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How much does Powdercoat add to the weight of a bicycle frame

G

GMDesigns

Chimp
Sep 27, 2006
94
0
OH
This is a question I’ve heard asked numerous times and always wondered myself. I’ve heard a wide range of speculation but never an accurate answer…until now.

I recently had the opportunity to use an incredibly accurate scale to weigh a frame I built prior to and following powdercoating. The frame is a 24” BMX cruiser.

The process used in this example is a single stage (no primer or clear top coat) Polyester / TGIC applied via an automated system which also includes a trip through a spray wash tunnel, an iron phosphate bath, and dry-off / pre-heat oven then sprayed and baked.

The result was an increase in weight of 33.054g / 1.166 oz.

Disclaimer: This was applied by an automated system. Different powdercoating systems, machine settings, operator skill, and even powder may all have an effect on the finished powder thickness and may result in a different weight (although probably not by much).

Obviously multiple stage applications and significantly larger frames (eg: tandems) will result in an increased weight than what I measured.


I will do this test again when I finish another frame. I’ll report back at that time.




Take care,
Greg
 
T

TortugaTonta

Monkey
Aug 27, 2008
539
0
A friend of mine built a very sweet custom road bike with carbon rear end so only the front triangle was painted. It had one of the coolest flame jobs I have ever seen with 12 coats of paint, believe it or not it actually added over a pound to the frame. It looked cool but ended up being around a 4 pound road frame. . .
 
Stoked

Stoked

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2004
1,809
1
LI, NY
cool topic. may i add...

manufacturers have been using ED coating in place of powdercoat. Electrophoretic deposition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is basically a plating process with many advantage to powdercoat. Its a flat black coating. Sunday/Odyssey have been doing this under there painted frames/parts but also offer just ED finishes.

Tubes6al4v posted on another site about the disadvantages bike guide discussion
Disadvantages:

May be difficult to control Oxygen contamination at anode and/or hydrogen at the cathode
May affect curing rates of subsequent painting.
Click to expand...
Mcgoo had some words about this on snafu blog
It's no secret I've always been a fan of Taiwan's ubiquitous "Black ED" plated finish. More durable than liquid paint, thinner than powdercoating and cheaper/tougher looking than chrome, black ED has been the go-to finish for seatposts, forks and handlebars for years. I spec'ed the color for the first time on Mongoose BMX bikes in 1989, and MTB product managers were using the finish years before that. Taiwan factories like to use black ED as a material protectant. It's highly rust resistant, so it makes a good undercoating for steel frames, forks, handlebars, etc

Now that colors appear here to stay, those poor Taiwan factories that poured their hearts into perfecting black ED have been scrambling to keep up with the painters and anodizers on the island. Here's what they've created: Electroplating for steel in a vivid rainbow of colors.

Click to expand...
the color ED coating looks like its going in a good direction.
 
cmc

cmc

Turbo Monkey
Nov 17, 2006
2,052
6
austin
GMDesigns said:
. . . The process used in this example is a single stage (no primer or clear top coat) . . .
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hmmm, no primer or clear. this makes me wonder if that's what happened when i took a Standard STA frame to a local powdercoater several years ago.

it looked good at first, but when i pressed in the cups, put on seatpost clamp, and tightened down pegs, the powdercoat cracked around the contact points. these cracks caused the coat to peal away down to the metal. they had not primered it at all. it was just one thick layer of plastic-y coat.

eventually i got it re-done by a different company.

not exactly sure why the powedercoating job had been so bad, but i guess it pays to ask if they have ever done bike frames before.
 
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jerseydirt

jerseydirt

Turbo Monkey
May 6, 2007
1,936
0
dirty jerz
untitledsince89 said:
good way to sound like a dick.:rofl:
it was a question people may have been wondering, and he presented it in a very professional and clear way, not some roadie a$$hole counting grams.
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I for one say that thetruth has a valid point. What next? taking paint off spokes, pedals, and brake levers? Ridiculous.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,848
24,435
media blackout
cmc said:
it just shows that some people who design and build awesome bikes actually pay attention to details.
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There's a fine line between attention to detail and obsessive compulsive behavior.

This should have been posted in the DH forum, this would have the e-tards frothing :rofl:


No offense to anyone here, but this would be a better topic for the shop/tech forum :nerd: Just my$0.02
 
ServeEm

ServeEm

Turbo Monkey
Feb 21, 2006
1,013
0
SacTown
real interested in seeing another one of your creations. I'm sure the others are too, kinda surprised no one asked to post pics of the frame.

GMDesigns said:
This is a question I’ve heard asked numerous times and always wondered myself. I’ve heard a wide range of speculation but never an accurate answer…until now.

I recently had the opportunity to use an incredibly accurate scale to weigh a frame I built prior to and following powdercoating. The frame is a 24” BMX cruiser.

The process used in this example is a single stage (no primer or clear top coat) Polyester / TGIC applied via an automated system which also includes a trip through a spray wash tunnel, an iron phosphate bath, and dry-off / pre-heat oven then sprayed and baked.

The result was an increase in weight of 33.054g / 1.166 oz.

Disclaimer: This was applied by an automated system. Different powdercoating systems, machine settings, operator skill, and even powder may all have an effect on the finished powder thickness and may result in a different weight (although probably not by much).

Obviously multiple stage applications and significantly larger frames (eg: tandems) will result in an increased weight than what I measured.


I will do this test again when I finish another frame. I’ll report back at that time.




Take care,
Greg
Click to expand...
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
cmc said:
it just shows that some people who design and build awesome bikes actually pay attention to details.
Click to expand...
Owning two custom-made titanium bikes, I can appreciate the BMX designer's eye for gram saving!
 
G

GMDesigns

Chimp
Sep 27, 2006
94
0
OH
Hey Guys,
I was just sharing some information that I thought might be of interest to others. This is where I’ve posted in the past so that’s why I gravitated here.
Next time I’ll hit up the Shop / Tech section. (I should really explore the breadth of which RM has to offer.)

Stoked, I’ve used E-Coat many times on other projects. I always use it for corrosion resistance. I was never concerned UV resistance since it always got top-coated. I’ve never seen it in colors before…very interesting.
Thanks for that link. (I’ll have to check out BG as well)

CMC, as with any finish it’s the surface prep that’s key to a successful bonding of the top-coat. Primer isn’t always necessary. However, with powder there also needs to be proper curing temperature and curing time. Mess up any of the previous things and delamination can result. With a good powder coat job you can actually dent a tube pretty good before the powder lets loose, even without primer.

ServeEm, I’ll post some pics of this frame and some other bike stuff here real soon.



I’m pretty detail oriented but not to the point of OCD…at least I don’t think so:think:



Take care,
Greg
 
Cru Jones

Cru Jones

Turbo Monkey
Sep 2, 2006
3,025
2
Hell Track
Good info Greg! I have always been curious about that. I don't have a scale accurate enough to tell me the difference in my frame weights with liquid paint or powder (the blue is powder, the others paint)... but it looks like it should be less than an ounce.
 
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G

GMDesigns

Chimp
Sep 27, 2006
94
0
OH
Cru Jones said:
Good info Greg! I have always been curious about that. I don't have a scale accurate enough to tell me the difference in my frame weights with liquid paint or powder (the blue is powder, the others paint)... but it looks like it should be less than an ounce.
Click to expand...
Send me one of each and I'll weigh them for you! ;)



Greg
 
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