Dürr expands pretreatment system to include cathodic dip painting
With EcoProWet EC, Dürr is adding cathodic dip painting to its modular pre-treatment system. Thanks to its compact design, the wet system requires significantly less space than conventional continuous systems and is particularly suitable for small to medium production capacities.
In vehicle painting, pre-treatment is still one of the process steps that takes up the most space. This is because the tanks for basic cleaning and dip painting are designed for the largest body dimensions and the longest process times. Dürr has developed the new, modular EcoProWet pretreatment system to make the process more flexible, compact and scalable. In the past, the mechanical and plant engineering company has already presented the EcoProWet PT pre-treatment system (VBH). It has now expanded the overall system to include cathodic dip coating (CDC), EcoProWet EC.
Cathodic dip coating: flexible, compact and scalable
After pre-treatment, the car bodies are fed into the cathodic dip coating process. In this process, a seamless primer layer is applied to the surfaces of the bodywork, which serves as corrosion protection and adhesion promoter for future topcoat layers. In contrast to conventional VBH/KTL systems, EcoProWet is the only system on the market that is characterized by its scalability and sets new standards in terms of space requirements, sustainability and investment costs. The innovative system design of EcoProWet EC provides for individual, compact tanks instead of continuous systems filled with paint. Two individually controllable pendulum towers take the car body from the roller conveyor and guide it gently into the tank. With an immersion angle of up to 60 degrees, car manufacturers have the option of customizing the immersion process for all models. Each dip tank is designed for up to ten units per hour. During the three to five-minute dipping process, the paint is placed under tension and a thin layer of paint is deposited on the body surface.
Modular EcoProWet system with flexible layout
The EcoProWet system is particularly suitable for small to medium production capacities. Thanks to its modular design, the capacity can be gradually expanded from 7.5 to 30 units per hour without significant interruptions to operation. This allows car manufacturers to adjust the size of the system to their production capacity and thus save both paint and operating costs compared to continuous lines. At the same time, the space required for a paint shop can be reduced to a minimum and the layout can be flexibly adapted.