Waterborne Conversions
In the life of a busy sales representative this week, it has been nothing but go-go-go. I have successfully completed another waterborne conversion using PPG’s Envirobase waterborne paint. This paint system is awesome to use in any body shop today. We set up G.S.L Chev City in one day and we were spraying paint the next day first thing in the morning. The feature I like the most about PPG’s water system is the fact that there is no more mixing machine to agitate the paint. Gone are those big bulky mixing machines that are noisy and take fifteen minutes to stir the paint before you are ready to use the product. As they say “out with the old and in with the new”.
PPG’s new waterborne paint system consists of two cabinets stacked side by side and the motor unit is used for primers and sealers; this acts as the base of the new system. Your hand now becomes your paint shaker and no more waiting fifteen minutes for your base to properly stir. You now just shake with your hand and go mix. Remember all those times when you run out of a toner and had to wait fifteen minutes to stir the new one, not any more. I was a flat rate painter when I sprayed and if I counted all the times I waited fifteen minutes for a toner to stir, I would be thousands of dollars richer.
This is only one of the great new features PPG’s Envirobase waterborne system has to offer you. The cabinets are white which seems to brighten up even the darkest mixing rooms. I like to see what I am doing so this is a plus in my books. The paint itself is environmentally friendly, which is the reason we folks in Canada have to switch to this not so new product. The government of Canada has lowered VOC emissions and placed tighter regulations on automotive paint. The majority of solvent was being used in the base coat with most paint systems being a 1:1 reduction, one part base coat and one part solvent. This is why all solvent base coats are being replaced by water basecoats. This is where the most solvent is used in most paint systems, the base coat.
This new water system is very simple to use for any painter. Even the newest painter will pick this simple system up with ease in two days. What you need to dry the base is air movement. This is provided in two different ways. One is the shop will retro fit the paint booth/s with air jets which are mounted to the four corners of the paint booth. The other is with tree stands and hand held air blowers. These blowers are set up near the vehicle and directed to blow at the vehicle being painted. These tree stands and blowers are provided by PPG to assist the drying process of the base coat between the first and second coats of paint. The last coat of base requires no air from the blowers to dry and will sit for fifteen minutes. This severely increases the speed of the over all paint process. What used to take an hour to two hours will now take you only half that time. The shops will double the amount of vehicles being put through their booth daily. If you were spraying five cars a day you will now be able to spray eight to ten cars a day.
This is good news for the body shops and the painter as well. More profitability for everyone involved in the repair process! So what are you waiting for, switch over to PPG’s new Envirobase and convert with confidence today.
