Powdercoating Drawbacks

[lakesinai]

Powdercoating seems to be thought of as superior to paint and an ideal coating for off-road vehicle accessories. I have read a fair amount of complaining on the forum about low-quality coating or coatings that scrape off easily and corrode. My own experience is that powdercoat is excellent and durable unless it is scratched. My roof rack and bike rack are notable examples of durability, except where a metal hook scratched the surface of my rack.

The below article from Boat/US discusses care for powdercoat on boats, and how important it is to never scratch or invade the coating. Even the slightest abrasion can cause coating failure over time. This makes me wonder whether powdercoating skid plates and similar Armour, which are designed to scrape over rocks, is a fools errand that sets up unreasonable expectations. Bare metal or sacrificial paint seems the better choice here.

I'm posting this to suggest that some applications for powdercoating may be bad choices, or set up unreasonable expectations. Some uses, of course, are excellent! Your thoughts?
https://www.boatus.com/expert-advic...he-care-and-feeding-of-powder-coated-pipework

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[Brian_B]

This makes me wonder whether powdercoating skid plates and similar Armour, which are designed to scrape over rocks, is a fools errand that sets up unreasonable expectations. Bare metal or sacrificial paint seems the better choice here.

Yes.

 

[ChrisB351]

Powdercoat can be extremely durable when applied right. If its not prepped right and not a heavy enough coat it wont hold up.

 

[Incinr8]

Coil springs? Anyone?......................I'll see myself out.

 

[PowerBronco]

Everything I have ever paid for powder coating on ends up rusting underneath the powder coating. It probably comes down to prep, and nothing I paid for was done very well and I ended up having to remove all the powder coating and refinishing it anyways.

That being said, I ended up using some products from KBS Coatings, and their products are awesome IMO.

 

[Brian_B]

The only real downside to powder coat is that it takes a lot of prep and is relatively expensive. It’s a great coating, but whatever you are trying to coat has to come off, get prepped, go in the booth, etc.

As opposed to shake - and spray. Which isn’t nearly as nice, but with enough cardboard and masking tape can be done in place. For $5.99 a can.

Not saying rattle can is better - just each has their place. If you are powder coating skid plates every time they get a scratch you may as well just light your money on fire. But I wouldn’t want to be rattlecanning a new roof rack or rims either.

 

[Neps]

When Powder Coating was a relatively new process the US Navy attempted to use it for shipboard top-side lockers (flotation, ammunition, gun, gun shield, etc.).
When the equipment returned from the PC Shop it looked fantastic, but we quickly learned that powder coating is ill suited to environments where the surface material flexes, is exposed to temperature changes, or subject to salt spray. The PC lasted less than 30 days in many applications. Once the initial protective envelope is breached it just doesn't last, in my experience the PC actually promoted corrosion by trapping moisture.

I paint my skids with rattle cans, bumpers with bedliner, and frames/axle housings with POR15 or one of the Eastwood products.

 

[IwannaGOfast]

Not cheap by any means, but you definitely get what you pay for.

https://steel-it.com/

 

[Area51BS]

I have a high opinion of properly applied powder coating. I’ve had it on many boats used in salt water environments. It’s very durable and protects against corrosion very well. However, if it becomes gouged and salt water gets trapped such as where two parts meet then corrosion will set in and spread. I wouldn’t bother with under chassis components that will get scratched from rock crawling . It’s not worth the expense. For wheeling anywhere else I would. As far as aftermarket components powder coating and painting. A lot of that stuff is just garbage. Poor materials and poor prep.

 

[Beachin 74]

When I built my gen 1 Bronco about 15 years ago, I went with powder coating parts for the durability and at that time it wasn't much more than getting them painted.
The parts that are powder coated are the rocker guards, roll cage, spare tire carrier, front shock hoops, Radius arms, and both bumpers. All holding up very well.

 

[lakesinai]

When I built my gen 1 Bronco about 15 years ago, I went with powder coating parts for the durability and at that time it wasn't much more than getting them painted.
The parts that are powder coated are the rocker guards, roll cage, spare tire carrier, front shock hoops, Radius arms, and both bumpers. All holding up very well.

Do you have a maintenance schedule or approach for the powdercoat? Garaged?

 

[Big Mack]

Not all powder coating is the same. I can remember watch a demo on a powder coat on a differential cover. The beat it with a hammer and it wouldn't chip even with the dents. It is my understanding that many companies went to powder coat due to environmental constraints. That does not necessarily mean there giving you a good product.

 

[Gtrekker]

When I built my gen 1 Bronco about 15 years ago, I went with powder coating parts for the durability and at that time it wasn't much more than getting them painted.
The parts that are powder coated are the rocker guards, roll cage, spare tire carrier, front shock hoops, Radius arms, and both bumpers. All holding up very well.

Nice ride!!!

Team 2 Door = Purpose Built and Bad Ass

 

[broadicustomworks]

A zinc-rich primer, or Epoxy, or a Zinc-rich Epoxy are the way to go.
Prep the surface with a relatively aggressive grit (80 or 120 has always worked well for me, as I'm building layers and sanding after the Epoxy is down) for good mechanical adhesion.

What these do is only allows the moisture/rust/corrosion/oxidation to happen at the point of impact (think paint chip or scrape).

Regular primers and powdercoats allow it to spread underneath it and continue to travel. POR15 has its use cases and places where it works. It is just as bad or even worse to holding moisture underneath it once the coating is breached.

There are some industrial powdercoats that are a lot more durable and protect well.

*and that Gen 1 above is wonderful, btw!

 

[CV428]

Not cheap by any means, but you definitely get what you pay for.

https://steel-it.com/

I have used that for automotive and industrial applications. That stuff is so good, when applied right, that some medical device companies even allow its use in lieu of stainless framework in washdown applications.

I also use it for externally-coating steel gas tanks.

As for powder-coating, I've had many millions of dollars worth in components powder coated throughout the years in my industry. It's great for anything that is low-impact, low-flex, low-heat... see the pattern? Low-risk environments in general. I like it better than paint, honestly, unless the paint is industrial and baked (for instance, the paint on my FEL is stronger than powder-coating would be in the same application). I have had engine components (timing cover, valve covers, intake, etc) powdercoated before and they seem to hold up fine for years despite everyone telling me they wouldn't last. In recent years, some performance part manufacturers started adopting specialty powder coating in lieu of decorative chrome as they had done in the past.

Since decorative chrome has become painfully expensive due to EPA crackdowns, you just don't see as much of it anymore, but it used to be one of the best choices for a hard coating. There are industrial options, such as decorative nickel plating, that hold up well but don't have the same luster as chrome. I was quoted $1200 to have a small front bumper re-chromed two years ago.

304 and 316 stainless are good materials that don't need a coating, but making automotive parts out of them is usually cost-prohibitive. Machining stainless is a pain, casting/forging it is a fortune especially when there's cleanup machining involved, and the material costs more to begin with. And, strength-wise, stainless doesn't have the same fatigue strength, ductility, weldability, and UTS as certain alloys that cost far less all around.

A company I used to work for about 18 years ago developed their own proprietary blend of a PTFE ceramic coating. I used to have the tool room guys coat random stuff for me if they had batch waste, usually a coworker's belongings just to annoy him (he deserved it). I still have some hand tools that were coated in it about 18 years ago and it held up amazingly well. I always wondered if that would be a nice option for automotive coatings (think Cerakote but a glossy candy finish instead of matte, and non-stick like 90's cookware).

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