Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 01-01-2019, 10:57 AM   #1
Scared to Post
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 1
Is it good to powder paint vehicles?

Hi guys,

I'm planning to paint my 4 buses. Recently, I came to hear people are now more into powder painting. is it a good option to powder paint the vehicles?
Does anyone over here has any experience?
Or do you have better suggestions?

Deborah01 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 03:53 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
o1marc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
Posts: 10,482
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Genesis
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/3060
Rated Cap: 77
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deborah01 View Post
Hi guys,

I'm planning to paint my 4 buses. Recently, I came to hear people are now more into powder painting. is it a good option to powder paint the vehicles?
Does anyone over here has any experience?
Or do you have better suggestions?
It would be a great option since powder is 10x's more durable than paint. Problem you have with a bus is powder coating requires a sand blasted base and once powder is sprayed on it goes into an oven where it heats up to 400° for 10 minutes. See any problems yet? I know of outfits that have 20' ovens that a bus might fit into, but not a long bus.
So bottom line is it is not a feasible solution. On the other hand I am powder coating everything I can that would get painted. All the olive drab parts here are powder coated.
Attached Thumbnails
20190102_133845.jpg  
o1marc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 05:13 PM   #3
Bus Crazy
 
Sleddgracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: south east BC, close to the Canadian/US border
Posts: 2,265
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Chevy
Chassis: 8 window
Engine: 454 LS7
Rated Cap: 24,500
there are techniques available now to powder coat on-site rather than having to take the item to the oven - bridge railing is an example of powder coating on site - they use a tiger torch to bring the posts and railings up to the proper temperature - I've never used a torch when powder coating and always wondered if the job came out as well as an oven job, but government requirements are tough and they accept the method
Sleddgracer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 05:22 PM   #4
Bus Geek
 
o1marc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
Posts: 10,482
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Genesis
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/3060
Rated Cap: 77
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleddgracer View Post
there are techniques available now to powder coat on-site rather than having to take the item to the oven - bridge railing is an example of powder coating on site - they use a tiger torch to bring the posts and railings up to the proper temperature - I've never used a torch when powder coating and always wondered if the job came out as well as an oven job, but government requirements are tough and they accept the method
This really was a fad that came and went though there are a very few places that still do it. It can't reach and maintain for 10 minutes the cure process of most powders and it is a "field fix" not expected to look show quality. Would not surprise me to see $20K quotes if you could find someone to do it. I do powder coating for a living, owned my own place for 10 years now. My friend got a good deal at an auction for one of those systems, it's been 5 years, it still doesn't work.
o1marc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 06:01 PM   #5
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,810
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Deborah01 View Post
Hi guys,

I'm planning to paint my 4 buses. Recently, I came to hear people are now more into powder painting. is it a good option to powder paint the vehicles?
Does anyone over here has any experience?
Or do you have better suggestions?
To powdercoat a whole bus you'd spend thousands of hours carefully disassembling it then you'd need an oven big enough to drag a powdered bus carcass into.
I worked at a powdercoating place with such an oven, but they're rare.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 06:08 PM   #6
Bus Crazy
 
Sleddgracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: south east BC, close to the Canadian/US border
Posts: 2,265
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Chevy
Chassis: 8 window
Engine: 454 LS7
Rated Cap: 24,500
Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
This really was a fad that came and went though there are a very few places that still do it. It can't reach and maintain for 10 minutes the cure process of most powders and it is a "field fix" not expected to look show quality. Would not surprise me to see $20K quotes if you could find someone to do it. I do powder coating for a living, owned my own place for 10 years now. My friend got a good deal at an auction for one of those systems, it's been 5 years, it still doesn't work.
I wondered about that - it's been many years since I worked for a powder coating company
Sleddgracer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 06:13 PM   #7
Bus Crazy
 
Johnny Mullet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
Posts: 1,494
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E 7.3L
In my experience powder coasting is no better than paint. I am a diesel tech in the rust belt and see dump truck bodies and trailers that were powder coated only to look like rusted out garbage in a year.
Johnny Mullet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 06:19 PM   #8
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: topeka kansas
Posts: 1,813
Year: 1954
Coachwork: wayne
Chassis: old f500- new 2005 f-450
Engine: cummins 12 valve
Rated Cap: 20? five rows of 4?
inclined to say no

Because .... I will use my bus as an example... The frame has been powder coated, and where the front coil springs sit on the frame, water, salt has gotten under the powder coating... now I have to scrape off the powder coating and do something about the rust on the spring towers.... I think this frame would have been better off to have just been painted.

If you ever have to weld on a part, stripping off paint is usually easier than stripping off powder coat.

william
magnakansas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2019, 06:30 PM   #9
Bus Geek
 
o1marc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Dawsonville, Ga.
Posts: 10,482
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Genesis
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/3060
Rated Cap: 77
Powder coating is an art that involves several steps of preparation for a quality result. There is a huge difference between commercial/production coating and "custom" coating. The commercial production outfits don't take all the necessary steps to insure a long lasting result because as a manufacturer you only have to stand behind your 1 year warranty and they never deal with the end user. I hate when I see production results in the real world fail and then have to listen to people say how much powder coating sucks. That's like saying my Yugo broke down, therefore all cars are crap. If done correctly there is no downside to using powder over paint.
o1marc is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:45 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.