Wagner Brake stops dip coating to give powder a break
Discarding solvent-borne dip coating for powder coating allows a brake-shoe remanufacturer not only to exceed the goals of an EPA emission-reduction program but also to improve the finish on the company's parts.
When Wagner Brake, a division of Cooper Industries, installed a powder coating line to replace the solvent-borne dip-coat process used to paint brake shoes at its plant in Tijuana, Mexico, the decision wasn't difficult. The division had installed a powder coating line at its Scottsville, Ky., plant in December 1993 and immediately saw improvements in coating quality. By January 1995, the first powder-coated brake shoes rolled off the line at the Tijuana plant.