Bubbles in powder coating??
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 104
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From: Edmonton
Bubbles in powder coating?? I picked up my newly-powdercoated caliper brackets this morning, and was quite disappointed to find tiny little bubbles all over the surface. The guy at the shop said that they were a result of the brackets being forged steel, and the baking process for powdercoating causes the molecules to realign and pack closer together, and that there was nothing he could do. My choices were 1) not pay & leave empty-handed 2) pay & leave with bubbled brackets. The bubbles are pretty small and can't be seen until one looks closely, so it isn't all bad.
Is it possible to sand down a powdercoat? I'd like to try and fill the little bubbles with paint, and hopefully make them a little less obvious. This ever happen to anyone else? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="gr_sad.gif" />
Is it possible to sand down a powdercoat? I'd like to try and fill the little bubbles with paint, and hopefully make them a little less obvious. This ever happen to anyone else? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="gr_sad.gif" />
Re: Bubbles in powder coating?? Lots of things can cause it. But I haven't had a problem with the brake calipers at all. If they're prepped right, there shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes metal will have oils/imperfections that come out and are unavoidable, but normally with the proper prep it can be cured.
You can re-powdercoat over the top, touch up with paint, sand off, or remove chemically. When something turns out like this for me, I sand it down smooth, re-prep, and powdercoat over the top.
You can re-powdercoat over the top, touch up with paint, sand off, or remove chemically. When something turns out like this for me, I sand it down smooth, re-prep, and powdercoat over the top.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 535
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From: Ohio
Re: Bubbles in powder coating?? Thats too bad. You just got a bad shop they should stand behind thier work better than that. The place I goto just throws the stuff in the oven at very high temps and burns the stuff right off. Then they clean it up and coat it. You should look for a better shop perhaps send them out to be done.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 104
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From: Edmonton
Re: Bubbles in powder coating?? </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">When something turns out like this for me, I sand it down smooth, re-prep, and powdercoat over the top. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'd actually asked about that, since I don't care if the back of the bracket has bubbles I just want the front to be smooth. Buddy at the shop I went to told me that the whole bracket would have to be cleaned back down to the bare metal, and the whole process repeated, on my dime. Since the cleaning process will be more involved, it'll cost me more to have them redone than it did to just have them painted. It also doesn't help that this guy's shop is the only one in town that'll do 'residential' work - the rest are industrial-applications-only. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="gr_sad.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="gr_images/icons/mad.gif" />
