Nitrogen-based spray system designed to improve productivity, cut costs
As collision shops in California, Canada and other regions face the prospect of switching to waterborne paint to meet new environmental regulations, shop owners have been searching for ways to offset the increased cost of these paints, and accommodate the longer flash times that waterborne typically requires.
Todd D'Angelo of D'Angelo's Automotive & Industrial Coatings, a distributor that operates 13 locations in California, Nevada and Arizona, is promoting a new nitrogen-based spray system that can reduce flash times and significantly cut materials usage.
D'Angelo has been touting the benefits of the NitroTherm spray system from Eurosider for several months whenever he speaks to his shop customers. The system was originally introduced in Europe, and made its U.S. debut at the last International Autobody Congress and Exposition (NACE) event.
"We were impressed when we first saw it in action," says D'Angelo. "We were looking for a waterborne solution because of the rulings in California. If you have this machine, you can increase productivity and efficiency, and reduce materials cost."
NitroTherm uses heated nitrogen instead of oxygen, and can significantly improve transfer efficiency for waterborne and solvent-based paints, cut flash times, and reduce the amount of materials needed by 20 percent to 30 percent, according to Michael Haydell, owner of Haydell Industries, the U.S. distributor for NitroTherm.
Nitrogen is anhydrous, meaning it doesn't contain any water, so shops in humid areas could have an easier time using waterborne paints even in a moisture-heavy environment. Heating the nitrogen reduces the viscosity of the paint, which, in turn, reduces the need for solvents.
D'Angelo has installed the system for seven customers to date (two are using waterborne paint), and has demonstrations running at several other shops.
D'Angelo's staff spends a day setting up the equipment and showing painters how to use the system. "We have some benchmarking materials we use to show them how much paint they start out using, and how much they save," D'Angelo says. "They can see for themselves how fast they can do a paint job."
One challenge in performing the week-long demos at the shops, though, has been getting the painters to mix less paint, so they don't end up with wasted material.
"It's hard to teach people that in a week," says D'Angelo.
Adds Haydell, "Body shops have been told so many times by salespeople and marketers that you can save on materials, and they are skeptical. It's almost too good to be true. We're delivering more material per coat, but using less material."
Haydell has sold approximately 200 of the spray systems in North America. He contends that once the systems are in place, the benefits are significant.
"It reduced materials because of the transfer efficiency," Haydell says of the system. "It eliminated static electricity and reduced overspray. And it helped accelerate flash times. We figured if does those three things, it will sell itself."
D'Angelo notes that the system lays the paint really flat. He estimates that "90 percent to 95 percent stays on the car. Flash times are cut in half. For a busy shop, if you can cut flash times in half, you can get one or two more cars in every day," he adds.
Haydell says the technology allows painters to deliver more paint with each coat, and reduce the amount of material used by minimizing overspray. With traditional spray guns, air is negatively charged as it's compressed and moved through the gun. Since the surface of the vehicle also is negatively charged, paint is repelled, causing mottling and overspray. NitroTherm produces a positive charge, so the paint is naturally drawn to the negatively charged surface, he says.
"We did a demo in an open warehouse, using solvent-based paint on one fender with traditional spray equipment, and waterborne paint using the NitroTherm machine on the other," D'Angelo says. "The traditional equipment took twice as long to dry, and there was a lot of dust and dirt in the paint."
BASF, Akzo Nobel, PPG and DuPont have all tested the system, but have not yet endorsed it. Sherwin-Williams planned to evaluate the system in June. Haydell says the paint companies are not discouraging the use of NitroTherm and have said it won't impact warranties.
Although the system will reduce the amount of materials shops purchase, D'Angelo believes offering cutting-edge technology will still benefit his business.
"It's an issue, because they're buying less product. Hopefully, we can take this to a competitive shop and then make some new sales because we're saving them money," D'Angelo says. "If we're saving them money and making them more efficient, this secures our relationship with the shop, and gives us an edge on our competitors."
