When Rod Wishart of Wishart's Paint Solutions saw the Nitrotherm spray system demonstrated at Eurosider's Italian HQ, he could hardly believe his eyes.
Paint & Panel has reported on nitrogen spraying in the past as it has been utilised in European and American repair facilities for some time, but no one was importing the equipment to Australia.
Wishart has been successfully trialling the equipment at four Aussie shops over the last six months. The results, in terms of time and material savings and quality outcomes, have exceeded expectations. The equipment is now on sale in Australia through Wishart's Paint Solutions and Wishart thinks it is nothing short of revolutionary.
First, you have to question why a paint distributor is championing equipment which will lead to customers using less paint.
"Customers have to use the latest technology to give themselves an edge. It's a distributor's responsibility to do the right thing by customers. This equipment increases customer's productivity so while they will use less paint their business will grow and so will ours," Wishart said.
Smoothly does it
Compressed air molecules are on the hyperactive side and charge out of the gun erratically, which means that a fair bit of precious paint – up to 30 percent – ends up on the spraybooth wall and in filters instead of on the panel. Heated nitrogen molecules, on the other hand, are smaller, smoother, well behaved characters that make the paint transfer a significantly more effective scenario with up to 60 per cent less overspray. Because the nitrogen enables such effective paint transfer to the panel, painting times are also cut down by 30 per cent.
Nitrogen molecules are also anhydrous and just say no to water. With zero moisture there's less denibbing to carry out, again speeding up key to key times.
Less overspray means reduced booth maintenance and even overalls stay cleaner for longer.
Nithrotherm is a hit in the ‘Gong
Glen Cahill, owner of Coulson's Body Repairs in Unanderra, Woolangong, NSW is beyond impressed with the Nitrotherm system. "We have enjoyed a significant boost in productivity - our target used to be 35 cars per week now it's 40. Plus our paint bills are pissing us off a lot less," Cahill said. "The finish is superb and our painters love it."
Painter Jesse Turvey confirmed this: "We're using a lot less paint. The system really takes the agro out of painting. It's effortless and gives a much better finish."
Training takes about two days and Wishart says shops will see the return on investment in under 12 months.
Nitrotherm key features:
- Provides paint savings of 20-30 per cent
- Reduces cycle times between 30-50 per cent
- Reduces overspray by 60 per cent
- Higher definition of image
- Can be used with all paints and primers and fillers
- Consistent performance regardless of time of day or season
- Control of sagging and orange peel
For more information, call Wishart's Paint Solutions on (02) 4272 1140 or in Queensland, The Paint Depot on (07) 5591 1922.