The Process of Powder Coating an amp

[Blazin_Jason 10+ year member]

There have been a few questions on how I powder coated my amps. So here is a quick write up on the way I do it. Take the general idea and apply it to your particular amp. I would suggest that when taking the amp apart that you label all your screws. The first time I did it I used a piece of paper, and used packing tape over the screws. Labeled what went where. I also where an antistatic ground strap. It’s an elastic strap that plugs into an outlet and grounds your body to prevent static shock. It is possible that you can damage components by static shock.

First here is a picture of what we are starting with. It’s an orion 2500d with the standard anodized finish that is pretty scratched up.

Here we have the bottom cover removed.

Then I removed the end pieces that are not going to be coated. You could if you wanted to, but I want to be able to see the setting details.

There are some metal pieces that add tension to the fet’s to ensure that they are nice and tight to the heat sink. I just marked each set to make it easier to put back. It’s not crucial, but you don’t have to guess later.

Here is a picture of all the metal pieces removed and the fet’s now exposed. I had to gently pry up the fet’s with a small flat blade to loosen them off the heat sink.

Then I removed any other screws that hold the board in. Make sure everything is free to move and ready. Carefully remove the board, in this case sliding it out. Make sure not to bend any pieces or break anything.

Clean up anything else on the heat sink that needs to be removed. Here there are some pieces that need to be removed. Note the location where to put it afterwards.

Here is the heat sink completely stripped down with all components removed and ready to go to the powder coaters. At this point you will be done what you can do, unless you are coating it yourself.

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[Blazin_Jason 10+ year member]

This is a picture of it after being bead blasted and sanded. It has also been pretreated. We run an iron phosphate bath, which is kept at 130° and the product remains in there for about 5 minutes. The purpose is to slightly clean, etch, and apply about a 5 micron phosphate conversion coating to promote powder coat adhesion. It’s then rinsed with fresh water. Then off to another bath which is a sealer and also helps with adhesion. Lastly one final fresh water rinse then off into the oven to dry. Once dried and cooled onto the next step.

For the areas not to be coated, they will need to be masked. Regular masking tape will not withstand the high temperature. So what is used is a special high temp tape. For the large open area where the bottom cover goes, aluminum foil is used.

I forgot to get a picture of amp with the xtreme chrome base applied before curing. Note that the amp has not been fully cured, but brought up to a gel state. Basically the powder has begun to flow but isn’t fully cured. The reason for the chrome base is because this is going a candy purple. Candy paints require a shiny base underneath. If you were going with a standard color then disregard. But here is a picture of it after coming out of the oven.

Once the amp has cooled down enough the top coat is then applied. Instead of a candy top coat, you could have a clear coat applied for additional protection and depth. But remember that powder coating is an insulator and the idea of the heat sink is to dissipate heat. Here is a picture of the candy purple powder applied in its powder form.

Bring the part up to about 375° and cure for 15 minutes. Here she is.

Once fully cooled you can begin to put it back together. You may need to apply some new heat sink compound on your amp. Hope that helps a little.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

wow, that looks awesome

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

w00t.

nG

 

[jeeper07 5,000+ posts]

that looks amazing if i send stuff to u will u powder coat for cheap?

 

[Bumpn Focus 10+ year member]

Wow.

Good stuff.

 

[baseballer1100 5,000+ posts]

amazing.

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

sticky //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

that looks amazing if i send stuff to u will u powder coat for cheap?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif

 

[mokedaddy 5,000+ posts]

Thats good shit. Nice write up and excellent looking product.

 

[Blazin_Jason 10+ year member]

that looks amazing if i send stuff to u will u powder coat for cheap?

Even if ya did, it would probably be cheaper to get it done locally. Shipping to Canada and back might ****. If you don't have any luck, PM see if I can help.

I've posted this before, but what the hell. I like this better I think. It's simple and looks clean, imo.

 

[jeeper07 5,000+ posts]

**** canada ftl

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

how much do u charge for something like that???

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

My dad does small things for me. He works at a place where they actally make powdercoat.

 

[danteBirosel 5,000+ posts]

Sweet Jason, i always knew you were gonna post a tutorial sooner or later. Looks great but looks kinda difficult. Someone in the westcoast perfect this, so i can get my Orion 2500d and 4004 powder coated!!!! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

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