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Why is it that certain coatings will cover more square feet at the same thickness, especially if there are no solvents to speak of that would evaporate and leave a thinner coating behind? How can 10 gallons of materiel cover 250 ft² at 1/16″ thickness with one system and another only cover 200 ft² with a different system?

Well, you’re about to find out. (Hint: It has to do with how the material is delivered)
1 cubic foot = 7.48052 US gallons
1 US gallon = 0.13368 cubic feet
that means that if I have a regular kit of Vortex material (10 gallons), times 0.133685 cubic feet per gallon [10gal x 0.133685 ft³/gal = 1.3368 ft³]. Let’s assume that rather than our material sitting in two five gallon buckets, we have one Cuboid (Rectangular Cube) with a volume of 1.3368 ft³, that has dimensions of 1′ x 1′ x 1.3368′.

=

[1.3368ft³ / 0.0052083' = 256.6656ft²].

Essentially, this means that if you poured 10 gallons of any material onto a surface at exactly 1/16″ thickness, it would cover 256.6656ft² of that surface. So why does material not really go that far? If you look at most high pressure systems, you will see that the increased pressure over-atomizes the coating material so that it simply floats away. These systems can waste 20-30% of your material. At only a 20% loss (80% efficiency), the impact can be staggering. [256.6656ft² * 80% = 205.3325ft²]. This is why Vortex uses a High Volume, Low Pressure (HVLP) design. This design has only about a 2% loss of material (98% efficiency) so you have more material where you want it. [256.6656ft² * 98% = 251.5323ft²] 251ft² covered compared to 205ft² means Vortex provides a costs savings to you!

This can add up to huge savings very quickly. Think about it, what if every time you bought 5 pails (or drums) of material, you tossed one in the trash? That’s essentially what you’re doing with a high pressure system, except in this case, you’re putting that material in the air around you, making a large mess and potentially a health hazard.

Vortex has always been a leader in versatility. Taking bed liners to new locations and finding new ways to protect people’s investments. Vortex is even a standard feature on many of the high quality trailers manufactured by Logan Coach. Logan Coach has been in business since 1985, and has been striving to create a better better trailer. This passion has given Logan Coach quite a name for itself in the horse trailer industry.

Check out this Logan Coach Review at mrtrailer.com. Logan Coach trailers hold their resale value, due to their attention to details. The steel frames are galvanized and coated with the Vortex liner material to prevent rust and other damage, and the skin is all aluminum, to contribute to a lightweight, durable design that will last.

Vortex is also part of the “Whiz Proof” design used prevent corrosion of the trailer floor due to horse urine. The floor is made up of vortex coated aluminum planks that have space for the horse urine to pass through and drain from the trailer. Floor condition is a major factor is resale value on any trailer, and this is one of the biggest assets to the Logan Coach design.

If your picking a bed liner for your truck. Please be careful. Earlier this year we worked on a van that came in the a pre-existing liner from another company (we wont name any names). The van was not very old but had been used to transport salt on a regular basis. While the liner should have protected the body of the Van. The result was much different.

It turns that the liner pealed out very easily and the salt & water had been destrying the van body underneath the bed liner. If you held the bed liner material up to the light you could see that it was riddled by pinholes. These pinholes allowed the salt & to pass through to the surface below, which had the paint sanded for adhesion.

Upon Closer Inspection, we find that the liner on average, is not much thicker than a business card. This liner was applied with a paper thin base coat then was covered with a extremely agressive texture coat. The result, was a very rough feeling liner that, to look at, seemed very thick, but in reality, had no strength or other protection.

For a surface to be created, the cohesive bonds between the molecules in a substrate must be disrupted. This results in a surface energy or tension between these molecules. What is happening, is that the molecules on the surface are attracted to like molecules, and want to bond with like molecules on all sides (like the molecules under the surface).

This can be a major factor how much material it will take to cover a surface. If a substrate has a high surface energy, it has a strong desire to bond to something. A coating will be pulled down to the surface and “wet out”, causing it to thin. This also helps draw a coating in and increase the number of “contact points” with the surface, which will improve adhesion. If a substrate has a low surface energy, the coating will be less attracted to the surface. As a result the coating will have more of a tendency to bead up (It may not be as extreme as oil & water but it does happen). This will make the coating go on thicker and as a result, not go as far.