Powdercoat removing--Chemical dip?

[R-Audi]

Hey Guys,
Looking to see if anyone has any recommendations on a place that can do chemical dipping.. I have a set of wheels that I want the powdercoating removed, and dont want to sandblast.

It would just be the wheel faces. (Which are 6061-T6 Aluminum )

I have read you can use aircraft paint remover, but would rather not do that in my alley and have the chemicals go into the sewer system.

Tks.

[bspot]

Just take them to Calgary Powdercoating or any other powdercoat place.

[R-Audi]

Calgary powdercoating said they wouldnt do it unless I had them powdercoated by them afterwards..at $80 a wheel.

[DeleriousZ]

Can't you pick up some aircraft stripper, or whatever it's called?

[R-Audi]

I can.. but then I have to figure out where to use it. Supposed to have a strong smell and my garage wouldnt be well ventilated... plus I wouldnt want the chemical on the ground after rinsing because of my dog etc.

[88CRX]

Maybe try some of the chrome dipping guys? Don’t have any recommendations but I’d imagine it’s something they could do.

[bspot]

Alberta wheel repair?

[R-Audi]

I have a few calls out to other places.. worst case scenario I will do it myself I guess. Id like to go with a brushed or polished finish after, but some of these places are somewhat forcing my hand to have the powdercoated at the same time because of the price. (No separate charges, only 1 all together)

[Darell_n]

Try spray oven cleaner. Removes paint and won't touch plastic, but I've never tried on powder coat.

[euro_racer]

i personally would not use the aircraft stripper...unless you have an enormous amount of patience. maybe when i tried it i did it wrong (even though i researched and folowed instructions) but it requires too much elbow grease and not worth it IMO

[tomt64]

If the powdercoating job was good quality, its going to be a bitch to get off. I used that stripper to take off powdercoat from a valve cover and it took 2 bottles and a ton of time. A pressure washer helps too.

I dont know if you can powdercoat over the top of powdercoating, but if you can then thats why the wheel shop is saying that I guess...

[Ymerej472008]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ
Can't you pick up some aircraft stripper, or whatever it's called?
This won't work...I dumped about 15L of the gel into a wheelbarrow in my back yard to try and strip 4 rims...it took me nearly 8 hours to get one and it wasn't even close to bare.

Call NaTech Industries - Rob...
He does Sodablasting and he stripped all 4 of my Work Emotions for $140 effortlessly
403-221-8605

[R-Audi]

Originally posted by tomt64

I dont know if you can powdercoat over the top of powdercoating, but if you can then thats why the wheel shop is saying that I guess...

They didnt say anything about powdercoating on top of powdercoat, just that they only charge one price for stripping and powdercoating. So I can pay to have them stripped, but its the same amount to have them stripped and powdercoated.

I will look into sodablasting... does it leave any marks on the metal? (pitting etc?)

[R-Audi]

As a small update...

-Spoke with Riteway powder coating and they recommended Westchem for removing.. waiting back on a quote. Said it would most likely be the cheapest method, but wondered about the condition of the material after.

-Spoke with Street heat about soda blasting, and they estimated $100 a wheel, but it all depended on the quality of powder.

-left a message with NaTech.


Never thought it would be this much work in having the coating removed!
Really starting to wish the wheel I bought didnt have such a loud color....

[R-Audi]

And my final update...

-Westchem mainly sells the products to do the stripping.. so they pointed me in a few directions

1. Calgary Powdercoat: Will not strip seperately of PC.. too busy

2. Valley Metal: Estimate of $100 for all 4, and take ~1 week.

We found our winner!

For future reference, Valley Metal will charge ~$100 (they said thats on the high side) to chemically strip powdercoating off the wheels.