The coating of steel and other metallic structures has suddenly gotten faster, cheaper and easier, with industry-leading surface-preparation technology that drives up quality while driving down costs at the same time.  Historically known best for our severe service coatings for steel, Madison now offers coatings for all kinds of metals and for all applications from mild to severe service.  While all of these coatings work well with any traditional form of surface preparation, many work extremely well with a far less expensive and less invasive type of surface preparation.  Read on.

Everyday Industrial Applications

For most end uses, the applicator no longer needs to use abrasive blasting with all its costs and its environmental and logistical issues.  Instead, simply brush or spray Madison FerroGrip Surface Conditioner / Adhesion Promoter over the entire surface, leave for ten to fifteen minutes and power wash it off with ordinary water.  FerroGrip is a completely non-hazardous, soap-like compound that dissolves oxidation, removes contaminants and deposits a layer of Madison AP-50 Adhesion Promoter, all in a single step.  When the surface is then coated with a Madison product containing the same AP-50 additive, the synergy between FerroGrip and the topcoat provides adhesion comparable to a commercial abrasive blast.

The actual topcoat for a particular application is chosen based on the intended service and the desired life expectancy of the coating system.  For routine exposure to normal commercial and industrial environments, Madison’s FusionClad series offers easy to use, water dispersible coatings that handle and apply similar to latex paints.  FusionClad Primer is fortified with AP-50 Adhesion Promoter.  It is topped with one of two available finishing coats, FusionClad TC (which is acrylic-based) and FusionClad TC Ultra (which is polyurethane-based).

Heavy Duty Applications

For heavy duty applications and longer life expectancy, switch to one of two solvent-dispersible primers, CorroPrime (a single component, general purpose corrosion primer) or AlumiZinc “S”(the next generation of high performance Zinc Rich Primer).  Both of these primers contain AP-50 Adhesion Promoter.  Then topcoat with any suitable Madison product.

Severe Service

For severe service such as immersion or embedded service, the applicator will need to blast as in the past (sorry!) but any primer or topcoat containing AP-50 will achieve adhesion values about 50% higher than one would normally expect compared to a coating not containing this unique additive.  Products that don’t contain AP-50 as a standard ingredient can be special-ordered with this as an option.

For these heavy duty and severe service environments, Madison offers a wide array of robust coatings in 3 different formats: plural component, Mix-and-Apply and PreCatalyzed.  The charts below provide guidelines.