 2-part epoxy topcoat is best.
 
#11 ·
Two words, Rustoleum Hammerite. I like the look of powdercoating but eventually it cracks and the corrosion starts. I stopped using it years ago with the exception of high temp coating on engine parts. Touching up paint is cheap and easy.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I've personally had excellent results with powdercoating.

Based on the comments, I get the feeling that a lot of powdercoaters do not prep (blast and clean) or bake out their parts correctly. All the powdercoated parts I've done have had superior adhesion to painted components. Durability of coatings for me has depended on film thickness, surface prep, and cure. When it comes to notch testing, I would put the advantage on powder over epoxy. If I were to powder a sheet of steel, then bend it in half, the powdercoating would not peel. An equivalent panel covered in epoxy would lead to the epoxy cracking.

Touching up is an important point.
 
#13 ·
Not a powder coating expert so maybe someone can chime in. To the best of my knowledge some spot of a powder coated piece needs to have an electrode touching it during the process. So no matter how well it's done you will always have a very small spot of bare metal that needs some touched up. basically a weak spot in the coating. Water gets in, starts rusting or just flaking off the powder coating in real world use. This is the same with chips and dings. We have all seen this and we don't need to even talk about UV issues. I will echo several members before, powder coating is great for inside parts or items or pieces that will never get real world use. If it's a garage queen and will never see dirt., perfect. If you actually use the truck always paint. Easy to touch up and redo down the road.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of hot dip galvanizing. On the current truck I'm building, The chassis, bulkhead door frames and basically every steel part on the truck in hot dipped. Total cost $275. If you use a good etch primes you can paint over the galvy w/o issue.

Remember the chrome don't get you home! same is true for powder coating.

IMHO
 
#14 ·
If I have parts that will get chipped, such as bumpers, sliders, and such, then I paint. Other parts that just take abuse I powder coat. There is NO powder coat paint that holds up to a rock. Wet paint is easier to fix and match by far.
 
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