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Powder Coat on interior Floor or Baggage Compartment

kibrickj

Member
Anyone have any experience powder coating floor of interior or baggage compartment? My loose understanding is that if its a thin coat on the sheet aluminum, it may be a more durable finish. This is for floor only, so small strength reduction in floor assumed to be incremental and minor due to annealing of 2024-t3 aluminum sheet. Any experience or thoughts appreciated.
 
I used two part epoxy primer and singe stage paint works great. I also,powder coated a lot of panels and parts. Love it!
 
I have carpet on my floors, so not much sees any use/abuse. I sprayed with SW Jetflex water reducible and it still looks like new.
 
I've considered Rhino Linings truck bed liner. Literally bomb proof (as proved on Mythbusters) but probably heavy as heck. Oh well... scratches add lightness, right?
 
Annealing temperature of 2024-T3 aluminum is 750-800 deg F. Unlikely the powder coat bake temperature is this high. Many people use carpet over the baggage compartment floor so not sure if 'bombproof' paint/powder coat is necessary. I'm using Jetflex WR on all my cockpit/baggage surfaces and it is very tough. But still using a carpet on all the floors.
 
I use self adhesive strips similar to Vans wing walk material, but much more aggressive in it’s grip. I’ll wear the soles off my shoes well before I ever scratch the floor panels. Plus they are a great help for assisting in standing up for getting out of the plane.
 
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Annealing temperature of 2024-T3 aluminum is 750-800 deg F. Unlikely the powder coat bake temperature is this high. Many people use carpet over the baggage compartment floor so not sure if 'bombproof' paint/powder coat is necessary. I'm using Jetflex WR on all my cockpit/baggage surfaces and it is very tough. But still using a carpet on all the floors.

Agreed on annealing issue. There's a study out there and it does decrease the strength (in that study) but very little (I think it was 10 or 15% if subjected to 400F once). I didn't want to use carpet in the cockpit and want to avoid vinyl for toxicity issues with fire. What I'm hearing is that the Jetflex is probably tough enough for my purposes so guessing I'll go that route. Thanks everyone.
 
seems like the baggage floor is as good a place to put carpeting as the floor boards in front of the occupants. carpet is the best protection you are going to get. good luck getting that inevitable scratch out of the powder coat compared to a painted finish under the carpet.
 
seems like the baggage floor is as good a place to put carpeting as the floor boards in front of the occupants. carpet is the best protection you are going to get. good luck getting that inevitable scratch out of the powder coat compared to a painted finish under the carpet.

darn good point. thank you.
 
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