Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Thinkin' about powder coatin' sompin'???

Anyone read the article on the effects of heat gain, temperatures, and dissipation from cylinder heads and aluminum, as it relates to raw or coated materials, in the March/April 2013 issue of The Horse Back Street Choppers, written by Steve "Brewdude" Garn?

Raw cylinders ran JUST SLIGHTLY cooler than when painted with high heat black. (125F raw to 126F painted)

BUT, temp's were almost DOUBLE for aluminum covered with powder coating when compared to the same piece coated with the high heat black paint. (129F painted to 254F powder coated)

"As you can clearly see powder coating does act as a heat insulator, trapping heat in the aluminum.
Just think about all that heat trapped in your cylinder and head which could cause major engine damage!"

Headers, exhaust???

I don't think I'll be powder coating here in Florida to much.

Hotter headers pull the exhaust gases faster and improve scavenging at the exhaust port. That's the whole point of header wrap. I'm not powder coating any cooling fins but pipes are a whole nother thang.

Now you got me worried. I just had my headers ceramic coated.
I hope nothing happens.
I hope it's like the news. Every year they tells NOOOooww this gives us cancer.

Then again factor in Thermal Equilibrium. Heat, as well as cold, tends to transfer to it's thermal opposite.
Heat will "run" to a cooler spot. Nature just wants to establish an equilibrium. That's why the Starbucks gets cold. It's heat just goes off into outer space.

I've been told powder coat is not recommended for high heat surfaces. Not good for engine parts or headers, ceramic coating being the current "thing" for headers. But it is a great low maintenance coating for bolt on & cosmetic pieces.

Ceramic coat is the same as the high heat paint refered to by erle.
Yea never powder coat the heads or jugs. I wouldn't even powder coat the cam cover. I would not chrome that stuff either. While chrome is a metal coating its not as effective as naked aluminum

Like ALL things in life, "...TO A POINT"

A "little", like header wrap, yes (So they say, I'm still say it's negligible. I used it to keep the OUTSIDE cooler, for the occasional, accidental touch).
But DOUBLE the heat, and the extra time to dissipate, I ain't tryin' it.

And what about "other" parts? Is DOUBLE the heat acceptable? I'm not gonna test it to find out. I live in Florida, I HAVE ENOUGH HEAT!

So how much thermal opposite ("cold") do I need to set the equilibrium from "Twice as much heat, from arguably the "hottest" part of the bike?
How do I import said "Cold" to Florida?

I think I'll leave this one to the Yankees.