What are Coating Thickness Gauges?

 

Coating thickness gauges are also called paint meters and they are used in measuring the thickness of dry film. The cost, quality and coating process are critical in the coating industry that is why dry film thickness are measured extensively. The significance of measuring the dry film coatings are for its life expectancy, performance, compliance to international standards and its appearance.

 

Paint meters are commonly used in the car industry, either by car enthusiasts, dealers, auction shops and auction participants.

 

There are two methods of paint measurement, a destructive thickness measurement and a non-destructive method. Destructive paint measurement is the process of cutting open the paint substrate using a cutter and the non-destructive method using magnetic induction, magnetic and eddy current thickness measurements.

 

Digital paint thickness gauges are ideal in measuring paint on metallic substrates. Non destructive method of paint measurement can be applied to several surfaces such as steel surfaces, aluminum and even stainless steel. Paint on ferrous substrates like steel surfaces uses electromagnetic induction while for non-ferrous metal substrates and non-conductive coatings, the eddy current principle is used.

 

In choosing paint meters, the purpose and area in which it will be used must be considered. There are paint meters that can be used in areas that are high risk such as underwater pipes, flammable atmospheres and explosive prone working environment. There is a paint meter called banana gauge which is ideal for underwater and cold surfaces. You may read further about coating thickness gauges at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrasonic_thickness_measurement.

 

Paint meters must be designed specifically to give highly reliable and accurate results. Valid results must be precise all the time on almost any substrate.

 

Paint meters are specially favored for use in the used car industry because they are able to render useless the guessing game during the appraisal process and provide the customer evidence when the vehicle has been previously painted.When customers inspect the vehicles, is may look good in the parking area, all to shiny and well taken care of, interestingly, most of the hidden defects are not reported and repainted surfaces cannot be detected. The crude method of checking for repainted surfaces was to knock the surfaces gently and listen for changes in sound. Today's method of detecting repainted surfaces use paint meters. Paint meters detect the thickness of the paint where original paint thickness range from grades 5-6 while repainted ones are thicker by grades 9-12.

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