Metco p

[MREMERSON]

Hi everyone

I’m a new member and getting started in thermal spray. I purchased a gun on E-Bay which is a Metco Type p as it says on the gun, i have been looking for a manuel or any kind of info but no luck, i called Metco and they laughed at me saying its 40 years old and it won’t work with today’s powders, has anyone heard of this gun? Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks
Rich

[Gordon]

Hi Rich

to the Surface Engineering Forum.

I won't , but you have got a bit of history there. The Type-P ThermoSpray gun was first introduced in 1956.

it won’t work with today’s powders

Well that statement is not true.

Getting hold of a manual maybe tricky, shame you didn’t get one with the gun. You never know, one of our members may still have access to one.

To be honest though, you may be able to get it to work fine and produce good coatings, but without access to consumable parts and spares its use will be severely limited.

[MREMERSON]

Hi Rich

to the Surface Engineering Forum.

I won't , but you have got a bit of history there. The Type-P ThermoSpray gun was first introduced in 1956.

it won’t work with today’s powders

Well that statement is not true.

Getting hold of a manual maybe tricky, shame you didn’t get one with the gun. You never know, one of our members may still have access to one.

To be honest though, you may be able to get it to work fine and produce good coatings, but without access to consumable parts and spares its use will be severely limited.

[MREMERSON]

Gordon

I got it working today, I had a spare powder nozzle which I changed out but, I can’t seem to get enough powder to spray, I have a 2 prong plug on the bottom of the gun but don’t have the cord, it looks like it operates some sort of solenoid, does this have something to do with powder feeding the flame?
I sprayed a piece of steel but after it cooled, the material just chipped off.Can you give any helpful hints?

Thank You
Rich

[KevGarty]

Hi Rich,

I am not 100% familiar with the type P (being a young pup) but If its anything like the 5P etc the plug will be for the vibrator which helps with the powder flow into the flame through the metering valve.

Being an old pistol I would check the Valve tube - This is the rubber tube that goes from the canister into the gun. What tends to happen with these type of guns is the person operating the pistol leaves the trigger open (not depressed) which restricts the powder flow into the flame - as it should. What this also does after time is force the tube to collapse which will stop the powder flowing into the flame as it should basically because it cant.

Correct thing to do when finished with the gun is empty the powder out the canister and depress the trigger during storage.

As far as spare parts go you might be lucky and find someone with a collection of old parts lying around. If all the gun/parts are ok I couldn't see any reason why it wouldn't spray.

Good luck !!

[MREMERSON]

Kev

Thank you for the advise, im going to try the gun again tomarow, this time i have the vibrator working but the powder has been in it for a long time, i will purchase new.

[KevGarty]

Take the powder out and give it a good tumble and if you have the facilities to do so warm the powder up slightly - removes any moisture etc

If you need anything feel free to give me a shout

All the best

[MREMERSON]

Thanks everyone

All your inputs have helped me and the gun is working fine but, being so new to this, I tried to spray a small piece of round stock, I had the piece very hot but after spraying, it just cracked and fell off the piece, I will say I didn’t blast the piece nor did I clean it of any contamination. Is there any info on step by step thermal spraying? I am an auto body man for 30 years and this is a little different than spraying cars.

[kschewe]

You have to grit blast the metal, any grit will work for just doing thing in the shop, pro will use 20-90 alum oxide grit. or it will fall off for flame spray.
Any grease or dirt, metallizing will fall off
You are limited to thickness also. If you are spraying metals stay less then .040" will fall off
If you get it hot it will fall off. Stay less then 300F if you can or it will fall off lol
Cooling air or dwell time. Get a cheap thermometer, you can buy those ir ones now for like 50 bucks here in canada.
my advice is to buy a cheap wire arc system. there u just pull the trigger and you get a good spray. Just shop air and power! No tanks! Portable if you have compressor and generator.

[Gordon]

Hi Rich

Some good advice in these posts. Glad to see an old piece of equipment like this being put to good use, even if only to give a good introduction to thermal spray. I know a some people who have been thermal spraying for years (I'm talking about those that only stand outside the booths while robots do the spraying) would benefit from playing with a gun like this

I would always recommend grit blasting, and note grit, not shot or bead blasting. If those facilities are not available then you could try a nickel/aluminium bond coat powder like Metco 450 or 480 as a base for top coat. This is very often advisable even with grit blasting. Some of the so called "one step coatings" or "self-bonding" powders like 442 and 447 can stick to smooth surfaces. But really, if you take thermal spraying seriously, get yourself some grit blasting facilities. Remember thermal spray should be a cold process relative to the substrate (start at ~100^oC preheat and keep below 200^oC in most cases) that your spraying, this means the gun needs to move quickly over the surface applying coating in very thin consecutive layers.

Must stress health and safety. Don't breath the fumes/dust and be aware of the dangers of oxygen and acetylene.

Good luck and enjoy.

[MREMERSON]

Hi Gordon

I took your advise as i tried the gun but i had problems, as i was spraying, the gun felt hot and then hotter where i had to shut down, at that point the plastic powder tube melted and so did some o rings.
I repaired everything except the powder shut off nozzel which melted and i need to find another, if you have any info on where to get one, it would be great. What went wrong? I know the o rings in the head were worn and i now replace them along with all others, i fired the gun up again and it never overheated.

Thank You
Rich

[Gordon]

Hi Rich

Yes, I think you have learnt one lesson, don't skimp on o-rings. If they don't seal properly the gun will back-fire, which can cause damage.

I'm not sure if the later Metco 5P-II rubber tubes are the same or compatible. Sulzer Metco or possibly a non-OEM supplier could help with those.

[kschewe]

Does the gun have a line for internal gun cooling air like the newer 6p guns? It would be nice to see a manual.

[MREMERSON]

Unfortunately not, im sure that would make a big difference.