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Precleaning procedure for powder coating

We are studying the installation for powder coating. Kindly advise necessary procedure (cleaning) prior to coating. The semifinished product is made of welded angle iron parts.

George Countas
- Limassol, Cyprus
1999

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Don't take it personally, Mr. Countas, but your letter is representative of half a dozen we received today that are overly broad. I hope you get some response, but in general a question which is too broad and would require several chapters in a book, tends to sit here unanswered. If you can narrow it so that it can be answered in a paragraph or two you will get much better response. Good luck. Regards.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
1999

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1999

George - Ted is right, being too broad in your question can sometimes bring disasterous (and sometimes ridiculous) recommendations. With that being said, I'm gonna give it a try anyway. A general pretreatment process for steel contains (but is not limited to):

1)alkaline wash
2)rinse
3)phosphate (iron or zinc)
4)rinse
5)finishing rinse(sometimes containing a sealer)

Hope this helps get the ball rolling. Good luck.

Dan Brewer
chemical process supplier - Gurnee, Illinois