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-----Prepaint cleaning-heavy equipment
2007
We are cleaning heavy steel with caustic detergent. Rinsing with city water (very hard-400ppm hardness, 140 ppm chlorides)
post drying, we prime and paint, we have been experiencing some paint flaking.
could this be due to poor quality water rinse?
paint shop - London,Ontario, Canada
If by flaking you mean poor adhesion, you're probably on the right track. Salts (particularly hard water salts) will do a number on adhesion.
I suggest you try rinsing some parts with "good" water and testing the adhesion. If that is your problem, you'll probably need to install a DI system or at least a softener. If cost or flow rate is an issue, consider doing the majority of rinsing with your hard water followed by a halo rinse with "good" water to remove the remaining salts.
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2007
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