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Before painting or powder-coating a metal surface, it needs to be properly pre-treated. It can be very convenient if you can count on a single machine to handle the tasks of cleaning and pre-treating for you.
Pressure washers are a great way to make sure the metal is cleaned and ready for a paint job. With an added phosphatizing kit, the machines can be very effective pre-treatment units as well. Properly cleaning and pre-treating metal before painting helps to prevent paint from bubbling or flaking off. Pressure washers are an ideal tool to use to make sure the surface is as clean as possible and properly prepared for paint and powder-coating applications.
Why It Needs To Be Clean
When it comes to pre-treating a metal surface, a critical task is cleaning the surface. Unlike a number of other painting projects, painting metal surfaces means that the surface needs to be as clean as possible before the paint is applied. Paint needs to have the right kind of surface area to grip on to. If the surface area is dirty or studded with rust and corrosion, the paint simply won’t adhere to the surface.
Conventional pressure washers can clean a surface, but do not prepare the surface for painting. Conventional methods require things like metal scrub brushes and steel wool to scrape rust and other corrosion deposits from the surface. This can take a lot of effort and in some cases produces poor results. Pressure washers offer an easier more effective solution. Ideally, industrial pressure washers should also come with an option for pre-treating metal.
Additionally, many options for pre-treating metal surfaces can be harmful to the applicator, as they use harsh chemicals. Acid-feed pressure washing machines allow operators to use these necessary chemicals without coming into direct contact.
Things to Keep In Mind
There are a number of different pre-treatment methods available. However, when it comes to using pressure washers, downstream injection is an effective choice for most kinds of applications. This method ensures that the chemicals used only come into contact with certain parts of the pressure washers, namely the injector, hose, wand, trigger gun, and nozzle. This has the advantage of protecting the other components from things like corrosion.
When looking for industrial pressure washers that can also pre-treat metal, it’s best to go for machines that have stainless steel parts and components. A dual lance wand that also has a crossover valve can be very helpful in controlling whether you want the water to flow at low-pressure or high-pressure levels.
There are also other helpful extra options you can look for in these pressure washers. These include machines that can use recycled water, multiple chemical feeds, multiple guns, and a remote control station. These extra features should be available on request from your supplier. They can make the entire pre-treatment process easier and more effective.
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