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Powdercoat alternatives

nohoflyer

Well Known Member
Patron
Vans is backordered on a steel tube used for the aileron pushrod. I found that aircraft spruce sells the same tube and I ordered it so it’s coming. Except vans sends the rod powdercoated and tells the builder to spray the inside with primer.

Being that I don’t have the ability to powdercoat, what would be an alternative and what might be some considerations if I just prime and paint it high gloss?
 
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Vans is backordered on a steel tube used for the aileron pushrod. I found that aircraft spruce sells the same tube and I ordered it so it’s coming. Except vans sends the rod powdercoated and tells the builder to spray the inside with primer.

Being that I don’t have the ability to powdercoat, what would be an alternative and what might be some considerations if I just prime and paint it high gloss?

Priming and painting would be fine but I’d just keep a close eye on it to avoid rust. Powder coating is very hard and in my opinion better at eliminating oxygen in the long term. However a good primer and top coat will avoid rust the same if it’s done properly. The only issue with paint is a chip will easily cut through the paint and primer in comparison to powder coating. You could send it somewhere to be powder coated for the gold standard if you wanted.
 
Powder coating

Hey Capt. at some airline,

You've got to have some powder coaters in your area. Get them made and take'm in. Also, you can get a home powder coating kit. They actually work pretty good. Just make sure you do it when the wife in out of the house for a few hours!!!

Good rattle can primer and a spray epoxy paint will work well too.
 
Powder coating - not that difficult

You might consider picking up the skill of powder coating. It is not difficult. I would suggest looking into it. The main limit is not really skill or cost of supplies, but the size of the oven you have available. If the tube you want to coat will fit in a standard range oven, there is a good chance you can pick one up on Craigslist very inexpensively. A harbor freight gun will do the job. Good quality powder is available reasonably priced from Columbia Coatings. Once you learn how to do it, you will find it extremely useful for many many things……

Something to consider…..
 
Weldments

I ordered all my canopy weldments bare. Got everything to fit then had them powder-coated.
 
Powder coating alternatives

The Vans powder coating that was on my kit parts (some but not all were coated) performed poorly and the parts rusted through the powder coating. I did some research and discovered that powder coating may be porous. I stripped it all off and primed and painted the steel using a steel primer and gloss enamel or polyurethane top coat.
 

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Powder coat is not porous. Rust under powder is all about prep. We have a powder coat facility in Florida, if we do not run parts straight from blast to powder, rust will form under the powder eventually. We try not to have parts sit more tha a couple of hours before getting them in the powder booth.
 
Etch primer ?

Many automotive primers are claimed to be corrosion inhibitors. Stop by your auto refinish outlet and discuss a solution.
 
For parts like this my preferred method is to clean and scuff, prime with self-etching primer, then apply Rustoleum High Performance Enamel (I'm partial to Dark Machine Grey). I've done this on several steel parts with no long-term problems, and it's easy to get a good result.
 
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My solution was to prep it, prime it, then spray it with an automotive high gloss rust inhibitor. I’ll keep an eye on it.
 
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