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Rust under powder coat

mc607

mc607

Well Known Member
My nose gear link assembly, 14A, had a chip in the powder coat. I removed it with my fingernail. I then used a bamboo skewer to keep going and the end result is shown below. Has anyone else had this degree of rust under powder coat? Did Vans replace the part or were you left to fix it yourself? Part was made in 2021 and has been in my climate controlled shop since delivered early 2022. This is substandard prep work before powder coating, and makes me wonder about all the other PC parts in my build.
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I would have them replace it if you can wait. It isn’t hard to “repair”, just sand until you get to good metal, feather it, and prime. However, the odd shape and location makes it tougher and you shouldn’t have to do this.

Lots of prior posts on the poor quality of Vans powder coating over the years.
 
Every item I've ever owned that was powdercoated eventually looked like that. Paint is better, the corrosion shows up way sooner. And it's way easier to remove, repair, and re-do.
 
Whatever you choose to do, Vans needs to know. That's unacceptable and they need to hold their powder coat facility accountable. What if you never flaked it off?
 
It is a bit disappointing to see that corrosion because even though early powder coat was poor it had supposedly been improved. I doubt that Vans will replace those parts now since they are from before bankruptcy and that liability has been extinguished.

I re-finished several bad powder coated parts by stripping off the powder coating with paint stripper and sanding back to bare metal. I then primed with 2K zinc phosphate epoxy primer and top coated with polyurethane.
 
My airplane finished in 2012 has all sorts of surface rust showing through on all the powder coated parts. I have motorcycles and other items with powder coat that sit outside not even in a hangar and have zero rust on those powder coated parts. I really don’t understand why this is so hard and why powder coat has always been an issue on vans parts.
 
In the 70's I worked at a MFG facility that would sand blast in one both and the product would start to show rust within 30 minutes if it were not moved direct to the paint booth and coated..... And this was in California in a low humidly area.
 
I had exactly the same issue. Unfortunately i didn’t notice for over a year. VANS suggested to brush it and power coat again. Warranty was expired. I decided to purchase a new one for the peace of mind.
 
AlexPeterson said:
It remains a mystery why powder coating is used anywhere. And, its use is spreading.
Click to expand...
I sorta’ liked the fact that both our RV-3 and the latest Rocket kit (same vintage, earlier 2000’s) came with bare metal on on the steel parts. I took a pile of them to a local powder later and was floored with their quoted price - took them home, shot primer and epoxy paint, and am happy as a clam….. The RV-3 parts were painted with regular paint 15 years ago - no signs of rust, shipping, or cracking….

Yeah, Powder-coating looks nice, but is it necessary? I saw an airplane once at Oshkosh with powder-coated Adel clamps under the cowl. Seemed to be a little over-the-top to me!

Paul
 
Here's an idea.
I saw a truck the other day. They sanded it but left the rusty patina intact then sprayed it clear. It looked amazing.

Before you guys get your shorts in a wad, it's just a joke. It was a beautiful truck.
 
Powder coating has its place and, when properly done, is very durable. It has a lot of advantages in a high unit count production environment.
If you have ever seen a powder coat line in a manufacturing plant you would quickly see why it is preferred over a wet paint system.
However, there is no reason for Vans, relatively low production, to do this other than it’s easy for their vendors to drop off the pieces at a powder coat shop and pass the cost onto customers. I am assuming those vendors don’t have a power coat line as it’s a huge investment.
By the way, the powder coat company I use has a $100 minimum. They sand blast everything, including new metal, and must clean well as I have never had an issue with their work.
 
I currently have an engine mount on order with Van's. I talked in vain, up the ladder to numerous people, trying to get a mount NOT powdercoated. I spoke with someone in technical service, and despite working there, they couldn't even get a bare mount. I expressed my dissatisfaction with their decision at every level. Maybe I didn't reach the right person. So, I do believe that they know of this public displeasure. You would think that Van's would be happy saving a few dollars and the potential of future problems by selling "your choice".
The 1st. thing that I will do to mount upon arrival is to strip and paint with Imron or JetGlo and thank Van's for every minute of unnecessary added work.
After being in the aircraft industry, we have seen this rust under powdercoating, numerous times. As coatings keep getting better, they tend to hide a multitude of sins. We note in the A/C logbook that engine mount has been previously powdercoated and visually inspected to the best of our ability. What kind of workmanship is Vans trying to hide ?
Hopefully, I won't find any weldment issues in mine that would necessitate me sending the mount to a rebuilder, as of about a year ago, mounts were being produced in-house and they were looking for welders.
 
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I hadn't really though about what coating vans applied till this thread. Given 4130's propensity to crack, and powdercoat's ability to hide cracks, I'm a little surprised vans chose to do it. If I get to build in the future I already intended to build my mount to minimize crack potential with post weld heat treat. I guess this is another reason.
 
Powder coating typically won’t hide a crack unless the crack is already there prior to coating. Even rust under the coating will expose itself, as the OP found out. Poor adhesion can also present itself as a crack later when the base metal is just fine. Strip, inspect, and recoat, all unnecessary work f the job was done right to start with.
I have sold thousands of powder coated products, many for extreme environments, and can’t remember any issue with poor adhesion like we see here.
 
Powdercoating is used EXTENSIVELY in big aerospace. And if done properly, it’s a very good choice. And like most other services you buy, price and quality vary widely. I’m fortunate that I live in an area that offers powder coating at a great price - FAR cheaper than I could paint In my own shop.

just because the OP had an unfortunate experience does not impune the whole industry. Like I said, the fix is easy and inexpensive.
 
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Thank you all for your remarks. I had no idea this was so prevalent, based on the comments. I advised Vans of the situation on Tuesday, when I first noticed the extent of the rust. No reply as yet. I took the strut over to my buddies shop on Tuesday with the intent of doing a light sandblast of the rusty area and a touch up. As I proceeded, more and more blew off easily. About 50% of the powder coat came off easily. Even PC that looked good, blew off easily, which was really worrisome. The rest of the PC had been applied properly and needed a lot more effort to remove. I ended up removing all the PC to white metal. This was all done in a sandblast cabinet using Black Beauty. I then applied a coat of Utech E250 DTM Epoxy Primer. Then a coat of white Enamel. I’ll be checking the rest of the powder coated parts very carefully.
Builder beware…


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