Powder Coating Oven

When purchasing the equipment you will need for powder coating, the most expensive investment will be the oven. Once the part or object has been powder coated it is then placed in the oven, where it is baked at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. If you do not have an oven that will allow you to bake items at 400oF for 10 minutes, you cannot powder coat.

As the part bakes in the oven, the powder paint melts, flowing into a beautiful and very durable finish that doesn?t contain any unsightly runs or drips, which are often seen when wet paint is used. If mistakes are made prior to baking, the powder coating can easily be blown with a low-pressure air nozzle and the part recoated. However, once the item has been cured in the oven, mistakes can only be corrected by removing the finish with sand blasting or burning it off. There are cold liquid strippers available, however they are extremely slow, and hazardous and have been known to damage the metal.

The size of oven that you will require will depend on the size of the items you plan to powder coat and how many items you will be powder coating at one time. The larger the oven, the more products you will be able to powder coat at one time, however, the as the oven size increases so does its cost. Small 6' x 8' x 10' walk-in gas ovens average in priced of approximately $30,000, while larger 100' ovens with pass-through conveyers can cost in excess of $100,000.

When choosing between gas and electric ovens, they both work equally well. If properly designed, infrared ovens work well also. Electric ovens do have one drawback in that they take longer to reach the proper baking temperature. Therefore, if this will be a problem for you, then gas should be your best choice.

When powder coating, the finish is very durable. However, chipping can be a problem with powder coating if the part was not baked long enough and/or kept at the proper cure temperature.