Ever since Erin Brockovich (the person and the movie) hexavalent chrome has
had an extremely bad reputation so you may find it impossible to purchase
the zinc chromate. It works, if you can get it. Alodine is relatively safe
to handle, easy to use, and will provide adequate protection for all of the
aluminum parts. Use Metalprep from the same manufacturer (Henkel Surface
Technologies http://www.henkel.com/int_henkel/technologies/index.cfm for
pre-treatment.
My Tri-Gear main gear legs and nose gear assembly are powder coated but not
any of the aluminum stuff. While the aluminum parts could be powder coated
keep in mind that the coating is relatively brittle and therefore should not
be used where fasteners attach things, and if you mask the attachment points
it somewhat negates the advantage of powder coating for corrosion
resistance. It is important to keep in mind that coatings protect against
corrosion ONLY as long as the coating remains intact and wherever there is a
discontinuity in the coating corrosion will proceed at an accelerated rate.
When I made a similar comment on this forum about the stabilator torque tube
material I was corrected by the factory (Neville, I think) - the tube is
nickel plated.
Best regards,
Rob Housman
Europa XS Tri-Gear A070
Airframe complete
Irvine, CA
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of Fred R. Klein
Subject: Europa-List: Painting various metal rods
Hi All,
I am pulling together the various ferrous rods and parts to take them down
to my friendly neighborhood powder coating shop.
I'm thinking of spraying zinc chromate on all my aluminum tubes and various
brackets which will be located internally.
I'm tempted to also powder coat the exposed (external) aluminum parts such
as the flap accuators, outrigger and landing gear components.
My stabilator torque tube assembly catches my eye as it appears to be made
---From stainless steel...as a consequence, I've concluded that it doesn't need
any protective coating (paint or powder coat) at all. (true?)
Would anyone care to comment, or perhaps guide me towards a better way of
dealing with these issues?
Fred
A194
XS Mono
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