Powder Coating Oven
Powder coating ovens are thermal processing machines that are used in the process of dry finishing metal, wood, ceramic and plastic products. Dry finishing and powder coating are near synonymous terms; they both refer to the process of spraying a surface with a substance and fusing it to the surface with heat. Powder coating improves durability, corrosion and abrasion resistance and generally improves the integrity of a surface.
Quick Links to Powder Coating Oven Information
Advantages of Using Powder Coating Ovens
The powder coating ovens produce a treatment option that is very attractive to manufacturers in all kinds of industries. Since powder coatings are available in a wide variety of colors, they also improve the appearance of a surface while protecting it from damage. The finish is also long lasting and near pollution-free, as the waste dry spray that is applied at the beginning of the process can be recovered.
Process of Powder Coating Ovens
Powder coating is the process of using a dry powder typically applied electro-statically and then cured with heat. A powder coating oven is the medium in which this takes place. The oven allows the powder coat to cure and to become a resilient coating on the product. Putting powder coating on an object makes it harder to scratch and a more durable coating than paint. After the coating is applied to the object it is placed in a powder coating oven and heated to a specific temperature in order to cure the covering.
The process of powder coating is mostly standardized. A technician will begin with the product that needs to be treated. It must first be cleaned, sometimes sandblasted and free of oil and paint before any treatment can be applied. Once cleansed of unwanted elements, a special applicator gun is used to coat the product with pigmented thermoplastic particles. When the product is coated, it is sent to a powder coating oven where it is heated for two to ten minutes.
The thermoplastic particles begin to melt and gel, and as they cure they form the product’s new protective coating. Powder coating ovens can come in several different forms. For industries that powder coat the same kind of product over and over, a conveyor oven system, which slowly moves products through a heated conveyor channel, allows for a steady stream of products to be treated continuously. Batch ovens also make it possible to process several products efficiently. Depending on the size and configuration of a given batch oven, it may be able to treat products of different sizes simultaneously. Such a feature would be to the advantage of a company that produced custom powder coated products.
Method When Using Powder Coating Ovens
Powder coating ovens can come in many varieties but the idea is all the same; to aid in the drying of the thermoplastic or thermoset polymer powder. When choosing a powder coating oven to fill your needs there are many variables that one must take into account. For example, the size, shape, thickness, material composition, operating cost and type of powder that is used in the coating are all vital things to think about when choosing the powder coating oven. An oven that provides stable temperature control is also a crucial part of curing a powder coated object in an oven.
The temperature should be maintained within three degrees warmer or cooler of a specified temperature. If the oven cannot do this then it is quite possible that the oven in question is not suitable for powder coat curing and a different oven should be chosen instead. Eventually when a powder coating oven is chosen the end result of a freshly powder coated object is well worth the strife of choosing an appropriate fitting powder coating oven.
Applications of Powder Coating Ovens
The industrial oven manufacturing industry provides the powder coating services industry with tools for the thermal processing stage of treatment; many products are powder coated, so the industry requires many ovens that can treat products efficiently and in high volumes.
Examples of products which have benefited from powder coating are:
- Consumer Grills and Barbecues
- Stadium Seating
- Outdoor Railings
- Golf Clubs
- Farm Equipment
- Exercise Equipment
- And More