When is a Complex Plural Component System the Right Fit for your Painting Process

Plural Component Systems have a lot of nice features depending on the manufacturer including coating use tracking, advanced mix regulation, fast flushes for rapid change of material, and allowing for continuous spray of plural component materials. With all the positives there are potential downsides in this article we will cover the benefits and drawbacks to plural component systems.

The Positives

•  Allow for continuous production without ever stopping to refill a pressure pot
• Allow for rapid change of colors while maintaining consistent production
• Reduced chance of ruining a tank due to leaving material in a pressure pot to long
•  Accurate recording of paint use for record keeping
• Precise mixing for components with critical mix ratios
• Can mix components immediately prior to application so that equipment is not ruined

The negatives

•  Highly expensive upwards of 60,000 for a complete system
•  Not as simple – a pressure pot is simple without any moving parts a plural component system has pumps, plcs, and manifolds. This can result in increased likelihood of breakdown
• Higher learning curve – rather than learning just how to mix paint, spray it, and properly clean the equipment plural component systems require operators to learn basic programming of the unit, spray technique, additional equipment troubleshooting, and more maintenance procedures.

With these positives and negatives in mind typically a plural component system makes sense in a few different scenarios. One is you need precision control and monitoring of your coating application, which means that ratios cannot become out of balance at any point during the spray process or coating failure is likely to occur. Two is you are a very high production shop who cannot stop to fill a pressure tank at any time, you have to be able to spray without ceasing a two component material all day. Third is when you have such high volumes that tracking is critical for you to continue your operation. With that in mind plural component systems are usually not well suited if you have trouble with equipment maintenance, lower production needs, frequent staffing changes (this makes it hard to keep people trained on proper equipment use), or do not necessarily need this high expense system. By knowing these basic concepts of plural component spray you should be able to better determine whether it is a good fit for your painting process.