Film thickness consistency plays a big role in saving money in the coating shop. Having inconsistent thicknesses means you’re probably wasting coating, and therefore wasting money. By using these simple techniques, you’ll be able to cut out the waste, as well as achieve a better, more consistent finish for your DuPont™ Teflon® industrial coatings.
1. Spray Distance: The spray distance is based on the spray equipment, coating, complexity of the part, and spray environment. By keeping the gun at the same distance from the part the entire time you’re spraying, you can improve the consistency the film thickness over the whole part. Increasing the gun distance increases the pattern fan size, and the coating thickness decreases as it is distributed over a larger area.
2. Gun Angle: Maintain controlled gun angle to the part. Yaw and pitch spray angles will result in a non-uniform spray pattern distribution, causing inconsistent film thicknesses.
3. Spray Pass Overlap: Each spray pass should overlap 50-75% of the previous pass. Overlapping below 50% results in “striping,” or variations in the film thickness. The more you increase the overlap, the thicker the coating, so overlapping above 75% requires more spray passes and more coating.
More tips are on the way! Check the Intech Insider for more spray techniques coming soon!
