Metal enclosure powder coating involves applying dry and free-flowing powder to the enclosure surface using electrostatic charges.
Properly powder coated metal enclosures have very high resistance to peeling and cracking in addition to high chemical, corrosion and abrasion resistance.
Today’s guide explores everything about powder coating gabinete elétrico.
Keep reading to learn more.
Why You Should Choose Metal Enclosure Powder Coated
Powder Coated Metal Enclosure
Powder coated metal enclosure many benefits compared to ordinary liquid painted metal enclosures. Some of the advantages of metal enclosure powder coating include:
Durability
Metal enclosure powder coated have an exceptionally long-lasting surface finish.
O powder coating is resistant to fading, chipping and scratching, making sure the metal enclosure maintain its aesthetic attractiveness for several years.
The powder coating also makes the metal enclosure resistant to hard impacts, abrasion, heat, UV rays and corrosion.
Moreover, curing process of metal enclosure powder coating produces a harder, robust finish in comparison to traditional liquid paints.
Therefore, powder coated metal enclosure will have a longer service life since it is protected from damage.
Uniformity
During powder coating of the metal enclosure, the tiny particles strongly stick to the surface because of application of electrostatics.
Heated up and bound, the powder melts into a polished and even surface.
Similarly, the powder coated metal enclosure can have a thicker layer without any dripping, sagging, or running paint.
Whether the metal enclosure is smooth, bumpy or ridged, the powder coating will layer every part smoothly and uniformly.
Environmental Protection
If environmental impact of your product is a concern to you, then powder coated metal enclosure is the best choice.
Liquid paints usually constitute solvents referred to as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be hazardous to humans and environment.
On the other hand, metal enclosure powder coated feature no solvents during the cleaning and spraying phases of fabrication.
The production procedure only releases insignificant quantities of pollutants and you can recycle the powder coated metal enclosure.
Moreover, you can equally collect and reuse the excess powder, which enhances the efficiency of the metal enclosure.
Attractiveness
Metal enclosure powder coated gives you a variety of color options to choose from because of the several powdered pigments and resins available.
Besides the variety of shades, there are a number of textures and finishes, consisting of metallic, glossy and matte.
Additionally, as earlier mentioned, powder coated metal enclosure will have a smooth, even, and drip-free finish.
This produces an elegant and aesthetically pleasing layering.
Powder Coated Metal Enclosure Vs. Liquid Painted Metal Enclosure: How They Compare
You can finish metal enclosures with either wet paint or powder coating.
While they serve the same purpose, each type of coating offers unique advantages and disadvantages.
Powder Coated Metal Enclosure Vs. Liquid Painted Metal Enclosure
Solvent
Both coatings consist of pigments, resins and additives. However, the primary difference is solvent: liquid paint contains solvent while powder coating does not.
Application Processes
Powder Coated Electrical Enclosure
You use an electrostatic gun to shoot dry powder onto the metal enclosure surface.
The gun provides a negative charge to the powder, which gets attracted to grounded section.
The attraction leads to quick and uniform application. After achieving the required thickness, Curing oven helps in gelling the heated powder.
It produces thermal bonds between the particles of powder, leading to a smooth, hard surface finish.
Liquid Painted Metal Electrical Enclosure
Liquid painting of metal enclosures is done through a fine spray. Although the liquid paint is equally electrostatically charged, the effect is much less.
While metal enclosure powder coating creates uniform coats effortlessly, liquid paint should be applied by exceptionally trained professional to prevent sags or drips.
Some liquid paint metal enclosures are air dried whilst others are put in curing oven.
Textures
You can achieve some textures very well with wet paint metal enclosure or metal enclosure powder coated. However, there are those that are easier to attain with a specific type of metal enclosure.
It is much easier to achieve textured finishes with powder coated metal enclosures.
Thicker powder layers are naturally smoother, while thinner coats are more textured.
Technically, you can have powder coated metal enclosures with high-gloss finish. Nevertheless, liquid paint metal enclosures make it much easier.
Color Matching
Powder coated metal enclosure has a number of advantages, but liquid paint enclosures are the indisputable winner with regard to color matching. You can mix custom liquid paint colors with a great degree of precision.
On the contrary, custom powder coated metal enclosure colors need a specific production run. The plastics you grind to form the powder coatings dictates its color.
Since metal enclosure powder coated involve no solvent, blending two colors of powder will just produce speckle pattern of the two colors.
Custom colors of powder coated metal enclosures are possible. However, producing them is more time consuming and costly in comparison to with liquid paint metal enclosures.
Performance
Metal enclosure powder coated offers better performance compared to liquid paint metal enclosures. The former has more resistance to scratching, chipping and other forms of wear.
The high resistance is due to the thermal bonding the powder coated metal enclosure undergoes during curing. Furthermore, it is because you can apply the powder coating in much thicker coverings.
Apart from the physical toughness, metal enclosure powder coated offer superior color retention. Prolonged exposure to heat, sunlight and moisture disintegrates the resins contained in both powder coated and painted metal enclosures.
Known as chalking, the process causes pigment and resin particles to lose adhesion, making them develop chalk-like covering on the enclosure coating surface.
For this reason, most metal enclosure manufacturers frequently use polyester-based powder coatings because of their outstanding chalk resistance.
Health And Safety
Powder coated metal enclosure doesn’t just have greater durability than liquid painted metal enclosures, it is equally safer to keep and apply.
There are various reasons why liquid painted metal enclosures are hazardous, one being flammability of liquid paint.
Wrong storage can easily cause a menacing chemical fire.
Furthermore, metal enclosure wet painting is equally a health hazard due to emission of VOCs. Prolonged VOCs exposure, specifically within confined spaces result in respiratory aggravation and compounding health issues.
Since powder coating does not consist of any fluids to vaporize, it does not emit any VOCs.
Therefore, powder coated metal enclosures are totally free of the related health and safety hazards.
Cost
Metal enclosure powder coated is normally cheaper compared to liquid painted metal enclosures in the long term.
Nevertheless, the upfront price tends to be prohibitive.
The savings related with metal enclosure powder coating are majorly indirect, though they pay back fast.
Types Of Metal Enclosure Powder Coating
There exist 2 types of powder coatings for metal enclosure, thermoplastics and thermosets.
When heated, thermoplastic powder coating turns liquid and exceptionally soft.
This does away with the need for chemical bonding, making the powder coating reversible and recyclable.
Thermoplastic powder coatings incline to be thicker, thus more durable in comparison to thermoset metal enclosure powder coatings.
On the contrary, thermoset powder coating is quite different since it creates chemical bonds after cure, making recycling it impossible.
Thermoset coating is appropriate for powder coated metal enclosure used in high heat areas since the bond hinders it from melting. This type of metal enclosure powder coating is relatively cheaper than thermoplastic coating.
Process Of Powder Coating Metal Enclosures
Here is the procedure of metal enclosure powder coating:
Pretreatment For Powder Coating
The initial step in the process of powder coating is the preparation or pretreatment of the metal enclosure.
The reason for this operation is to ensure that enclosure surface is clean and doesn’t have any rust, oils, dust and other contaminants.
Chemical pretreatment usually happens in a chain of spray chambers.
First, you clean the metal enclosure with a neutral, acidic or alkaline cleaner.
In most cases, the surface treatment is done using zinc or iron phosphate conversion coating. Alternatively, you can use a conversion coating of transitional metal like zirconium product.
Each phase is commonly set apart by a rinse phase to eliminate residual chemicals.
Spray systems facilitate pretreatment of a myriad of metal enclosure sizes and configurations. You can use dip tanks in place of spray for certain applications.
The specific pretreatment process chosen is based on the metal enclosure material and powder coating characteristics. The common pretreatments used in metal enclosure powder coating include:
- Zinc phosphate for steel or galvanized metal enclosures,
- Iron phosphate for steel metal enclosure powder coated, and
- Non-chrome treatments or chromium phosphate for aluminum metal enclosures.
Powder Coating
Powder Coating Metal Enclosure
After completing the chemical pretreatment procedure, the metal enclosure is dried inside a low-temperature oven.
After that, the enclosures are then ready for powder coating.
You can formulate the powders to meet a broad spectrum of performance or appearance characteristics.
This consist of color, texture, film thickness, gloss and performance (UV resistance, hardness, chemical resistance, etc.) of the powder coated metal enclosure.
The application of the metal enclosure powder coating is performed in an even pattern.
To make the particles stick to the enclosure, you must first run them via a charging field served by the delivery mechanism.
The charged powder particles are then drawn to the grounded enclosure through a clamp.
Besides, the particles are drawn to microscopic ridges within the grain boundaries, and set between these ridges.
After applying the powder to the enclosure, you put the powder coated metal enclosure in an oven and let the powder melt.
Immediately the particles start to melt, they spread and chemically react forming a greater molecular weight polymer within a network-like layout.
The curing process, typically referred to as cross-linking high temperatures of about 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
This allows the finish to set onto the metal enclosure.
The Best Material For Metal Enclosure Powder Coated
Generally, any metal that is capable of holding electrostatic charge and endure the high heat levels necessary for curing can be powder coated.
Since this applies to majority of metals, it implies that you can powder coat most metal enclosures including:
For that matter, the preferred materials for powder coated metal enclosures consist of:
- Stainless Steel
- Alumínio
- Electroplated Steel
- Galvanized Steel
- Copper
- Brass
- Mild Steel
- Iron
The materials are not limited to these metals. They only give you a hint of the variety of metal enclosure materials you can powder coat.
Disadvantages Of Metal Enclosure Powder Coated
Irrespective of the fact that there are many benefits of metal enclosure powder coated, you should not overlook the disadvantages.
Here are the main disadvantages of powder coated metal enclosures:
Powder coated mild steel electrical enclosure
Less Coating Control
It can be challenging to actually attain thickness or regulate how thick the powder coating gets. It might even produce uneven degree of thickness that impacts the general texture.
You will need to redo the metal enclosure powder coating process in case the coating runs.
Getting Colors Right
Color matching in metal enclosure may not emerge as desired, reducing efficiency and leading to inconsistent touch-ups.
Expensive
Smaller enclosures may need a less complex or expensive surface finishing process. Metal enclosure powder coating needs electrostatic booth, spray materials and an oven. This equipment can be very costly for smaller projects.
Service life of Powder Coated Metal Enclosure
The lifespan of metal enclosure powder coated will greatly rely on a number of factors.
The factors consist of quality of preparation, kind of powder coating applied, and the conditions you expose the enclosure to.
Typically, metal enclosure powder coating finishes lasts for about 20 years.
Nonetheless, it may disintegrate faster because of continuous use, UV light exposure can outdoor environment.
Moreover, different metal enclosure powder coatings have varying service life.
For example, coatings consisting of urethanes and fluoropolymers can have an extended lifespan.
They are made to endure severe conditions and are ideal for outdoor metal enclosure powder coated.
On the contrary, epoxy powder coatings may have a longer service life for indoor powder coated metal enclosures.
However, when you expose them to the external environment, they will break down very fast.
Powder Coated Metal Enclosure Quality Control Testing
Quality control testing is the next step after completing the metal enclosure powder coating.
You should know what to anticipate from metal enclosure powder coted – whether it will endure extreme conditions or resist usual wear and tear.
The most popular parameters to test for fundamental powder coated metal enclosure functionality include:
Stainless Steel Powder Coated Metal Enclosure
Film Thickness
This quality control test establishes the powder thickness on the metal enclosure after curing. Typically, you can confirm this using dry film thickness gauge.
The common span to observe is 2 to 3 dry mils. Powder coating of 2-3 mils normally gives total powder coverage over the powder coated metal enclosure.
Proper Curing/Uniformity
Proper curing refers to right dwell time and temperature that enables the powder coating to attain its formulated chemical resistance and hardness properties.
If testing for correct curing, you should ensure that there are no regions of underbake or overbake.
You can conform appropriate curing through rubbing cotton swab soaked in methyl ethyl ketone gently over cured metal enclosure powder coated.
The popular standard for confirming cure is application of twenty double rubs.
Adhesion
Adhesion testing determines how securely the powder coating sticks to the metal enclosure after full curing.
Similar to cure test, the adhesion outcome may be influenced by undebake or overbake.
Appearance
All the metal enclosure powder coated needs to be inspected prior to shipment.
This ensures that there exist no gaps in coverage, warping, bubbles or wrong coating application.
In short, whether to choose powder coated electrical enclosure will depend on your unique requirements and specifications.
You can also choose other surface finishes such as:
For any inquiries, about metal enclosure powder coated – contact KDMstee now.
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