Powder that misses the part is pulled from the booth, separated from the air by a cyclone or cartridge filters, sieved and returned to the feed hopper, usually blended with fresh powder. Reclaim pushes overall material use above 95 percent on single-color runs. It also drifts in particle size and picks up dirt and other colors, so many shops cap the reclaim ratio or spray short runs to waste.
Mix the reclaim back in at about one to three with virgin or the fines will catch up with us.
Reclaim from metallic dry blends and from long multi-color days is the first thing to dump when color or texture drifts.
Also heard as
- reclaimed powder
- recovered powder
Do not mix it up with
- Transfer efficiency: Transfer efficiency is how much sticks on the first pass; reclaim is how the rest is caught and reused.
Related terms
Fines
The smallest particles in a powder, roughly under 10 microns, which fluidize, charge and recycle poorly.
Cyclone
A cone-shaped separator that spins booth exhaust so the powder drops out for reclaim and the air goes to filters.
Transfer efficiency
The share of sprayed powder that ends up on the part rather than in the booth.
Cross-contamination
Specks of a different color or chemistry carried into a powder run from equipment, air or reclaim.