e-Coat Racking Challenge

e-Coat Racking Challenge

How is racking related to productivity in e-Coating? Racking is a critical part of any coating project.

Every e-coating project is unique, but the mission is the same. Because a rack of parts will be emersed in an e-Coat bath, the configuration of those parts as they enter the bath has to be well-optimized, at maximum density.

Being able to coat the most parts efficiently directly affects both the final cost and job turnaround time for the customer. Having a good racking system, including how the rack will be cleaned and turned around, is a key to success.

Effective racking helps us achieve all three of these goals:

• Delivering coated product faster.
• Higher quality coated product with less rack marks.
• Better pricing through optimal racking.

Keeping Racks Clean

There are several ways to clean electrocoating racks. Is one best? A common method is gas-fired burn-off to remove coating accumulated to the rack. This requires a wash to remove ash from the cleaned racks, either cycling through a pretreatment washer or using a high-pressure wash.

Shot or grit blasting is another common method and is often used for heavy tooling where gas burn-off would be excessively expensive. Blasting can be more targeted to “as-needed” areas, but even so this method can be more labor intensive.

Another method is to replace contact points (usually hooks) on the rack crossbars. Contact point replacement is usually used for lightweight parts and for jobs where electrocoating is being used as the undercoat for a powdercoat finish.

Which rack cleaning method is best? It depends on the job, the size, weight, and configuration of the parts, and even the needed coating thickness.

Every Job Benefits from Our Experience

How to do your job right is informed by our years’ of coating experienceAt Great Dane, our expertise includes durable, corrosion resistant coatings for:

• Heat Exchangers
• Refrigeration Coils
• Radiators
• Finned Tube Coils
• Evaporators
• Condenser Coils
• Fans & Blowers
• Air Handling Equipment
• Fabrications & Weldments

Get the best that Great Dane has to offer. Give us a call at 724-537-9709. 

Try Great Dane’s Coating Services Today

With over 27 years’ experience in the industrial parts coating business, Great Dane Powder Coating, Inc. stands head and shoulders above one-off shops for delivering quality, reliability, and consistency. We handle repeat and high-volume orders with ease, giving your production parts a high-end, finished look that increases their lifespan and their customer appeal.

When you want affordable, reliable, and outstanding results, give us a call at 724-537-9709 or visit our NEW ELECTROCOATING CUSTOMERS page today.