As well as accelerating waterborne drying time, the humble air blower’s multiple uses make it an integral part of a painter’s tool kit, says John Hristias, PPG Business Support Manager Asia / Pacific.
Many technicians make the mistake of thinking a waterborne air blower is a one trick pony – it’s not. Although initially introduced to give increased airflow and surface air movement that assists the flash-off of waterborne coatings, this handy tool also makes a valuable contribution elsewhere in the paint shop. It even fits easily in a pocket so it’s always ready to go.
A clean winner
Because it provides a wide fan of high volume, high velocity air, the new PPG Waterborne Air Blower is perfect for the paint preparation stage. In contrast to a conventional air gun, which generally has a tip only a few millimetres wide, an air blower’s better airflow offers the ability to get the job done quicker and more effectively. In particular, we find it dislodges much more dust in crevasses, such as around door handles, moulds and edges. After masking, using it to efficiently blowing down the job gets most contamination removed in the prep area, rather than being deposited in the booth filters.
Continuous control
Don’t get lazy and use a spray gun as a substitute air blower. By delivering an even distribution of high velocity air over a wide area, a PPG Waterborne Air Blower actually lets you take control of the waterborne flash-off process. In fact, a traditional flash-off time of around 10 to 15 minutes (depending on temperature and humidity) can be reduced to as little as three or four minutes by using an air blower.
Tack-rag and de-nib
Between waterborne basecoat coats you can use the air blower and a tack-rag to go over the surface. Using the PPG Waterborne Air Blower at about half air velocity helps the tack-rag glide over the panel surface, while also blowing out any tiny pieces of dust. Controlling the flash-off process and tack-ragging also brings the technician much closer to the panel surface where they are more likely to pick up any defects that might have been missed, allowing them to be rectified early. For example, if a dust nib appears in an Enivrobase High Performance basecoat, it can easily be removed before moving on.
Made from rugged and durable ABS plastic, the PPG Waterborne Air Blower is available now from PPG, Protec or Commercial Performance Coatings distributors.