Pitching A Bitch - Powder Coating Failures On Products....

I'm not an expert in many areas but I do know a thing or two about powder coating. I worked in the powder coating department of a major metal fabrication shop for 11 years. We've done everything from small items that a dozen of them will fit in the palm of your hand to large sports structures just shy of 55 feet long. My experience has taught me that the two most important parts of the powder coating process is washing and the correct bake time.

Now, here's my bitch. The majority of products I've purchased that are powder coated have failed (powder coat failure). A minor breach in the powder coating causes the powder coat to lift off in sheets. Granted, I live in a harsh environment (upstate NY) but I expect products to hold up better than what I've experienced. In comparison, I've powder coated personal items at work and the coating lasts infinitely longer than consumer products.

The difference might be in the phosphatizing process (washing) employed. We used a zinc process which is more expensive than iron phosphatizing but is far more corrosion resistant (almost 3x's). There are other variables to compare but I believe this is the most significant difference. It wouldn't surprise me if some powder coaters skipped this process altogether.

That said, is anyone else dissatisfied with product's powder coating?

BTW, perhaps you've seen some of our work. We have fabricated and powder coated virtually all the football goalposts for the NFL and for thousands of colleges......

 

What do your prices and lead times look like for something like a set of rock sliders?

 

My powder coated items, that I purchased for my truck, peeled like it was saran wrap in the summer. First few months of exposure, not even winter. I have repainted mine with etching primer and rustoleum. Every year now, I repaint in the spring and the fall.

 

My sliders failed from gravel hitting them within a couple months. Peeled off in sheets, like you said, once the powder coat was breached it started to rust and peel.

The second time around they did a better job sandblasting and used some kind of green primer coating before the powdercoat and it’s been 100x more durable.

 

Sadly, the term “It only has to look good once” is becoming the standard.
Price plays a critical role in the process. I too have fallen victim of a “better” price.
The majority of the time, you will find the price trade of in short time.

I actually bought a cheap powder coating kit, but I never got around to using it.
Again, cheap took me. After reading just a little bit about the processes involved to do it right, I knew I was out of my league.

ok, ok, ok, I bought the Harbor Freight kit. Lol
I never even opened it, it’s still sitting up over the rafters of the garage.

 

I bought some OEM steelies from a dude who had them powder coated. They looked great for a couple years, then started chipping and flaking off like a mofo. Spray paint is the way to go for off road trucks, so much easier to touch up.

 

Yeah, from jeeps to Toyota’s, I’ve experienced this a lot over the years. I try to order most everything raw if I can; so either I can prep and paint it properly myself, or take it to a local trusted shop that does great work.

I think it’s that trap where the average customer want things fast, cheap, and they want them ready to install upon arrival. That leads to sub par budget oriented powder coat jobs.

 

There has to be a better option. Military style parkerizing or phosphating?

 

I haven't been impressed with the powder coating I've seen from aftermarket suppliers. From what I've seen is they all just put a one coat topcoat on and call it painted.
I retired from a large corporation that went from an E-Coat system to a Powder Coat system. I have reason to believe one of the sales points was powder coating is a one-step/one coat system. It was quickly discovered that parts needed a zinc type primer and in the marine industry, parts were made from galvanized material, then a zinc primer, then top powder coated. Some parts at the request from the purchaser even went to an outside supplier in another state for a special anti-rust treatment then brought back for powder coating. I wish I could remember the name of the spec treatment but, you know how aging is. Any anticipated cost saving going from E-coat to Powder coating soon vanished. Even going to this extreme, powder coating doesn't impress me in a road chemical environment.
Then they outsourced fab and paint and it took many many months to reach the same quality level we had in house. And just before I retired I heard a rumor that engineering, engineering techs were going to propose we bring the paint back in house.
One advantage I saw in E-coating, because it was a liquid solution that parts were dipped into, it was able to get into the smallest of cracks and corners. Something powder coating has trouble with.

 

Dude, I would get all my body panels stripped and parkerized if I thought it wouldn't cost more than the truck itself. I think it would look pretty badass, and provide hard core corrosion protection to boot.

 

I retired just at the onset of the Covid crisis. When I was still working, I wasn't privied to prices and such matters. I was just a grunt in the trenches of the "paint" department, so I can't really help you out in this regard.

One thing I didn't mention in my original post is that going beyond the phosphatizing process, for additional corrosion resistance, a powder coat primer can be used. Obviously this is an additional process that increases the cost.....

 

Yes, powder coating has to deal with the Faraday effect and thus has difficulty getting into inside corners. A skilled powder coater can sidestep this obstacle....

 

A visual of the powder coating process....

Preping the item - removing any scratches, gouges, and spatter that pc won't hide.
Washing (phosphatizing) - thoroughly wash/degrease/phosphatize the product
Painting - after the product is completely dried (pre-heat oven), then "painters" work their magic.
Final product -after a carefully monitored bake time in an oven, the product is removed and allowed to cool
Ready to go to the shipping department

** Note - this goal post was a custom item for the Make A Wish Foundation. Along with it is a "rework" football crossbar....

 

Note - I'm not bashing powder coating. I'm bashing poor powder coating jobs. PCing has it's place where it shines admirably. However, if too many corners are cut, the final product will be substandard.....

 

I would agree. My rear bumper has not fared as well as one would think it should have. My sister seems to do a better job at powder coating the pump cases at my work than what I got. If I thought I could have gotten away with it I would have just bought the powder and done it myself at work.

 

I agree but at the end of the day we actually pay for it. Case in point - My bed stiffeners live under my tonneau cover and remain dry and out of the elements. But after only less than 2 years the powder coating was flaking off big time. Now I had to spend the time to remove, strip, and then use POR15 to establish a corrosion free surface that will hold up. This happened to both our Tacomas. In this case, I paid extra with both my time and the cost of a new coating.

When products are manufactured in a production environment short cuts are always taken. I saw this on a daily basis and it frustrated the hell out of me. Do it right and do it once. Not "we do it nice cause we do it twice" mentality.....

 

Another element in this equation is what's called "regression to mean" or reversion to mean". Manufacturers of a top quality premium product, in an effort to combat rising production costs and remain competitive, take as many short cuts as possible and ultimately end up with a mediocre product. It's pretty sad to see this happen.....

 

One alternative although costly is to have an item professionally coated with a polyurea product or equivalent. I had our Avid bumper guards Bullet Lined and that product is hard as nails. I'm sure others are similar. I did pay a premium price to have them done but I'm glad I did....

 

Most powder coating is pretty lousy. It's really more for pollution [overspray] mitigation then it is for a better product. And yes, paint quality, as far as durability goes, has everything to do with prep work when it comes to the paint staying on.

 

Well there is the missing puzzle piece. For $150 you get “serviceable” powder coat. For $450, you get sand blasting and multistage.

It always comes down to cost.