DANGEROUS Coatings on Control Panels??

Druid

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I have a large number of control panels that I need to prepare for powder coating.

To that end, I am stripping off the remnants of the CPO adhesives, etc. using a wire attachment on an angle grinder.

This works extremely well! But before I proceed, I want to make sure that it is safe to remove the black and gray surfaces on many of these panels while just wearing an N95.

Is it just a thin coating of paint or is it something else? Atari's are usually black. Lots of others are gray. I think some might be galvanized, but not sure.

Also, does ALL of that surface need to come off before the powder coating can adhere?

Some examples:

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Are you powder coating them yourself?

Reason I ask is I always take my stuff to a professional powder coater who sandblasts it prior to coating. So it eliminates everything you just asked about, you won't have to worry about any of that.
 
I am not doing it myself. I assume the powder coater will charge me more to sandblast them too. I have more time than money :)
 
It's paint and/or primer. You'd want to take the same precautions as for any paint removal.

(Wear a respirator, don't do it on the kitchen table, etc.)

I'd think you'd want a proper respirator instead of an N95, if you want to be extra safe, not knowing exactly what you might be breathing.
 
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Thanks @andrewb! That's kinda what I figured but didn't want to assume.

Does anyone know if ALL the paint and primer needs to come off before they can be powder coated?
 
Bare metal. Powder coating is done with a finely powered coating that is adhered to the part with an electrical charge and then melted to adhere it to the part. Anything that causes the surface to not be smooth with show up once the powder coating is done. Anything that has different surface properties or causes problems with adhesion, will cause the coating to eventually flake. In the worst case, if the left over paint bubbles in the heat, or even just off gasses, you may well get bubbles in your surface.
 
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