using powder coating??

Gotta newbie Q here. been here awhile looking around and getting ides.. and i notice rust!!

my Q is , has anyone given thought to using powder coating? grant it, most smokers are huge!! noticed mentioned that most fire boxes rust out quicker then the smoking chamber.

Eastwood company has a home powder coating system..

http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating/powder-coat-guns.html

i know you wouldn't do the inside of the smoker. but the Durable finish of powder coating,makes it a great protection against rust. compared to the cost of rattle can pain!, yea its costly.but its great protection. and the results are longer!! would be great for a fire box IMHO....
 

I poweder coated mine and the trailer as well.

Powder coating is basically a powdered plastic so for high temp areas it's gonna burn/melt off.

What they are doing when they bake it on is essentially melting it so all the plastic powder granules melt and fuse into a solid coating.  There are different kinds for plastic powder coatings BTW but it's all some sort of poly this that or the other.

So you know, toner used in copiers and dry toner printers is basically just powered plastic and a little pigment or carbon for color.  It's styrene like the stuff they make disposable coffee cups and coolers out of. Same as most hot glue.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbally 

I poweder coated mine and the trailer as well.

 

so how does this hold up in the firebox area?
 

mrpogi71

I do powder coating mostly for myself and friends and I buy a bunch of product from Eastwood. They do have have a high-temp coating....rated much higher than our grills will ever get smoking meat. I have coated several exhaust manifolds and it's amazing how glossy they are after a year or two. The coatings and formulas are significantly more complex than just plastic. If that was the case, an engine manifold would just burn the stuff off. The most significant criteria is to cure to the temp required for the coating. Different coatings have different curing times and vary depending on the metal they are applied to. Go for it - it will last forever.

Just my 2cents

ive heard that ceramic coating works great for higher temps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by morkdach 

so how does this hold up in the firebox area?
 

I have the firebox coated with a differen black powder coat made for 1600 F, so far so good.  Been through almost two years now.

Where did you find a powder coat that takes 1600 degrees? That sounds more like an ceramic coating material for exhaust systems to me. I don't think it comes in the power coat stuff like the stuff you get in those do it yourself powercoating kits from Eastwood he was talking about. 

I'm guessing the bake temps are a bit higher than the standard oven rated stuff too. Do you know how much it takes to get it baked on? How much does it cost and where do you get it? I'd like to get some for some headers and an exhaust manifold if it comes in white or silver and if it's not too expensive. They want a lot to jet hot a set of manifolds plus you have to send them off then wait for them to ship them back to you.   

Bbally, first off thanks for the reply and SEMPER FI!!!  you use lamps for the smoking chamber, when you powder coated it? or a proofing room?

SmokinHarley, i been riding motorcycles since i was 16... and i know several guys that have powder coated there engines and being air cooled engines . you know as well as i do THEY GET HOT!!!  and i am thinking that you only smoke at around 250..

Bmud14474, its a great idea, but ceramic is costly!!

Dick Foster, i gave you the link to it..  http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-coating/powder-coat-guns.html

i was just looking through Harbor Freight ad and they have a powder coating system for under 60 bucks!!!!

mrprogi71, you are absolutely correct. I ride Harleys (hence the name) and have powdered many engine components and they have held up as good if not better than Harley's powder coatings. I only use a conventional oven in my garage (vented) but it is important to get to the correct cure temp and for that I use a laser thermometer. The Harbor Freight product does work and I can vouch for that because a friend of mine has it. I don't think the system coats as evenly as does the Eastwood though. It may be something to do with the voltage since the pieces are charged. Regardless, he buys his coatings from Eastwood.

By the way, many many grills are in fact powder coated. Unless they say specifically that the coating is ceramic which is a much more high-temp cure (fired), the coating is probably powder coat whether it is black or colored.  And for anyone interested, it is environmentally safe, non-toxic (just don't breathe the powder), and long-lasting.

Just my .02

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrpogi71 

i was just looking through Harbor Freight ad and they have a powder coating system for under 60 bucks!!!!

This one from HF works pretty good, especially for the price.  I've done nearly a couple hundred car type parts with it a couple, three years ago.  Used a conventional oven like SmokenHarley said, out in my garage.  The wife complained once in a while because at the time we had an attached garage and when I was baking almost nonstop some weekends you couldn't help but notice a slight odor in the house..She since got me out of that hobby and now these days I try to charm her with the smell of the smoker! 

I have Eastwoods link and have used their products but I don't see a 1600 degree powercoat listed it just comes up on Eastwoods home page.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dick Foster 

I have Eastwoods link and have used their products but I don't see a 1600 degree powercoat listed it just comes up on Eastwoods home page.  

Dick try this link http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat_main  if that fails, just go to eastwood.com and there is a tab across the top of the page that said Hot Coat Main

Just curious how you would "cure" the FB after initial application.  Could you just start a fire in the FB and let the heat from it cure it or do you need some sort of booth?

This sounds interesting to me.

Thanks 

Aaron

Thanks I've been there but they call all of thier powder coatings "hot coat". It's their sales and marketing speak for thier regular powder coating stuff meaning only that it takes heat to activate like any powder coating not that it can withstand 1600 degrees.

Eastwood is almost as bad, but not as bad, as the POR15 folks when it comes to misleading marketing and dispensing actual useful and technically relivant info.

When you find anyone's marketing heavy on customer testimonials and short on numbers, watch out. It's the equivalent of someone driving up to your door in a long black limo then selling your something and saying they are gonna do you a special favor.

Aaron, thats the other thing when it comes to DIYers powder coating large items, it's got to be heat cure in an oven or utilizing infrared lamps etc.  Most DIYers can afford a used cheap conventional kitchen type oven to do smaller parts but when it comes to buying infrared lamps or walk-in size ovens you're talking big bucks, couple hundred each for low end lamps and $10K+ for huge walk in ovens.

Dick, I use to buy a lot of my supplies etc from this company, http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/powder_colors2.html  They carry a  silicone based powder that can withstand prolonged service temp. of up to 1000F. Ideal for applications such as grills, stoves, furnaces and engines. high temp (to 1,000*)   Caswellplating has a great forums area that covers all types of information on metal finishing.

I've been out of it for about 4 years so I've forgotten a lot, but there are other methods (sorry, can't remember) that can be used for extreme temps but we're talking smokers and fireboxes.

bbally - that's a heck of nice looking rig you got there!  

I think someone was saying that someone had a power coating that did 1600 which sounds pretty good for some headers and a rams horn manifold I'd like to do.

1000 wouldn't cut it because I can see the EGTs running up to 1200 degree peaks when I have my foot in it now. That's the trouble with the autostore rattle can stuff. It just doesn't last very long and they want the big bucks for Jet Hot. More than I want to spend on a rock rig anyway.  

His rig looks bigger than my whole back yard. LOL