Electrostatic Painting (ESP)
On site refinishing is exactly what it sounds like. Steeltech Electropainting, Inc.® will send a team of experienced craftsman to electrostatically apply high performance coating primers and finishes tailored to meet the needs of each individual substrates. Leaving a finish, which is either equal to or in most cases superior to a factory looking or performing finish.
On a scheduled day a team of Steeltech® skilled craftsmen arrive with their mobile unit at the client’s workplace. The items to be refinished are first washed to remove dirt and grease, and then sanded to provide a tooth between the surface substrate and the new finish system. Masking is applied where necessary. The electrostatic coating process applies a mild negative electrical ground charge to the item to be refinished.
A special electrostatic spray gun charges the refinishing material with a positive electrical charge. The material is attracted like a magnet to the item. This assures uniform coating application with no fog, mist or overspray. Cleanliness is maintained at all times. A light tack coat is applied first, followed by a full wet coat, which dries within 30 minutes. Coatings are available in an array of decorator colors, including blends and special color.
Electrostatic is a term used for a special type of coating application equipment, which was developed back on March 6th, 1938, by a young man whose last name was Ransburg. He developed a system (primitive by today’s equipment) where an efficiently applied electric charge could be sent into liquid paint and then in turn ground the object they intended to coat, the particles of paint should be attracted to the surface of the object and there should be little waste. The demonstration of this technique was done using a metal salt shaker.
The shaker was hung in front of a small spray gun, and when the spray was turned on for a few seconds only one side was coated. Then four fine wires, spaced evenly around the shaker were charged with electrical current and the shaker was grounded. When the spray was repeated, it was coated on all sides, top, and bottom.
This is the same example that can be used today. A conventional spray paint application only goes to the surface directly in front of the spray gun. An electrostatic coating application wraps the material around the substrate ensuring an even mill thickness of the coating system. This leaves behind a finished coating without the unevenness, high and low spots of conventional paint spray applications. Brush painting of these types of substrates can not even be considered here due to their historically poor non scientific applications as well as being a non atomized applied finish.
Atomization is the breaking down of a liquid by air pressure into a small particle mass therefore creating a spray. This is how conventional paint spray equipment basically works. Air pressure is used to breakdown the paint and by doing so creates a radical forward velocity to blow paint onto the surface directly in front of the spray gun. As well as create a tremendous amount of damaging unsightly overspray
Modern Ransburg #2 process electrostatic equipment breaks down the coatings by an electrostatic charge and not by air pressure or any type of mechanical atomization.
The advantage this has over conventional spray painting is that there is minimal forward velocity, which keeps the particles of coating under the control of the electrical field. This positively charged coatings are in turn drawn onto the grounded substrate, wrapping the material around the object just as the salt shaker was coated due to positive vs. negative attraction and of course no overspray.
The Steeltech Electropainting, Inc.® electrostatic application system is the only way to refinish existing on site architectural aluminum and decorative metal back to a once again new product finish. All work is backed by written warranties against cracking, peeling, and delaminating, from exposure to Florida’s normal harsh environmental conditions.
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Please note: For the convenience of our customers our operation hours are flexible to meet their needs and to reduce down time at their workplace.
