Leftover powder in hoses, guns, cyclones, sieves or booth corners, or dust drifting from a neighboring booth, shows up as colored specks after cure. When the stray powder is a different chemistry, such as hybrid in a polyester, it can also cause craters and gloss changes. Thorough color changes, separate reclaim and keeping powder boxes closed prevent it.
White parts have little red specks, that's cross-contamination from yesterday's color change.
Also heard as
- cross contamination
- specking
Related terms
Color change
Cleaning the booth, guns, hoses and recovery system so a new color can run without contamination.
Crater
A round dimple in the cured film where something with low surface tension pushed the melted powder away.
Reclaim
Oversprayed powder collected from the booth and fed back into the system for reuse.
Trash
Floor word for dirt, lint, fibers and debris cured into the finish as bumps.