Navy revises powder spec after learning less is more
When WEDJ/Three C's of York, Pa., began supplying air conditioners 13 years ago to Textron Marine Systems as a subcontractor for a new US Navy landing craft, the Navy didn't require coating on the units' aluminium exteriors.
As the craft's design evolved, the Navy changed its specification, asking for a liquid epoxy paint. Within a year, however, it changed the spec again, this time to a two-coat, 15-to 18-mil epoxy powder coating. The spec, known as Mil-C-24712, was the Navy's first for an electrostatic powder coating. Its mission? To provide a top-notch functional finish.