Any suggestion for uv curing system

hydrographicsindia

I have been air drying my clear coat for  a while now but time has come to invest in some curing system . I can get a big oven for curing my clear or a uv curing light and uv curing lacquer just want to know is anybody using uv curing I do mostly plastic parts and some metal parts ,are there any drawbacks of using uv curing I see a lot of plus points in this kind of a system and very fast curing .I am kind of confused where should I put my money 

MidOhioHydrographics

We use IR. UV curing can get expensive (special coatings and expensive equipment) but is is in teidblu fast and the coatings can be incredibly durable.

Infrared can be used on most normal clears. Some glosses can be cured in as little as 8 minutes under IR (can sand/polish after that 8 min). Our matte clear can be handled and packaged in 10 min under IR.

I bought these and wired them into a control box I had built. Works great.

hydrographicsindia

@MidOhioHydrographics any pics you can share of your ir setup 

Alan

This is what I bought: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.127.I1Mdsa&id=9474756009&ns=1&abbucket=5&spm=a230r.1.14.127.I1Mdsa&ns=1&abbucket=5

=$148 USD

I can't tell you how it works, I still haven't unboxed it yet (slowly gathering my equipment). The one I have bought is short-wave IR, however, after buying it, I did some research (I know, should have researched first!) and I read online that medium-wave is better. It said that short-wave is very powerful and will cure the paint rapidly but you need to be careful it doesn't shrink the paint/clear. The article (sorry, can't find it) said medium-wave is the safer option - both short & medium-wave cure from the inside outwards.

Invest in a digital Infrared thermometer gun to make sure your parts don't overheat.

MidOhioHydrographics

I bought them on EBay for about $500. It's a set of 8 2000W Lamps
http://www.ebay.com/itm/8sets-x-2KW-Spray-Baking-booth-Infrared-Paint-Curing-Lamp-Heating-Light-Heater-/181456471048?hash=item2a3fa60408:g:c8AAAOSwirZTtT8m&item=181456471048&vxp=mtr


I just put them in a vertical bank 2 wide, 4 high. You'll need someone w/ some electrical skills to wire them. It's almost 9A per fixture, 9 x 8 = 72A total. That's a lot of power. Be careful.

Will try to get a pic next week.

K2Concepts

72A? That will make the meter spin like a top...

WileECoyote

I built a few cabinets that used UV cure lights for spot priming and we considered doing it for clear... you think the IR lights draw... I think one linear bulb was $400 and drew 3A. We figured we needed at least 30 of them down the tunnel.

oneeyefrail

I use UV cure clear for wheels etc but tried it a few times on dips and everytime it shrinks and drags the pattern , normal clear from now on for me .