Machine Systems will be releasing the all new model VV450 and VV450-VR two component machines by mid September.

This new concept will enable current cartridge gun users or “newbie’s” to enter the bed liner, coating business or supply OEM applications a high quality machine for a substantially less cost than ever before. This new design offers the same high quality, all stainless steel and high pressure capable piston pumps used on our current D-Cam models.

Many of the features found in our popular D-Cam equipment have been utilized to insure consistent repeatable and reliable performance. Through careful engineering we were able to extract some of the “Bells and whistles” electronic costs to design an extremely reliable and flexible open loop machine at an affordable cost.

This IS NOT some “Wimpy” low pressure machine so often found on the market. This is a professional quality high pressure machine that can deliver 1 gpm @ 2,100 psi through a 50’ hose set. Each machine is delivered and ready to spray “Out of the box”*, just add material.

450 Series machines are equipped with:

· HP21 Airless manual tandem valve gun. (VV450-VR)

· Manual valve for static mix application. (VV450)

· 3 Gallon tanks (VV450)*

· Direct feed from 15 or 55 gallon drum sets with optional “Suction Set” (VV450-VR).

  NO transfer pumps required.

· High performance 2,100 psi capable piston pumps.

· High performance DC drives

· Digital volume/Ratio adjustment (#VV450-VR)

· High performance pressure switches.

· 50’ High pressure hose set with polyester sheath.

· 8’ Power cord with 20 amp/120 vac plug.

· Thermally protected disconnect switch.

· 11” wheeled cart for ease of handling and fits standard doorways

· Tool Kit

We are currently setting up the network of distributors that will provide excellent service, support, materials and training to guarantee your success and get you spraying professional grade materials FAST!

We are already receiving orders for this new technology and will be filling them over the next month. Don’t delay, call now and reserve the most economical solution for applying two component fast set technologies for:

Bed liners, Roof membranes, Foams, Saw joints, Aromatic, Aliphatic, Polyaspartic

Call for more information; 330 948-1008 OR use our "Contact Page"

Machine Systems is pleased to announce the release of our new HP-21 high pressure gun option. This revolutionary design bridges the gap between low pressure/air assisted design and impingement. The HP-21 offers a multitude of various tips to supply round and fan patterns up to 10” WITHOUT changing “mix” chambers to do so. The HP-21 DOES NOT require any atomization air. We offer the gun body in manual tandem valve for ZERO air requirements or the pneumatic actuated gun that requires only 2 cfm to operate.

What does this mean for you?

· Less overhead operating costs of capital equipment.

· Less equipment requirements.

· Less power requirements.

· Less equipment maintenance.

· Increased material physical properties by 35% due to pure film, no air entrapment.

· Faster “lay down” of material by 50% thus providing faster “Return to service”.

· Near Zero over-spray due to lack of compressed air atomizing the fluid stream.

· Many tip options from 4”-10” wide fan patterns along with round patterns.

· NO heat required for coatings up to 1200 cps

· “Greener Earth”

The HP-21 enables D-Cam users to apply materials without any air requirements with our tandem valve gun body. This is important to mobile guys due to the hunger of air compressors for power. Even the pneumatically operated gun body can operate off the smallest “nail gun” compressor. This saves a ton of electricity, gasoline for gas drive compressors and the additional equipment to haul, maintain and listen to.

Our design utilizes a proprietary high pressure mix body and tip. Want to change patterns? Simply remove the end cap, install the selected tip pattern you need and start spraying. No need to disassemble the gun body to replace mix chambers as with the impingement type guns. The HP-21 spray tips are $4.50 each versus $170.00 for “mix chambers”.

The HP-21 is available to any current or new D-Cam customers. Will we make these available to “other” brand of qualifying machines? Yes, however, we will fill orders for D-Cam customers on a priority basis first.

E-mail from our contact page or call today for a real time video of our newest technology; HP-21

In the past month I have read several blogs and received e-mails asking about and people stating the poor results of the national name franchised brand bedliner products “Peeling”. Yes, I have witnessed them myself also with their product.

Our extensive testing has revealed that one very important factor creates this global failure; adhesion due to poor preparation practices.

Remembering back to our prior article about “Bedliner Franchises”, many nationally known applicator shops run under extreme financial pressures to increase throughput to meet the required bottom line. This is due to franchise costs, royalties back to corporate and high overhead expenses. I believe with this “strain” that they must find ways to push more work out the door.  Reduction of preparation time and attention to detail suffers for it.

I have contacted a few national franchises and asked: “Do you use any Adhesion Promoter/Primer in your process?”  The answer was “NO, we don’t need them”.

Well, I disagree.  We have conducted many adhesion tests in our lab and also witnessed enough of the national brands “peeling” that has proven that you DO. Let me explain why:

First, let’s talk about “Batch Mix” solvent products that are applied via a “Hopper Gun”. These products, or I should say most, still require an adhesion promoter to be applied first. Some of these promoters are two part epoxy that are applied after the entire surface is abraded and cleaned to be free of debris. One advantage of solvent based products is the simple fact that the solvents used in the material do assist in adhesion process due to the aggressive “bite” they provide in the base paint of the vehicle even without the use of adhesion promoters. However, this IS NOT to say these solvent based formulas should exclude the use of an adhesion promoter.

Fast set materials on the other hand do not offer these solvents due to the fact they are 100% solvent free. Therefore adhesion promoters, in my opinion, are not an option but rather the standard. Our internal tests have proven nearly 100% increase in adhesion pull test results. On average, fast set bedliner materials offer 900-1,000 psi pull force before yielding without the use of an adhesion promoter. Use of an adhesion promoter increases this, on average, to 1,800- 1,900 psi.

Please read this paragraph carefully! Adhesion promoters alone DO NOT insure high adhesion properties unless the surface is properly abraded. Note the photo to the right; Hand sanding up to the trim line is critical and an absolute requirement to avoid the dreaded “peeling” that will occur if not completed properly. After proper abrasion to the surface paint, it is also required to remove the micro particles from the voids, grooves, caused by sanding the surface. Those that decide to “blow out” with compressed air alone or to also wipe out with some type of “cleaner”, I disagree totally. If I am putting my name on the quality of that customer’s truck and have to wipe out the bed, I’m going to use an adhesion promoter that will take those micro particles and seal them down to the surface and provide the best possible foundation for the bedliner material to adhere to. Acetone, lacquer thinner, flammable fluids, will remove some of the micro particles but not enough for 100% adhesion alone. We use a single component adhesion promoter that is applied with a trigger squirt bottle.

After hand sanding to the edge and abrading the major surface with a cup brush, we blow out the majority of sanding dust and then apply and hand wipe the adhesion promoter on all exposed surfaces. This adhesion promoter dries in about 5 minutes and supplies and excellent surface. We do not have “peeling” with this proven method. Want to attempt to peel our liner back? Bring and air chisel…… you’ll need it.

- George Flanik

One of our favorite pastimes is to scour the internet for mis-information about the bedliner industry.  We recently found yet another bedliner website spreading wrong information.  This is a statement slamming spray-on bedliners to sell a piece of carpet.  Here's what they say:

"One choice is a sprayed-on bed liner. But buyers need some eye opening info here as well. Before the sprayed-on material is applied, your new truck paint must first be sand-blasted. (Ouch) And over time, that handsome sprayed-on material fades into a chalky rendition of the original."

First off, NO bedliner company that requires the applicator to sand-blast the truck bed prior to spraying the bedliner.

Second, YES aromatic materials do get chalky over time but can be brought back to like new condition at a fraction of the cost in comparison to a piece of carpet.  (By the way...aliphatic materials resist chalking)

Lastly, I have never experienced a spray-in bedliner molding from moisture like carpet can. I like competition but the truth goes a long way!

Know the facts before you decide!

Thanks to all of you inquiring about the D-Cam via e-mail. To better answer some of the many questions coming in I have asked my marketing Guru to post our price sheet, in a PDF format, so you can download the latest and greatest price list and options.

One of the biggest questions has been with regards to the D-Cam verses the "E-10" in unheated and heated versions. Answer, there is no comparison.

The current E-10 is fixed output and 1:1 ratio only, regardless of HP or LP format. The D-Cam is variable volume and variable ratio.

The E-10 heated version requires re-circulation to heat the material for impingement applications. Many have told me heat up time is like "Watching Paint Dry" along with having to stop spraying to permit the re-circ to again heat the material. The D-Cam optional 6,000 watt 240 volt manifolds are one pass manifolds. The manifolds mount where the tanks normally would mount on the "T", "HT" and "HTE" models. The pump outlet flow is tubed to the manifold and then out to the hose set. This is true "On-Demand" Heat. Our manifold design will take 70 F material to 160 F in one pass @ 1 gpm and each manifold is PID controlled. Along with a P-2 and OO mix chamber you can spray impingement without having to wait or stop to reheat the material. Do we have other pump volume capabilities? You bet we do. Remembering, speed of application is like a race car, the faster you want to go, the more it costs!

My personal choice is LP format using "hybrid" low pressure materials. Why? I guess you are what you cut your teeth with. I have personally sprayed impingement many times, however, my personal opinion is that the standard D-Cam with drum setup shooting LP hybrids is more reliable, ability to adjust volume output, without changing "mix chambers", nowhere near temperature sensitive and requires much less maintenance and none of the probable problems that can and do occur with impingement technology. For those that say different and like impingement, I say God bless you and glad your happy. As you always hear me say "Life Has Choices"

Oh, I forgot the administrator requires me to say (Disclaimer for the uninitiated... I invented the D-CAM.)

Want to "be your own boss" in the bedliner industry?  The industry has several “franchise” offerings. Are they right for you? Let’s take a look.

Some require enormous up front investment from you. This could be as high as $75,000 before you even spray your first bed liner or they will finance you which adds additional overhead burden each month. Additionally some even get “royalties” from YOUR hard work. You do all the work and they want a piece of each truck you do. You are required to use the equipment, material and add-on's they TELL you to use.

A company out of Canada offers a small “low pressure” machine and boasts in their brochure; “Lowest Start-up cost of any professional spray-on truck liner system……” I agree that they do offer the lowest “Start-up” cost machine. BUT!, now ask them how much it costs to continue business after the “Low Start-up Cost” You will find it’s not so low.

They offer this machine for around $3,000 as part of the “start-up” package. They do not nor will they sell just the machine for $3,000. As part of the “package” you must first sign a legal contract dictating on what YOU can and cannot do in YOUR business. You are required, and it is mandatory by contract, to buy material from them for high cost per gallon, $30.00 and up. Decide to buy material elsewhere? NO, you cannot. By the contract you legally can only buy material from them. I might ask again, whose business is this???? Doesn't sound like yours to me!

Additionally you are charged a “Flat” freight cost regardless of volume ordered. Let’s say you order 5 ten gallon pail sets (50 gallons). You will pay, from last I was told, $425.00 shipping regardless. So, if they charge 30 bucks a gallon for the material and then you add the “Flat Rate” shipping, you are now paying $38.50 per gallon for the material. They will tell you to order more and that reduces the freight cost per gallon. Wait a minute, whose business is this, yours or theirs?  Guess who owns who!

Let me explain “True Incurred” shipping costs. Chemical companies call freight companies for competitive quotes before they ship your material. They take the best rate, add 5-10% normally for the pallet, shrink wrap and labels. Cost: From, for example, Texas to Ohio a shipment of 60 gallons/ 650 lbs. would cost approximately $200.00. Let’s do the math: $425.00 “Flat Rate” - $200.00 “True incurred” = $225 in someone else’s pocket, not yours. Additionally you are required (remember the contract) to buy all of your support items from them as well. YOU do not have a choice. These support items are not inexpensive either.

I thought the whole idea behind starting your own business was to have more control over your own business and independence. Sign one of these deals and you just reduced your “independence”. May as well be working for someone else at that point because you ARE!

How the Graco Acquisition of GlasCraft Affects Your Bedliner and Coatings Business.

 

 

The backbone of the United States’ economic success*, innovation & quality products is our free market and continuous presence of competition.

However, the acquisition of Glascraft by Graco (the current big boys) virtually eliminated competition in the two component equipment (including bed liner equipment) market.  Well maybe!  Our government has always been involved in any large mergers to be sure that not one company “monopolizes” an industry or business sector. How did this slip under the radar?

Remember those “Mom and Pop” stores that you could always find a person willing to assist you when your kitchen sink faucet leaked, listened to your dilemma and offered several options to resolve your problem?   Now picture going into a “Big Box” store searching for someone that may have the desire to help you, the customer.  “Big Box” stores struggle to stay in touch with the customer’s needs, and keep staff motivated to provide quality service.

Back to Big Blue. The acquisition of Glascraft will have long term effects on the two component market not yet seen. Example, with only two gas stations in town, and “Fred” owning both of them, it’s hard to find competitive pricing. Once you own the car and need fuel, you’ll pay what “Fred” decides you will pay.  And if they only offer 92 octane, you’ll pay for it. Like it or not!

Life does and should have choices.  Until recently the customer really had only two choices in the equipment market that offered true high pressure spray rigs. Some do offer “portable” machines, however they do not have the design capabilities to apply material extended distances due to the “Low Pressure” design in components.  Now you truly only have one.  Well maybe!

I personally thank the “Big Boys” for what they have done in the past for it had forced our company to say “NO.”  I’m not spending outrageous money for not only the initial capital equipment but also we are not going to be held hostage by the incredible markup on replacement parts for bedliner equipment.  Heck, we even have “generic” drug options from our local Pharmacy for prescription drugs. Try buying an aftermarket mix chamber for your Fusion or Probler gun!  Why do they charge $170….because they CAN!

After saying “NO”, we aren’t going to be part of the vicious circle offered by the “Big Boys”, ahem, “Big Boy”, we set out developing our own machine tailored to provide our coating division a reliable and cost effective Dual Component Application Machine or now called D-CAM.  My thirty years plus of fluid dynamic design along the programming experience has permitted us to develop the machine it is today, damn reliable and cost effective.  This machine will:

1. Supply a consistent selected flow volume and ratio of material to a dispensing device and
   
2. Provide electronic technology to monitor the process with provisions to cease application if and when something may go wrong.  We have developed that technology and you are not required to sell your first born to afford it.
   

Will our machine capture all segments of the market? NO. Is that our goal? NO. Our market is directed toward the small to mid-sized coatings business that is frustrated with the initial cost and operating expense that has been force fed to the market for too long now.

The D-Cam provides reliable and cost effective performance and further offers the ability to increase your profit margin by reducing initial equipment cost and extremely low maintenance/operating expenses. “Life has Choices.”  Call today and learn about D-Cam………………

Summertime Humidity and spraying bed liners

One thing in common with all aromatic isocyanates is the fact that they are all sensitive to moisture. The industry has provided many blends of iso that have proven some to be better than others with regards to moisture insensitivity. One thing is for sure, expose it to high humidity and it will turn fast, some into a hard “rubbery” film, others into rock hard film.

“Clouding” is the first indication of moisture intrusion into the iso. Next it may, depending on the blend, begin to “chunk” and skin over. Lastly it will turn into a solid that may require a jack hammer to remove from the container.

Blanketing the iso with nitrogen, an inert gas, will provide a protective barrier from atmospheric air carrying the moisture. Although the nitrogen will blanket the material from moisture intrusion, it will not protect the iso if poured from a container into another and ingesting atmospheric air, that holds h20 molecules, and the “bubbles” remain suspended in the iso. If you would like a real world scenario; take one container of oil and pour it into another container. As it pours into the second container you will notice turbulence in the second container along with bubbles suspended in the liquid. The bubbles tend to remain suspended due to the viscosity. Iso’s with average viscosity of around 800-1200 will not release the bubbles due to the cps(viscosity). Thus the H20 molecules go to work destroying the iso like termites in wood. Note: Heating the iso, 90-100 degree F, will assist in removal of some of the moisture due to the evaporation process and may delay the inevitable but the damage is already done.

The D-Cam tank models have on-board 5 gallon tanks for both the Poly and the Iso and are normally filled by 5 gallon pails of material. Our extensive testing of many Iso’s indicate that during high humidity and pouring out of pails will cause the “bubble” anomalies and will contaminate isocyanate if not immediately used.

The end user has two choices during high humidity climate conditions.

1. Use a certified pump flush after each application and discard any unused iso. DO NOT return back to the virgin material in the pail or, you guessed it, it will now contaminate the material in the pail.

2. Use a “Closed” system that prohibits any moisture intrusion. This includes a "Pail Kit", “Pony Kit” or "Drum Kit" that supplies all the necessary fittings, valves and tubing to connect the D-Cam pump inlet and return tube to the supply containers. Just remove fittings and screw in the suction and return fittings. A desiccant breather is provided as part of the kit that provides dry “make up” air as the liquid is used. NO drum pumps are required providing you stay within 8' of hose length from the containers.

Advantage of 5's or15 gallon pony kits???? Because the 5's or 15 gallon pony drums are still a size and weight, 50 and 150 lbs., which most can still handle without the use of lift trucks or other material handling equipment. A simple dolly will transport these small drums with ease. This still provides the original design criteria of the D-Cam to be a “Portable” machine.

In closing, aromatic blends have proven to be exponentially more sensitive to moisture than aliphatic blends. Most good quality aliphatic blends can withstand extreme moisture intrusion without the Iso agony................

Many debates are ongoing with regards to using “High Pressure/High Heat” two component proportioners that provide the capability of utilizing “Impingement” gun technology.

The main advantage of impingement technology is the ability to “trigger” the gun and utilize manual or air purge design. “Big Rigs” do have their place in the industry and most, if not all, utilize impingement technology.

Let’s look at the facts of the matter of most machines offered:

Low Pressure:  Most “Low Pressure” machines are very cost effective, low power requirements and utilize disposable static mixers, however, they lack the pressure capability to provide material extended distances, 50+ feet, and proven to be unreliable with regards to consistent volumetric output: “On-Ratio” performance and cannot support impingement technology.

Impingement:  Next is the entry level “Impingement” proportioner. Some utilize compressed air as the driving force to operate the pumping system and require a portable nuclear power plant and very large air compressor to run, 25 CFM or greater. This is not conducive to a small company attempting to complete “on-site” applications at the customer’s location. The proportioners, on average, cost 15-17K with hose and gun. BUT! You now are required to buy a generator and air compressor to support the power requirements: i.e. 6,000 watts of heat plus the 10-15 horse power air compressor.  Please add another 5-7K for these items.

Electric Pump:  Another entry level design uses an electric driven pump that does reduce the requirement for large compressed air volume. But! This design lacks the capability of “On-Demand” heat and requires the applicator to “Re-circulate” the material through tandem hose sets that may take hours to heat the material to temp. These prove to be more economical at around 12k but cost the applicator considerably more down time due to lack of heat capability. Come into work in the morning and the first thing you have to do is turn on this noisy machine to heat the material before you can spray. “Time is Money$$$$$”

Hybrid:  Then we have the “D-Cam” in which we consider it to be a “Hybrid” in design. The D-Cam bridges the gap between “low pressure” machines and the “Impingement” designs and here is how:

1. The D-Cam has the “horsepower” of high pressure piston pumps to deliver material up to 150’, BUT, utilizes static mix technology at the business end.
2. Supports Multi-Ratio and variable volume delivery. 1:1,2:1,3:1 and also volume delivery adjustment for those large projects down to the little ones requiring fine mil thickness control.
3. Permits use of lower, safer, temperatures and less heat recovery time along with operating the machine, tank heaters and our heated hose set at 120 vac. Nuclear power plants not required to operate the D-Cam.
4. At the end of the day all you do is hang up the hose set and go home. Next morning the material is at temperature and ready to spray. No waiting….. Our heaters are IN THE TANK, no recirculation required.
5. The new breed of hybrid “D-Cam Coatings” we offer also permits material application at much lower temperatures than those of impingement technology. Material temps of 80-100 degrees will obtain stated physicals and very good mix.
6. “Self Teach” mode designed into every D-Cam takes the worry out of machine settings. This feature insures consistent performance and in the event something would go wrong, the D-Cam controller shuts down the pumps immediately and provides a text alarm message on the touch screen describing the exact cause of the problem. No “blinking” lights on the D-Cam to decode!

Finally, the impingement gun technology does have its benefits if you are spraying very large projects; Roofs, floors, walls………. requiring drums per day. Keeping in mind the volume of this technology is extremely high output due to the gun design. Ever watch an on-line video of someone spraying a pick-up truck with impingement technology? The applicator arm moves at light speed due to the volume output required by the gun to produce a conical spray pattern. One slip and you now have a big mess on someone’s 45 K pick-up truck. We have sprayed them all. We have experienced the dark side, we didn’t like it. Gun maintenance is a regular job no matter what the Blue or Red sales people tell you.

The D-Cam utilizes static mixer technology that is very inexpensive and completely disposable. Static mixers have no problem with altering the volume due to the fact they just mix the material as it passes through the element. Fast or slow, they don’t care either way. Can you spray a little, stop and begin to spray again? NO, any dwell in spraying will require installing a new mixer. However, in our lab and in the field we have continuously sprayed all ten gallons of the D-Cam tanks with ONE mixer. Just keep Spraying. Take for example your spraying a truck. Set the D-CAM speed pots at 60% flow and you will enjoy a very controllable volume that will provide extremely uniform thickness and texture of YOUR choice, not the equipment. Best of all, NO GUN MAINTENANCE, PERIOD!

Do you sometimes feel the machine is dictating what you do? You should, because it is. The D-CAM does what YOU want it to do, not vice-versa. You decide the volume, you decide the finish, you decide, not the machine………..

Buy a D-CAM and you’ll never look back……………(Disclaimer for the uninitiated... I invented the D-CAM.)

The chemical industry has made great advancements in the chemistry involved in the polyurethane coating technology for the pick up truck bed lining application. These include two major formulas that:

(1) Provide safer applicator and environmental concerns and
(2) Provide options for the end user to select from depending on the application.

Bed liner materials include two major formulas; Aromatic and Aliphatic.  Here is a meat and potatoes comparison when deciding which to choose for your truck.

Aromatic:
Aromatic cost significantly less than Aliphatic for the fact they do not support long term color stability, UV, unless applied in dark shaded colors. The surface will, over extended time, oxidize and possibly leave a chalky film that normal rain will wash away. Although it may chalk, the physical properties are maintained and performances do not degrogate. Be advised that any light colors can and most likely will “yellow” over extended time when used in an outside sunlight exposed application. This is the main reason applicators market black as the main color.

Aliphatic:
Aliphatic cost is significantly higher due to the pure urethane used in the chemistry. The ONLY main advantage of aliphatic chemistry is UV protection, color stability, non-yellowing performance. Currently aliphatic material will add 35% to the bed liner cost.  Aromatic and aliphatic are very tough with respect to abrasion resistance, tear resistance and elongation (stretch). Each material will supply long term wear ability one for one.  

Bottom line:
You, the consumer have basically one major decision. Do you desire light colors verses dark? If your intent is to use your truck for hauling items, then aromatics are your choice in dark colors. If your truck is a “show” truck, then aliphatic will permit any color scheme and provide years of color fast protection. We offer both materials in an array of colors to match your application.