As standard Pentalift produces its dock lift products utilizing a spray on enamel paint for the equipment’s finish coat. Non-standard paint colors are also available from the majority of dock lift manufacturers to match the surrounding equipment or to address a user preference color choice.
To specify a non-standard paint color Pentalift must be advised of the international RAL color code identification # to be applied. There are over 2,500 colors from which to choose; for example RAL 5005 is Signal Blue, RAL 9016 is Traffic White etc. Depending upon the paint color selected the equipment may have to receive a coat of primer prior to the finish coat being applied.
The most common upgrade to enamel paint is a spray on epoxy based paint finish. An epoxy based paint finish is much more resilient and is recommended for non-chemical intermittent wash down applications. Epoxy paint is also resilient to many acids, solvents, alkalis and grease.
Food grade epoxy paint finish is an optional paint finish that is compliant with USDA Incidental Food Contact requirements; the paint finish is applied after the equipment has been thoroughly mechanically cleaned. The optional food grade epoxy paint finish provides excellent protection against moisture, abrasion and chemical resistance. This option is not typically selected for dock lifts as they typically are not installed directly in the manufacturing area of a food processing facility.
The best finish available to prevent corrosion is hot dip galvanizing. Optional hot dip galvanizing is a comparatively expensive protective finish to accommodate because of its labor intense nature and additional transportation costs. First the dock lift is manufactured, tested and then dismantled into sub-assemblies for transportation to the hot dip galvanizing sub-contractor. The sub-assemblies are first dipped into an acid solution for cleaning, when completed the sub-assemblies are then dipped into a hot molten zinc bath to provide 100% coverage.
During the galvanizing process the sub-assemblies are first dipped and then removed from the tank of molten zinc. Permanent visible deflection of the steel and an inconsistent finish may occur however there is no impact to the structural integrity of the dock lift once the galvanized sub-assemblies are returned to the Factory and re-assembled prior to shipping the completed product.
For additional information on any Pentalift product please contact the Pentalift Sales Department.