Category 1 – Elcometer
Elcometer’s comprehensive range of coating inspection, ultrasonic NDT inspection, appearance & gloss measurement and concrete & metal detection equipment has everything you need to accurately measure; surface profile to cleanliness; relative humidity to dewpoint; wet film to dry film coating thickness; material thickness to flaw detection; coating adhesion to gloss; pinhole to porosity detection; metal detection to concrete inspection.
Coating & Inspection
Subcategory 1 – Surface Cleanliness
Surface cleanliness: Soluble salts & ion specific contamination (sulphates, chlorides, nitrates etc.) which are often invisible to the eye, together with amine blush (for amine cured epoxy coatings) can result in premature coating failure, resulting in high re-coating and maintenance costs. Elcometer has a range of test equipment for assessing surface cleanliness prior to applying a coating.
Subcategory 2 – Climate, Dewpoint & Relative Humidity
Monitoring climatic conditions, such as temperature, relative humidity, dewpoint and moisture, is often vital to the successful application of a coating and are critical to the resulting quality and performance of the coated product.
Climatic Conditions: Elcometer offer a complete range of dewpoint and relative humidity meters, thermometers, dataloggers, moisture meters and anemometers to monitor climatic conditions.
In the protective coatings industry, moisture can form on the surface when the surface temperature is low enough to cause condensation from the atmosphere. The Dewpoint temperature (Td) is the point at which this occurs.
Monitoring the surface temperature (Ts) relative to the air temperature (Ta) and its relative humidity (%RH) allows the dewpoint temperature to be calculated and compared to the surface temperature. This difference in temperature (TΔ) is the key parameter dictating when it is safe to apply the coating.
Subcategory 3 – Dry Film Thickness
Dry Film Thickness is probably the most critical measurement in the coatings industry. It provides vital information as to the expected life of the substrate, the product’s fitness for purpose, its appearance and ensures compliance with a host of International Standards. In 1947, Elcometer launched one of the world’s first non-destructive coating thickness gauges, the Elcometer 101. For more than 6 decades, the design and production qualities of this rugged and reliable instrument have been the watchwords for all our products and these philosophies are still held today. Elcometer has a comprehensive range of Dry Film Thickness gauges to meet all of your coating inspection requirements.
Subcategory 4 – ElcoMaster Software
Coating inspection regimes require data to be collected on many of the parameters of the coating process: surface profile, surface cleanliness, climatic conditions, film thickness and adhesion. All of these inspections generate a large amount of data.
Elcometer have designed a series of data management software packages that will link directly with the data collection devices (gauges) and instantly produce professional reports, offering full traceability of the inspection proving compliance to the relevant standard being followed.
Our free software package, ElcoMaster is the most flexible data management software on the market. Designed to meet the demanding needs of the quality inspector whilst offering the ultimate flexibility for managing data into ‘projects’ for ease of use.
Subcategory 5 – Abrasive & Blast Inspection
Blasting parameters: A number of important parameters need to be monitored during the blasting or water jetting process, these include: air pressure (at the nozzle), nozzle diameter, blast media contamination & pH values in order to avoid recontamination of the substrate during blasting.
Subcategory 6 – Surface Condition
Surface Condition: degree or percentage of rust, level of mill scale, etc., can be visibly assessed using Pictorial Surface Standards. Weld beads can be assessed using a weld comparator and weld gauges.
Subcategory 7 – Surface Profile
Surface profile: The degree of profile on the surface affects a coating’s overall performance and determines aspects such as adhesion, coverage and overall volume of coatings used. If the profile is too large the amount of coating required increases, otherwise there is a danger that the peaks remain uncoated – allowing rust spots to occur. If the profile is too small there may be an insufficient key for adequate adhesion.
Subcategory 8 – Surface Roughness
Surface Roughness: these consist of a stylus attached to an arm which moves over the surface to record and measure the roughness over a specified distance, recording peak-to-valley average.
Subcategory 9 – Moisture Measurement
Moisture: The presence of moisture within a material will result in poor adhesion, premature coating failure and poor appearance. For example, applying a powder coating to a damp wooden panel will cause steam to be created when the panel passes through the curing oven, thus causing damage to the coating.
Subcategory 10 – Oven Temperature Profile
Temperature profiling provides an effective method for measuring the actual environmental and product temperature during the cure process – essential for ensuring quality finish and a successful cure of a powder coating.
Not all components are alike, and are rarely of a uniform thickness, density or thermal capacity. This means that the oven temperature settings have to be adjusted to suit the coated product.
Monitoring and making adjustments to the oven temperature ensures that the product is brought to and held at, the specified temperature to ensure consistent quality of cure and visual properties at all times.
Subcategory 11 – Wet Film & Powder Thickness
When applying a liquid coating, by measuring the uncured film thickness, it is possible to determine the eventual dry film thickness. Applying too much coating wastes time and materials. It can also affect the performance and finish of the product. Too much wet film can cause the coating to crack as it cures; too little coating increases the risk that the substrate will not be sufficiently protected, leading to rust spots.
When applying a powder coating, by measuring the uncured film thickness, it is possible to predict the eventual dry film thickness.
Powder coating is an efficient system producing a high quality finish with minimal waste – where excess or over-sprayed powder may be recycled and reused.
Subcategory 12 – Adhesion Testers
From the largest man-made structures to the smallest household appliances, most manufactured products have a protective or cosmetic coating. Premature failure of this coating can, at the very least, result in additional costs of rework.
Adhesion testing after the coating process will quantify the strength of the bond between substrate and coating, or between different coating layers or the cohesive strength of some substrates. Routine testing is used as part of inspection and maintenance procedures to help detect potential coating failures.
When selecting an adhesion gauge, it is important to use the same inspection test methods throughout the inspection to ensure accurate comparisons.
Subcategory 13 – Material Thickness
The Elcometer range of ultrasonic material thickness gauges has been designed specifically to be easy to use, calibrate, take readings and create inspection reports.
With a wide range of measurement modes including: Pulsed Echo (PE), Echo Echo ThruPaint™ (EE) and Velocity Mode (VM), and a wide range of intelligent dual element transducers, the new ultrasonic non destructive thickness gauges can measure the material thickness of virtually any material such as metals, plastics, glass, epoxies and ceramics.
Subcategory 14 – Pinhole & Porosity
Premature corrosion of a substrate is usually due to a coating failure. A major cause is the presence of flaws in the finished coating. Collectively referred to as porosity, the main types of flaws are:
Runs & Sags: Coatings move under gravity leaving a thin dry film.
Cissing: When a coating does not re-flow to cover the voids generated by air bubbles being released from the surface of a coating.
Cratering: If the substrate is wet or the coating has poor flow characteristics, voids are created in the coating.
Pinholes: Caused by air entrapment which is then released from the surface, or by the entrapment of particulates (dust, sand etc.) which do not stay in place.
Over Coating: If too much coating is applied, as it cures internal stresses of the coating can cause it to crack.
Under Coating: Uncoated areas, or where the coating flows away from edges or corners of a substrate or welds. Insufficient coating over a rough surface profile may also leave the peaks of the profile exposed.
Subcategory 15 – ElcoPatch Holiday Repair Kit
ElcoPatch ensures a consistent method of high quality repair to assure asset owners and contractors.
ElcoPatch makes repairing coating flaws simple and consistent for long term protection.
Subcategory 16 – Inspection Accessories
lcometer offers a full range of accessories specifically for the coatings inspector, these include:
Inspection Mirrors: It may be necessary to take a detailed look at a specific area where you cannot get to. In this case an inspection mirror is required.
Magnifiers & Microscopes: For close up investigations, the inspector may require magnification of the surface for a clearer understanding.
Torches/Flashlight: In dark or shaded areas such as in ballast tanks or on large production sites, further investigation may require additional light.
Publications: Inspection manuals for general coating defects or those specific to pipeline inspection.
Subcategory 17 – Inspection Kits
Elcometer offers one of the widest ranges of inspection equipment available. Our products are used across numerous industry sectors. In all cases, there is always a need to undertake a number of specific inspections during quality control assessments – as one parameter can affect another.
Elcometer has put together a number of inspection kits which are both product and industry specific – combining those gauges from our range into one robust carry case, ideal for transporting to and from the inspection site.