Making the parts ready, or prepping them, before spraying them with powder coating is the first step in the powder coating boothscoating process. Cleansing and pretreatment operations are carried out on the product to be coated in order to ensure that the surfaces to be coated are clean and free of contaminants such as grease, dust, oils, rust, and other impurities before the coating process can begin. Pretreatment with chemicals is typically accomplished through the use of a series of spraying chambers.

 Before assembly, parts are cleaned with an alkaline, acidic, or neutral cleaner to ensure that they are free of contaminants. A conversion coating of iron or zinc phosphate, or a transitional metal conversion coating, such as a product containing zirconium oxide, is applied to the surface of the part the majority of the time. In most cases, a rinse stage is included between each stage to ensure that any remaining chemistry is removed from the system. Depending on the application, spray systems can be used to pretreat a wide variety of part sizes and configurations; dip tanks can be used in place of spray systems in some cases.

The characteristics of the coating and substrate materials, as well as the intended use of the product being coated, must all be taken into consideration when selecting the most appropriate pretreatment process. Pretreatments for powder coating applications include iron phosphate for steel substrates, zinc phosphate for galvanized or steel substrates, and chromium phosphates or non-chrome treatments for aluminum substrates. Iron phosphate is the most commonly used pretreatment in powder coating applications, followed by zinc phosphate. 

It has emerged as a new group of technologies to complement traditional phosphate processes that make use of transition metals and organometallic materials, as well as other alternatives. Alternative conversion coatings, as opposed to conventional iron or zinc phosphate formulations, are less susceptible to sludge buildup in the pretreatment bath and can be applied with little or no heat. Reduced energy costs, reduced floor space requirements, and reduced waste disposal requirements all contribute to increased operating efficiencies in the long run. Aside from that, there have been advancements in non-chrome seal systems that can provide improved corrosion protection for a variety of materials such as steel, galvanized steel, and aluminum alloys, among others.

powder coating boothscoating pretreatment products that can be applied while the powder coating is still in place, such as a seal rinse over an alkali metal phosphate, can reduce the number of stages required before Powder Coating Equipment  application by as much as 50%. Chrome dried-in-place treatments are effective on a wide range of metal substrates, and in some cases, they may be the only pretreatment required for a particular application in some cases. Non-chrome technologies are also widely used in a variety of applications and are becoming increasingly popular. In recent years, non-chrome aluminum treatments, which have excellent performance properties but are less expensive, have gained popularity.

After the components have completed the chemical pretreatment process, they are dried in a low-temperature dry-off oven to remove any remaining moisture. Afterwards, they are ready to be coated with a layer of paint.

The use of mechanical pretreatments such as sandblasting or shot blasting can be beneficial for a wide range of structural and functional purposes. To propel sand, grit, or steel shot toward the substrate, high-velocity air is used. This results in the formation of an anchor pattern on the part, which helps to improve adherent adhesion of powder coating boothsto the substrate. For example, rust, mill scale, and laser oxide are all examples of inorganic contaminants that can be removed by using mechanical cleaning techniques.

Mechanical blasting can be used to remove contaminants either on its own or in conjunction with a chemical treatment to achieve maximum effectiveness. However, while the blasting operation produces an excellent surface for bonding, it does not provide any additional corrosion resistance or protection against corrosion. A suitable primer is usually applied to the blasted surface before blasting in order to provide additional corrosion protection for surfaces that have only been blasted. It is possible to improve the performance of a primer even further by using a zinc-containing material as a primer.