When deciding what kind of a spray system you should be using, many times the decision comes down to two main types, Fluidized Hoppers or Box Feed units.
To make an educated decision it's important to know the differences and highlight their individual strengths or attributes regardless of brand.
Box Feed systems use vibration to keep the powder loose. A Venturi style pump is attached to the top of a 'pickup tube' and the tube is placed directly inside the box [powder] to draw from. Box feed systems are convenient especially when spraying large quantities of the same color. A full 50 lb. box of powder can be sprayed without the need to refill as you would with smaller hoppers. There are also less parts to clean due to a lack of a hopper, however the time savings is negligible.
Fluidized hoppers or "fluidizers" are the most versatile, there are no formulation types which cannot be sprayed from a fluidizer. Because they use air to 'percolate' the powder, spraying metallics, textures or custom formulations is not a problem because the powder circulates, keeping everything consistent.
A fluidizer is simply a 'must have' for custom powder coating. With a fluidizer it is far easier to fine tune powder atomization for even sprayout or for detailed work, and it could arguably save you powder as well. These range in sizes, from large 50 lb. hoppers to small 1 lb. hoppers. Larger hoppers do not fluidize smaller quantities very well so they only make sense for larger jobs. In most cases a smaller hopper (5-10 lbs.) is the most versatile and a better choice for most coaters. Smaller hoppers may need to be filled more than once to complete a larger job, but it only takes a few seconds to refill a hopper.
We sell a Fluidizer that was designed by our in-house powder coating experts that is manufactured to our exact specifications and works very well with our powders.
A common misconception about fluidizers is the time it takes to do complete color changes. Fluidizing hoppers do add additional cleanup time to disassemble, clean and reassemble. Once you are proficient at cleaning them, the clean-up time is just a couple of minutes. Unless dozens of color changes were needed in one day, the added clean-up time amounts to very little accumulated time per day.
