[Amps] Pretreatment of Aluminum for painting

[John- W4DJ]

Alodine provides a Conductive Surface for cleaning and the treatment of 
metals to make them non corrosive.
Anodyne is the Non-Conductive metal treatment that you can get in Colors.

73s de John W4DJ


>From: Tony King - W4ZT <amps080605 at w4zt.com>
>To: Amps <amps at contesting.com>
>Subject: Re: [Amps] Pretreatment of Aluminum for painting
>Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 03:01:57 -0400
>
>Alodine is a chromate conversion process which does provide a conductive
>surface. It is widely used in military gear and in a huge number of
>aircraft. It is recommended for electrical and electronic use because of
>its corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity. It is far superior
>to spraying zinc chromate on aluminum. It's relatively safe to use and
>readily available in quantities we can use at home and at a reasonable
>price. It leaves the unpainted surfaces an attractive gold color which
>is very corrosion resistant and which doesn't show finger prints like
>untreated aluminum.
>
>See this link: <http://www.poly-metal.com/alodine.shtml>
>
>73, Tony W4ZT
>
>N7KA at comcast.net wrote:
> > I do believe ALODINE provides an insulating surface.  The best 
>preparation of aluminum for paint processes is a chromate surface.  This is 
>accomplished per MIL-C-5541 (ANSI has a different specification number for 
>thsi process).  This is a conductive surface treatment and normally yields 
>the light yellow to brownish color depending upon length the parts are 
>subjected to the chemical conversion process.
> > The process is usually done with a series of tanks used to clean, coat, 
>and rinse parts.  There are 2 classes of coatings based upon the 
>requirement for a very low surface resistance (Class 1A) or a normal 
>conductive surface (Class 3).  Some chemical conversion can be performed in 
>clear color and must be specified.
> > There is a new process that does not use chromates that we are 
>investigating at work.  Because of the heavy metal attributes of chromate 
>we do NOT do this process ourself, but send it out to be done.  A 
>non-chromate process would allow us to do it in-house and save a lot of $$ 
>and lessen use of chromates (hopeful eliminate 99% of our chromate use 
>requirements).
> > I do some painting of aluminum at home and usually get good results by 
>ensuring the surface is clean of any oils.  I clean with alcohol and use 
>several light coatings of paint.  Most I then bake in the oven at about 
>170F, let your wife go away for the weekend, or she might get very upset at 
>this happening in HER oven.  Often after this I will allow the part to 
>relax in the New Mexico sun to continue in a natural baking process. The 
>paint hardens very nicely.
> >  If I can find a shop that does powder coatng (and does it within hobby 
>budget) I will have all projects painted in this manner.  Powder coat is 
>probably the best commercial coatings available.
> > I may have digressed a bit but hopefully the info will be helpful to the 
>readers.  I am sure others have had success with other processes.  I for 
>one would be interested in other results.
> > 73 de Arne N7KA
>
>
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