hot zinc spraying (Final)

[melmelody]

hi again, well went to check the bus over today and took some photos .unfortunatley i still cant upload them as i'm completely locked out of my hot mail and photobucket accounts and need to make new ones .the wife has promised to help me with it over the weekend so i promise they will be on by monday.anyway went to see her today and the transformation is most immpressive all the rust is completely gone it has left a couple of small pinholes here and there which will be tig welded next week by the garage. but the rusted areas have been sprayed with what looks like a white metal coating and its all been kept very localised so as not to cause too much disruption to the good paintwork .again the guy at the factory said its the only way to do these buses and that the rust will not come back.i hope hes correct as its just cost me 400 euros for what looks like not a lot of work seeing as i stripped it all and made all the steel templates to go inside the window apertures etc. got to shoot off for now but i'll get the piccies up as soon as i can .talk soon folks bye for now. mel.

[Oldiebut goodie]

It will be interesting to see how well it keeps the tinworm at bay - one point that I would be concerned with is the coating in the seams - would the zinc be prone to cracking where it bridges the two panels as they flex/vibrate/whatever.

[Plasticman]

By hot zinc, are we implying spraying molten zinc?
mike

[lloydy]

I've heard a few people talking about dipping the whole van

[Plasticman]

Yuk, that would make a right mess
mike

[yorkierob]

.....''the guy at the factory said its the only way to do these buses and that the rust will not come back''

get this bit in writing and signed

[Plasticman]

Here here! think its about 400 ish c that it goes liquid
Mike

[melmelody]

hi again all,

i asked yesterday what process they use to apply the product and was told in german/english that the spraying equipment is more like a blowtorch and that it is fed with zinc wire which then melts as it passes through the heat and is then sprayed as a liquid by air pressure onto the surface of whatever you are applying it to.as for the seams the blasting has totally removed the sealant in the areas that had corrosion and looking into the gap between the panels(a small gap i know) you can see thatthe zinc coating has penetrated really deep.i know this is not going to stop any rust that may be already behind the panels on the inside but im hoping a heavy coating of dinitrol penetrant wax followed by a heavier dinitrol wax will put an end to it getting any worse. i suppose i am no different to anyone else on here,we are all looking for the holy grail of rust prevention and everyone has their own ideas of what will and will not work.when i first left school body work was the trade i went into before joining the forces so i had a good 7 years of experience behind me and have always tried to keep my hand in ,if you know what i mean.i think for the cost its got to be worth trying as i seee so many posts on here of disapointed members on here who have payed thousands of pounds on resprays only to see rusy streaks down the dreaded seams within a few months of parting with their hard earned cash. as said if it works maybe some one with good computing skills can put it in the wiki and maybe we could find such a firm in uk that would give a discount to members if enough interest was shown. pics will be coming this weekend .fingers crossed.
cheers mel.

[Plasticman]

Yes that makes more sense, will need to look into it and look forward to the pickies
Mike

[Oldiebut goodie]

I wonder about the adhesion properties as opposed to galvanizing where the object to be plated is heated also when dipped. With the spray hot metal will be cooled virtually instantly upon hitting the steel. There may be an effect akin to when you form a cold solder joint due to insufficient heat in the object to be soldered. Not knowing how the application works maybe the blowtorch also preheats the steel?

[melmelody]

hi again ,

i dont think the application heats the steel panels as there is no indication of heat being applied to the surrounding paint and some of the zinc coating has been applied to it.however the panels have been shot blasted so there should be good adhesion to the blasted panel by virtue of the finish left from the blasting.i thinke it must adere ok as there were other objects there also that had been sprayed with it and all they had done to prepare them was shot blast prior to spraying them.

[melmelody]

Hi all,

this is Mrs M here, hopefully I have done this right !!!

this should be the photo's before & After the shot blast.

http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/l483/melmelody908/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://s1120.photobucket.com/albums/l483/melmelody908/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[dingdangdoo]

This months practical classics has done a feature on this method this month.I says goodbye to filler apparently.

[Plasticman]

It dont make filler redundant! neither does it make repairing rot redundant, it is a coating over metal that has been repaired blasted etc and hopefully will keep the seams good, if you leave ANY rust behind then it will inevitably creep to the outsides of this or any other non ferrous coating and show itself.same as if I blast an area and lead it, great but the periphery can still rust and show itself.
mike

[AdrianC]

This months practical classics has done a feature on this method this month.I says goodbye to filler apparently.

Mmm. I had a flick through that in WHS the other day.

Have to admit, I raised an eyebrow given the rotten and holed doorskin they were spraying it onto... I've heard of it before, as a "galvo-alike" rustproofer, without the risk of distortion that comes from galvanising - but not necessarily as something you'd want as a finish. Quite the opposite, if you were doing it to visible bits, you'd want to finish before painting...

Still - it was being done to a Splitty, so not the world's greatest surprise that it's invoice-first, quality-second...