Powder coating or painting alloy wheels?
Why powder coating is the first-choice process in wheel refurbishment, what advantages it has over wet paint, when the two processes are combined and why acrylic powder coating is unbeatable as a sealant.
“In wheel refurbishment, powder coating has become indispensable. It is always the process of first choice, even though it offers a smaller range of colours than wet paint. If the desired colour cannot be achieved by powder coating alone, at least a combination of the two processes should be used. As a sealant, acrylic powder coating is unbeatable.”
Dipl.-Kfm. Thomas Beez, wheel expert and managing director of Mainhattan-Wheels GmbH
“I want to have my wheels refurbished. Should I have them powder coated or painted?” Many customers ask us this when choosing the right process. For most people it is difficult to search specifically for the best method, because as a rule only specialists know about the different processes.
Painting is not always the original
People usually ask for paint in order to restore the original condition, even though the wheels were, for example, powder coated, polished or diamond-cut in production. Wheel owners can assume that the surface of single-colour wheels was produced either by powder coating, by painting or by a combination of both processes.
Customers who ask for paint are often not aware that powder coating is an option at all. That is mainly because powder coating is still relatively new compared with wet paint. While wet paint has existed since roughly the 12th century, powder coating was only developed in the 1960s and 1970s.
The advantages of powder coating
Powder coating has substantial advantages over wet paint:
- more attractive on price
- a solvent-free and emission-free process and therefore less harmful to the environment, also thanks to the higher material yield
- better surface quality, considerably more resistant to impact, scratching and abrasion as well as to chemicals
- ready for use as soon as the surface has cooled
- greater film thickness and therefore less sensitive to a poor substrate
When wheels are powder coated, the new finish is as a rule not built up on old paint or powder layers; instead the surface is rebuilt completely.
The advantage of wet paint: any colour
Even so, wet paint still offers one decisive advantage: every conceivable colour request can be realised. In the powder coating field the choice of colours is nowhere near as wide, even though the product range of powder paint manufacturers has grown considerably over the last ten years.
Combining the two processes
Reputable businesses in wheel surface technology have long offered a combination of the two processes. If a customer asks for a colour that cannot be achieved with powder alone, the wheels are first primed with powder, then wet painted and finally sealed again with acrylic powder.
The use of acrylate powder coatings (acrylic powder coating) as the final coating step has become indispensable in professional wheel coating. This transparent clear coat provides maximum weather resistance and therefore a durable result from the refurbishment. We describe both processes and their prices under Powder coating and painting and in the price list.