What is a Functional Coating?

What is a Functional Coating?

The tagline under our name on the homepage of our website says that The DECC Company is “Your Functional Coating Specialist.” But what does it mean to say certain coatings are “functional” – aren’t all coatings designed to perform a specific function? Well…yes. However, there are certain attributes that set the coatings DECC applies apart from others.

Not Powder Coat, E-Coat or Plating

Powder coating, E-Coat (or electrodeposition coating) and plating all have different advantages and disadvantages depending on their individual applications, but they all provide essentially the same one to two functions – cosmetic appearance and corrosion protection. Powder coat and E-coat look appealing and can provide 250 to 960hrs of corrosion protection, while standalone plating can achieve 240 to 720hrs…give or take depending on the type of plating.

However, the coatings DECC applies can have a variety of functions and, due to our spray method of application, are also cosmetically appealing. For instance:

Magni’s Magni 565

The Magni 565 resin system is an inorganic zinc-rich basecoat and an aluminum-rich topcoat. This chrome-free two-coat system not only provides excellent corrosion protection – from a minimum of 720 hours to over 1500 hours depending on part geometry – but has variable coefficient of friction levels in the topcoat that can be modified depending on performance requirements. This coating provides corrosion protection at a little over half of one one thousandth of an inch (or a little over a half a mil). By comparison, powder coating must be applied much thicker, anywhere from 6 to 12 times as thick, to provide any sort of significant corrosion resistance.

A truck mounting bolt coated with Magni 565

Henkel’s Bonderite S-FN 333

Also known as Emralon 333,  Henkel’s Bonderite S-FN 333 is not only cosmetically appealing but provides a low coefficient of friction, is extremely abrasion and wear resistant, provides great dry-film lubrication and is resistant to a wide range of solvents and chemicals. What is impressive about those attributes is that the coating achieves those performance characteristics when applied at less than one mil.

Brake Clip with Abrasion Resistant, Noise Reducing 333 Coating

Molykote 7409 

Molykote 7409 is a bonded dry-film lubricant that provides exceptional resistance to hydraulic fluids and oils, is corrosion resistance, has a long wear life under high load-carrying capacities, and operates in extreme temperatures (from – 94⁰ to 716⁰F). This coating is ideal for “install and forget” components where re-lubrication is not feasible and at film thicknesses as low as 0.11 mils.

Another attribute that sets the coatings DECC applies apart from others is the price. Powder coat, E-coat, and plating are an economical choice when certain performance characteristics are not required. The latter coatings are more expensive, but they provide superior performance and – hence our designation – functionality.