Heating Water-Borne Coatings
Using an in-line heater to heat waterborne coatings brings similar benefits with water-borne coatings as with solvent-borneMarch 9, 2008
Question
Does anyone use in-line fluid heaters with water-based topcoat? Is there a real benefit? It works great with nitrocellulose lacquer, but I'm not sure how it works with water.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor J:
Works great. You really should try it for most of the same reasons as with nitro.
From contributor K:
I just use quart spray guns, so wonder if there would be any benefit to heating the compressor air (much like a turbine does)?
From contributor J:
Contributor K, I get the connection you're trying to make, however, heating compressor air invites excess moisture and that's what refrigerated driers are meant to combat. Wrapping your cup with a heating pad or something would do the trick. Obviously, that invites other problems as well.
From contributor A:
I use pretty much all waterborne, and heating the fluid to 25C seems to do great for most. Makes it dry faster, too, in cooler temps. For small jobs with the gravity gun, I just heat up the coating in a can with a hot water bath before I pour it in the gun.
From contributor R:
Kremlin makes the in-line of choice, but if you don't have a first-born to give them in exchange, you better crank up the laser printer for a sheet of 100's, as in a sheet of 8 or so.
I guess it won't do you any good, though, without the rest of the Kremlin outfit, although it would work with any AAA and, yes, it is all stainless.
From contributor T:
If you are only spraying waterbased finishes, why not put a propane radiant heater in your spray room? Light it up only when your exhaust fan is on to avoid a buildup of carbon monoxide. Mine puts out 28,000 btu, but I would get a 50,000 for days below -10 Celsius. My exhaust fan pulls about 2,000 cfm. Store it outside the shop when not in use.
From contributor J:
Some folks may be confused about the inline heater and its benefits, especially if you have never seen one in action. It has nothing to do with air. Shop air, compressor air, air pollution, air movement are all separate issues.
From contributor I:
You should check with the manufacturer of the coating for specs on how high the coating can be heated. I like using a heater, as it reduces viscosity without adding water. Just warming the material doesn't work, as the temp decreases something like 10 degrees every 1/4" out of the spray gun. You need a heater that constantly recirculates the material. If you can't go up to about 130 degrees or so, it probably won't help a lot. Binks and Graco used to make a decent heating unit, but I really don't know who makes them these days.
