Watch Out For the Spray! How can a facility be painted using spray equipment during normal business hours and not worry about overspray and mess?
A facility required the aluminum window mullions on the building exterior painted. What made the project scope unique is that execution needed to be completed during normal business hours. Traditional spray equipment would be too disruptive during regular hours of operations, as the overspray could not be contained. A durable product to prevent pealing and color fading against the elements was also a prerequisite. Resicom presented the option of using electrostatic spray equipment. The benefits of this system featuring low paint overspray and mess, cost effective use of material, and the “wrap” effect in which the paint appears to bend around corners.
Scope of Work
1. Paint aluminum window mullions on building exterior.
2. Prepare surface so that paint adheres properly.
Challenges
The constraints of the project include:
- Paint needed to be applied during business hours, making overspray of paint a concern.
- Paint needed to bond to to aluminum which typically is not an ideal surface to paint.
- Paint was applied with Electrostatic spray equipment which has a material transfer efficiency of 97%.
- The mullions were washed, sanded and coated with an etching fluid to maximize adhesion. The paint chosen was a product that is used on automobiles and tractors to ensure adhesion to aluminum surface.
As modern science as electrostatic painting may seem, this technique for painting metal was actually invented in 1938. During the process, a high voltage is applied to paint inside the sprayer gun. The paint particles become negatively charged, as when released from the sprayer search for a surface (such as metal) that has a positive charge to which it then bonds. Resicom is committed to being knowledgeable in the most innovative techniques. It should be normal that knowledge translates into options.