Control group best painting practices.

[zolimer]

Hello all, First post here! I am glad i have found this site!
I can clearly see that i am not the only one out there that loves the dynamics of this field! I am relatively new to the trade, i worked in the construction end for almost a year and today was my one year anniversary as an operator/tech.

I work at a meat packing plant that makes lunch meat.
It has been in operation 18 month's. As i do my control group pm's i am reminded that i will painting some valve stations as soon as the weather becomes a little more agreeable.

18 month's does not seem like a very good life span for a paint job, or is it? Any special products or technics i could use to get more life out of the next one? Any help would be greatly appreciated, Tim

[US Iceman]

Hi and welcome to the forums,

There are some very expensive paints/coatings available that will last for a long time. Unfortunately, the issue becomes one of surface preparation. If you cannot get the pipe surface prepared properly to meet the coating manufacturers requirements. the coating will not last as long as you would hope.

Obviously if you want the paint to last for a while and it is exposed to direct sunlight the paint needs to be UV (ultraviolet) resistant.

Epoxy coatings have provided reasonable performance from what I have seen. But again, you need to follow the manufacturers directions for the application of the coating and the surface preparations.

[zolimer]

Thanks Iceman, We were thinking of using an epoxy. I plan on taking my time with the prep work, we have more than enough evap's to handle our loads, so i can leave units out of service for extended periods.

[nh3wizard]

Valve group maintenance is very important to me, as long as the prep work is done correctly and the right type of paint is used it should last. 18 months seems to me to be about right, as US Iceman stated UV resistant paint should help.

[zolimer]

Thanks nh3wizard!