typically had a pot life of no more than 20 minutes. The older products have been hot potted, but there were
more problem applications than there were good applications.
With a pot life of 45 minutes, you must be very efficient in the mixing procedures. There is no longer the
easy box method or break a branch from the nearest tree and stir the paint. A power mixer is an absolute
must. The power mixer has to have sufficient power to mix a paste consistency, as most of these products
tend to gel up in storage. It is beneficial to have longer handles installed on the mixer. It may even become
necessary to have some sort of device to clamp the pail or container so it will not spin with the powerful
mixing motor. Complete mixing of each component separately is a must if both of them are in a gel state.
This usually breaks down the gel and makes mixing the two components faster and more efficient. Do the
mixing in the area of the paint pump so time is not lost in transporting the mixed material. Do not over mix as
this creates heat that will shorten the pot life.
It may be necessary to make some changes to the paint pump when working with this high viscosity paint.
Paint pumps are usually set up with a pick up hose of up to one inch inside diameter. This inside diameter
tends to get smaller as the pump is used and cured paint builds up on the walls. This will cause the pump to
starve or overwork in picking up the product. This hose can be removed and a short length of pipe added to
the bottom of the foot to reach the bottom of the pail or the pail can be raised to the bottom of the pump. The
pump filter should be changed to a thirty mesh. A sixty or one hundred mesh filter may lower the pressure
too much. With the use of a self-cleaning spray tip and good house keeping around the mixing area, there
should not be too much trouble with tip stoppage. Use a front fed type of spray gun. The type with springs or
filters in the handles may cause too much restriction or pressure loss. The old rule to remove fingers from
the spray pattern was to lower tip size or increase the pump pressure. With these high solids products, that
may no longer be the way to remove the fingers. It may be necessary to use a larger tip allowing the
material to atomize properly.
Transportation and storage of the newer products is more involved than the storage we were used to. When
paint was delivered to the job site it was usually stored in the open, near the unit to be painted. If that
happened to be out in the sun or out in the cold weather, it did not matter. The temperature of the product is
going to affect the properties of the product. The increased temperature of storing the material in the sunlight
will most certainly shorten the pot life of the mixed material. Cold temperature can cause the material to
increase in viscosity to the point that it cannot be mixed properly. If either of these conditions is encountered
in transporting the material from the factory to the job site, the material should be stored to allow it to reach
the 75F range before application is attempted. The material should be kept in the climate-controlled storage
until just before its use.
The owners of the units have had to become more involved in the coatings procedure. Most often, the
proper storage of the material can only be supplied by the owners. This has increased involvement in the
project by the owners, but it has also been a benefit to them. The one hundred percent volume solids has
allowed single coat tank linings, faster cure times for faster return to service, and less overall waste for the
owner to deal with.
There is still a requirement for plural component equipment in the coatings industry. Many of the one
hundred percent solids urethanes on the market have a very short pot life. Some of them have a pot life of 7
to 10 seconds. The applicator cannot release the trigger on the gun until it has been flushed with solvent.
These products usually have very specialized services such as in storage of aggressive commodities,
secondary containment for aggressive products and external maintenance for buried piping. The plural
component pumps can be made to be portable. They are usually truck or trailer mounted along with a power
generator as some of the products have to be heated to be pumped. This equipment is usually owned and
operated by a contractor that specializes in this type of work. This equipment requires more and better
maintenance to function properly.
Another area that plural component equipment is used is in the fabrication industry. Where the same
products are used every day, plural component equipment can reduce labor costs along with the cost of lost
material. The material is mixed as it is needed.
In conclusion, the present day coating products are successful because of cooperation from all parties
concerned. Without this cooperation, we would not be able to meet the regulations that are so needed for
our environment The raw material suppliers met the need for the low viscosity, high solids raw materials and
the paint suppliers were able to formulate products from these raw materials that met the chemical
resistance and regulation requirements. The application equipment manufacturers were able to supply the
equipment to handle the higher solids products. The contractors and owners had to work together to test
apply the products and find ways to deal with the increased participation required by all. The industry has
learned some very valuable information in the past few years that will help all of us deal with the field
problems we will encounter with the even newer generation of coatings.