Ask Joe Powder: What will I notice if my grounding starts to fade?

Hi Joe,

I’m a finishing engineer at a fabrication shop and have a question regarding powder coating application. What will I notice if my grounding starts to fade?

Thomas Cooke

Salina, Kansas

Thomas,

Thanks for the question. This is something that creeps up in a finishing system. You can be running good parts for days, and then you notice something isn’t right. First thought may be, “Is the powder bad?” Before you start switching boxes of powder in an effort to fix the problem, however, you should examine your hangers and racks for a good ground.

If the ground to earth is fading or inconsistent, you will begin noticing a few things. Your booth will appear cloudier, and more powder will accumulate on the interior walls and floor of the powder booth. You may see powder drifting out of the booth openings. As for your parts, you will probably observe lower film build and less penetration into corners.

Powder coatings are deposited on conductive parts with an electrostatic process. The powder/air mixture is pneumatically propelled from the fluidized hopper by a venturi process and conveyed through the hoses to the gun. A negative electric charge is generated by a corona and discharged at the exit of the gun, creating an electrostatic field. The powder passes through this field and picks up this negative charge. The negatively charged particles seek the nearest ground, which should be your parts.

Continuity to ground can be tested. Checking for ground to earth requires a megohmmeter that not only measures resistance, but also provides up to 500 VDC, which helps define resistance more accurately. Adequate grounding requires 1 megohm or less resistance. Megohmmeters can be purchased online.

If you suspect poor continuity, the first places to inspect are hooks and hangers. Are the hooks coated and devoid of good, clean contact points? Hooks should be cleaned regularly and/or replaced to ensure good contact with the ground.

Well-grounded parts will have excellent continuity to the hooks/hangers, which need to be connected to a secure ground to earth. This requires good contact from the parts to clean (uncoated) contact points on the hooks. The hooks/hangers should be in contact with a conductive rod buried in the earth. Ideally, this grounding rod should be 0.75 inches in diameter and 8-10 feet long. You can find UL-listed, copper-plated grounding rods online or at your local hardware store.

The grounding rod should be buried, leaving about six inches of rod above ground for attaching ground wire(s). Getting the rod buried is a task in and of itself, and there are a couple of methods you could use. Drill a suitably sized hole in the concrete, then pound the length of the rod into the earth with a sledgehammer while standing on a ladder. Not a fun endeavor. Alternately, you can invest in a ground rod rotary bit and drill the hole using a hammer drill. My frugal self has done the sledgehammer routine. Trust me, it’s a workout.

I hope that this helps you in your quest to confirm that your finishing system has a good ground and that your powder coatings are applying well.

Best regards,

Joe

Dear Joe,

Good morning! I appreciate in advance your answer to my question. I’ve used the podcast, your columns, and PCI videos to learn more about powder technology as I grow in my career; thank you for your commitment to sharing knowledge.

My question revolves around WD-40^® and other lubricants for machines. Do you know of one that can be used to work on machines without posing a contamination risk in the powder itself? If not, what are some best practices to give the best chance of success after performing some preventative maintenance that might include using lubricants?

Thanks,

Evan Isaacs

Gainesville, TX

Hi Evan,

Great question and thanks for following the Powdcast and Ask Joe Powder columns.

WD-40 Multi-Use is an amazing product and a very good lubricant. Nevertheless, WD-40 can be the scourge of a finishing system, causing phantom fish-eye cratering in paint and powder coatings. What’s more, a little goes a long way in damaging parts. Therefore, it is requisite to avoid this menacing agent at all costs. But what to use instead?

Here are a couple of possibilities:

Some shops swear by a non-silicone IES product. In this case, you are trading fish-eye craters for the toxic PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) that come along for the ride with the PTFE contained in this lubricant. Please check with your safety officer for guidance.
Another lubricant to consider is supplied by Graco, a global application equipment manufacturer. I trust Graco to recommend a product proven not to create fish-eye crater headaches. It can be rather pricey, however.

Regardless of which material you are considering, it is wise to have one of your lab guys run a deliberate coating contamination test (0.1% or lower level) and confirm that it’s okay.

Good luck,

Joe

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