How To Get A Perfect EonCoat Finish Without Experience.

Before Application

The primary concept to understand is that EonCoat has direct contact with carbon steel. Therefore, you must correctly clean and power wash your carbon steel asset before applying EonCoat. For more about surface preparation, please visit this page. Use our EonCoat Surface Preparation Checklist to make sure the surface is ready for coating.

After reviewing this page, we’ve made it easy! Feel free to download or print our Application Checklist.

For Equipment Specifications, please download our guides:

Surface Temperature 

The surface temperature of the carbon steel asset should be not less than 40ºF (5ºC) – with a recommended maximum of 120ºF (48ºC). There are no dew point restrictions. The coating should be applied when the maximum relative humidity (RH) is 98%.

Please note that special consideration and application techniques must be utilized when spraying at the high end of temperature readings, low humidity readings, and windy conditions (+5mph). You can contact us directly at EonCoat if you have specific questions about the temperature, humidity, or wind conditions on your application day.

The ceramic must be kept damp for at least 5 minutes. The important thing is for the coating to stay damp until it cures (like all types of cement). The surface can be misted with clean water to lower carbon steel temperatures. A pressure washer, correctly set to mist, is an ideal tool.

You can manage to apply EonCoat on warmer substrates, in warmer weather, and in higher winds than specified. However, if you choose to apply EonCoat in conditions outside the best possible practice recommendations, wisely use water to keep the surface cool and apply a mist of water on the ceramic to keep it damp until the EonCoat fully cures.

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Coating Complicated Areas 

Stripe coats are additional coats of paint applied locally to welds, fasteners, and external corners. Their function is to build a sufficient coating thickness at edges and corners where paint contracts and thin upon drying. Because EonCoat is a spray-applied treatment and not a paint, typically, stripe coating is not required. However, to achieve the thickness of mil needed in more complex geometric areas, you can stripe EonCoat where required for your unique carbon steel asset. You would want to do this before applying EonCoat to the rest of the substrate.

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Application Techniques

Hold the spray gun perpendicular to the surface. The pressure and tip size determine the distance from the substrate. Set up the gun so that the “bounce” of the material is kept to a minimum. We want all the EonCoat to go firmly enough onto the substrate to push the material into the surface profile, but you do not want to have any bounce off. While triggering, move at a rate to produce the desired coating wet mil thickness (20 mils / 500 microns) without thin spots or “holidays.”

The spray technique should include an overlapping method, where each spray pass overlaps the previous spray by 20-30% for uniform coverage. Never flick the wrist at the end of a pass. The coating is dry fall in 10 feet, even less on hot days. Flicking the wrist at the end of a pass will create a dry fall on uncoated steel. This dry fall then becomes surface contamination that will hurt the coating bond to the carbon steel.

IMPORTANT: Before spraying EonCoat onto the substrate, make sure to spray it into a bucket first. This will prevent water from diluting EonCoat & causing bond issues. Water is present in EonCoat Static Whip Hose after every flush of mix manifold & spray gun. 

Cartridge Spray Guns

ir should be set at a low setting. You want just enough air to atomize coating. Too much air will cause the coating to bubble and leave pinholes in the finish. Fluid flow should be steady and slow. You should have enough time to apply 20 mils / 500 microns in a few passes. For more details on setting up a dual-component cartridge gun for application. Watch this video. 

Plural Pumps

The initial pressure should be set to where the lowest fluid pressure will provide a uniform spray pattern without tails. If greater material coverage is desired, use a larger Graco RAC Tip size. Refer to Plural Pump Equipment Guide.

To see the spray pattern in action please watch the video below.

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Reaching Recommended Film Thickness

A single coat should achieve the recommended film thickness through multiple passes. While the coating is still wet & tacky, you can spray numerous passes to reach desired film thickness. Once the coating has “dried-to-touch,” the coating must be allowed to cure before additional materials can be applied. Every attempt should be made to achieve the recommended thickness while the initial spray is still wet.

Due to the nature of the fast curing properties, a wet film thickness measurement must be taken immediately after applying to achieve the most accurate reading. Refer to the video above to see how it is adequately tested when wet.

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EonCoat Curing

The recommended thickness of EonCoat can be applied in multiple passes, but it should be applied in one application. EonCoat dries to the touch in about 5 minutes and is hard to dry in about 15 minutes in 70F (21°C) conditions. Please note that cure time is dependent on temperature and humidity. Every 10C will affect the rate of reaction by a factor of 2.

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Topcoats & Sealers

EonCoat is a cementitious coating. Like all cementitious materials, EonCoat is porous; and, because it is porous, EonCoat will get dirty and easily stain if there is no topcoat or seal. However, to achieve the desired appearance of your carbon steel asset, choose the topcoat color that best suits your needs. You can get your topcoat direct from EonCoat. While most polymers will work, EonCoat has specifically developed versions to work with our ceramic.

When applying any topcoat to a cementitious material like EonCoat, the surface temperature should be cool, and the application should never take place in direct sunlight. This standard exists because all porous materials outgas (expel air and moisture from the pores when heating up). If you apply a topcoat or sealer while air is escaping the ceramic, bubbles will be created in the coating, and a poor bond will occur with the topcoat. Therefore, it is best to work with the natural flow of air and moisture to let EonCoat draw the topcoat material into the pores to get a strong bond.