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A Real Easy Way to take care of Rust completely and get a Very Long Term Rust Protection.

Isn't it frustrating, that after going through a lot of trouble, spending a lot of time and effort, and doing a fantastic paint job, the rust shows up quicker than you think. It is almost like the rust was already there, waiting for the paint job to be done. That's right it was. It was hiding behind the paint and like cancer it grows quick, removing the paint. It doesn't matter whether the paint used is the best in the market. If the metal surface is not prepared properly the paint is not going to have a long life.

You should always use a proper paint for the specific environment, otherwise the weather will take the paint off. Getting a good paint and painting the surface is the easiest job. Preparing the surface right is the hardest job. Metal surface is usually prepared by cleaning oil with a cleaner, then sanding or sandblasting to remove every particle of rust on the surface. Then washing real good with water. This is the hard way to prepare the surface and it is easy to miss a rust spot.

After all this trouble, without your knowledge, the micro-rust has already started forming immediately after cleaning, due to the moisture from washing and also from the atmosphere. Micro-rust starts forming in the pores of the surface and cannot be seen with the naked eye. Even using some of the rust converters on the market, which gives a thick black coating, does not help much because they do not convert 100% of the rust and so most of the rust and micro-rust stay on the surface. This rust grows fast after the paint job is done. Nothing to hold on to, the paint starts coming off.

The surface has to be prepared with a treatment (like a primer) which will give some rust protection and preferably stop the creeping of rust later on. Most of the primers and rust converters do not have a long term rust protection capability (even after few coats), nor have the capability of stopping creeping rust. To achieve all the goals, killing the rust completely (without sanding down to the metal surface and without working hard), get good bonding with the metal filler & the paint, stopping the creeping or spreading of rust later on, and also get a very long term rust protection with one coat, you need a high performance rust converter/inhibitor primer. For more information, see the "Ultimate solution for Metal Surface Preparation"

Ranjit Sen
rsen@icpi.net
Member National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)
Member American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

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