Powdercoat over chrome?

Off-topic
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This question is in regard to my unicycle, but could be handy in other fields, so i’m just asking here.

Is it possible to powdercoat over chrome?

I realize you can’t paint it otherwise, and was just curious. I wanted to paint my nimbus frame.

3

Actually, I’ve heard you can. And you can paint over it also, but I think it’d be worth atleast making it rough before hand so the paint sticks better.

I think it’d be worth searching it coz I’m pretty sure there’s other topics about it.

5

powder coating over chrome is done all the time with colors that are called candy coats. You can also use normal colors too. The surface does need to roughed up a bit - professional powdercoaters use an acid to etch the surface so that the paint bonds better.

6

yes painting/PCing over chrome is certainly used professionally in certain areas. The surface does need to be rough, painting over polished chrome will fall off quickly. A little work with some fine sandpaper will sort it. You need to bear in mind that ou are now painting chromium, rather than steel or whatever the base metal is, and your choice of paint needs to reflect this.

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what is powder coating i know it a way of painting but how is it done

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Powder-coating is a way of “painting” something. It uses a dry powder instead of a liquid paint. Usually the use electrolyses to get the powder to stick then heat the object up to melt the powder into a film that covers the object. The result is usually much more durable than a conventionally painted surface.

9

For spray painting I always recommend to leave the chrome on, so that if it gets chipped you will still have a protective layer of chrome.

You are wanting to powdercoat which will be a tougher material but it may be worth leaving the chrome and doing a thinner layer of powdercoat.

10

My powder-coated Yuni Muni frame just survived another truck getting totaled off with some cosmetic damage.

There are now a few patches where the powder coat was rubbed off and it looks to me like the chrome that was under it is either gone or pitted/textured.

I was sort of curious if they just powder-coated over the chrome or removed it some how. I guess I will wait and see if it rusts at all in the exposed areas to tell me if it is bare steel or just textured chrome.

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Hello, We are the powder coating shop that coated the Red, White & Blue Coker frames for RTL 2008. Chrome can be powder coated over usually without having to be removed. The exception is if the it was a poor plating job and the chrome is already peeling off or it tries to bubble or peel at the curing temperature for the powder coat. Candie colors can be applied right over the chrome without any etching or scuffing for an awesome effect. If opaque colors are being used then the surface can be media blasted to etch the surface for even better adhesion. Hope this helps.

Here are some pics of the frames at our shop before they were assembled for RTL. These were a custom fade of candy blue and red over a pearl white with a Starlight Clear.

Jason

12

excellent post auto

If I understand you correctly, only high quality chrome can be powder coated over. Makes sense to me, how could a powder paint job on top of peeling or pitted chrome get to tight metal so it can last ?

I have a chromed radial 360 that’s showing a bit of rust. I really should wax it, retroactively, for the last year.:o

So , for chrome, is it wax and wait ? Then if you are lazy like me and the chrome goes all dodgy, it will need a sand blast to clean steel to get a good powder coat ?

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Hope that helps.

Jason

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We just did this this weekend. My brother-in-law is a Harley Davidson mechanic in Iowa and does the powdercoating on their aftermarket stuff. A lot of it is chrome. He powdercoated a chrome trials frame for one of my sons and it turned our great. I will post pictures soon.

You should know that powder coating over chrome will produce a completely different color than powdercoating raw metals.