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Coating and Painting Inspection
Coating and Painting Inspection
AMBIENT CONDITION
Before initiating surface preparation or coating operations, the temperatures (air and surface),
dew point, relative humidity, and wind velocity must be checked to ensure that they conform to
specification requirements. SSPC-PA 1 provides information on proper conditions for shop and
field painting. Since ambient and steel temperatures may change quickly, they should be
measured periodically throughout the day. ASTM E 337 dictates that the ambient condition test
or environmental test should be done: “before, during, and after” the application and they must
be monitored at least every four hour interval, even more when the condition are unstable.
TEMPERATURE
The application of a coating system shall occur only when the air & substrate temperature is
within the range indicated by the manufacturer’s written instructions for both application and
curing. A rule of thumb, no work shall be done when air temperature below 50C and surface
temperature less than 30C above dewpoint temperature.
DEWPOINT
Dewpoint is defined as the temperature at which moisture will condense. Dew point is important
in coating work because moisture condensation on the steel surface will cause freshly blast
cleaned steel to rust, or a thin, often invisible film of moisture trapped between coats may cause
premature coating failure.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Due to curing of coatings may be adversely affected by humidity that are too low or too high, no
coating shall be applied unless the supplier or manufacturer’s written technical requirements for
humidity are met. High humidity may cause moisture to condense on or react with uncured
coating films to cause blushing or other adverse effects. However, for certain inorganic zinc and
one-package, moisture-curing polyurethane coating, require a minimum humidity for curing, but
for most organic coatings, the rule of thumb, no work shall be carried when relative humidity
above 85%.
WIND VELOCITY
For field or open air application, wind velocity may blow airborne contaminants to work surfaces
and coating materials. It also contributes to dry spray, dusty-spotted effects to the coated surface
and accelerates solvent evaporation time which may cause immature drying. No work shall be
done in the open air field when the wind velocity above 24 km/hour.
ABRASIVE CHECK
All new mineral and slag abrasives must be inspected for physical and chemical properties as
described in SSPC – AB 1. Recycled ferrous metal abrasives must be checked for cleanliness and
fines as described in SSPC – AB 2. The abrasives should be properly labeled for identification.
Even if a sieve analysis (ASTM C 136) is provided by the supplier, it is prudent to run a check at
the job site or retain a sample for later analysis should cleaning rates be lower or profile heights
other than anticipated.
A simple test can be conducted for contaminants or fines in the abrasive. A spoonful of abrasive
is placed in a vial of distilled water and shaken vigorously. It is then checked for:
• Oil or grease that forms a surface sheen
• Fines suspended in or at the surface of the water
• Color or turbidity from dirt
• Soluble salts by conductivity or deposition upon evaporation
• Acidity or alkalinity with pH paper
PRE-COATING INSPECTION
• Coating storage conditions
• Mixing procedures
• Thinning materials and amounts
• Tinting, or color verification
• Straining of coatings to remove large particles
• Viscosity
• Spray equipment check
HOLIDAY DETECTION
Newly coated structures on which the coating integrity is important (particularly linings or
coatings in immersion conditions) should be tested with a holiday detector to ensure coating film
continuity. A holiday (sometimes called discontinuity) is a pinhole or other break in the film that
permits the passage of moisture to the substrate. This allows substrate deterioration to begin.
Holidays are not easily detected visually, and must be located with electrical instruments called
holiday detectors. Holiday detectors are available in two types, low and high voltage, as
described in ASTM D 5162.
Low-voltage (30 to 70 volts) holiday detectors are used on coatings up to 20 mils (500 µm) in
thickness. These portable devices have a power source (a battery), an exploring electrode (a
dampened cellulose sponge), an alarm, and a lead wire with connections to join the instrument to
bare metal on the coated structure. A wetting agent that evaporates on drying should be used to
wet the sponge for coatings greater than 10 mils (250 µm) in thickness. The wetted sponge is
slowly moved across the coated surface so that the response time is not exceeded. When a
holiday is touched, an electric circuit is completed through the coated metal and connected wire
back to the instrument to sound the alarm. Holidays should be marked after detection for repair
and subsequent retesting.
High-voltage (above 800 volts) holiday detectors are used on coatings greater than 20 mils (500
µm) in thickness. The exploring electrode may consist of a conductive brush or coil spring. The
detector may be a pulse or direct current type. It should be moved at a rate not to exceed the
pulse rate. If a holiday or thin spot in the coating is detected, a spark will jump from the
electrode through the air space to the metal.