Summa Technology, Inc, a large military metal fabrication company operating out of Huntsville, AL a subsidiary of AAR Corporation, used almost all kinds of metals, such as Cold rolled steel, hot rolled steel with mill scale, Galvanized steel, Aluminum, Stainless steel. Until 1997, Summa Technology had 30% welding failure (AWS code welding) and a lot of adhesion failures, which created a lot of re-work. They were selling to Army below cost and were at a point of losing their business. Summa Technology had been using acid products from a company called Henkels (a large, worldwide company for metal surface prep chemicals) for their rust removal solutions but Summa was spending a tremendous amount for rust removal and even more for the extra labor and time. Plus, they were consisting needing to blast metal surfaces.
Summa Technology tested PICKLEX®20 in 1997, which exceeded their Quality requirements for Welding & Painting (Adhesion and Salt spray test as per ASTM B117). By 1998, they also started using PICKLEX®20 in the One-Step Spraying and One-Step Dipping process at room/ambient temperature without rinsing. From the very first day, there had been zero quality failure in their welding and painting applications. PICKLEX®20 provided a much better welding than AWS code welding (and without removing the mill scale).
Summa Technology used PICKLEX®20 for the remaining 8 years of their contract period with the Army. They eliminated grinding to remove rust, mill scale from steel before welding and anti-spatter. In fact, Summa Technology eliminated around $2.00 - $2.50 per sq. ft in cost by removing the need for grinding/blasting. The unit cost for PICKLEX®20 is only few cents per sq. ft. due to very large coverage (1600 sq. ft. per gallon). Further, not only was Summa Technology saving over $2.00 for every sq. ft. of metal surface prepared for welding and painting, they saw savings from avoiding the high re-work cost due to zero failure solution Pickle X offers.
All and all, choosing International Chemical Product's Picklex20 solution saved Summa Technology a lot of labor, time and cost through:
· Being a green product & simple one-step green process with no heating or rinsing
· Eliminating grinding, blasting and other hazardous chemicals
· Providing a rust/contamination free surface with zero oxidation (100% cleanliness)
· Provide years of indoor rust protection
· Provide much better welding (AWS code welding) with zero failure. Anti-spatter
· Provide excellent adhesion with top coating (even on edges & corners where failures are most common)
· In dipping process: no sludge, no waste disposal, no regular monitoring (PICKLEX®20 does not deplete), no concentration adjustment, no down time etc.
· Zero product cost after use (because of eliminating blasting and re-work from metal surface preparation process)
· Indefinite shelf-life (zero waste).
· Eliminate hazardous/toxic waste disposal
· Eliminate EPA/OSHA regulation, no health hazard, no waste, no environmental pollution.
· Saved a lot of labor, time and cost
More About the Picklex20:
THE PROBLEM -
Most of the quality failures in metal finishing are due to the contamination on the metal surface at the time of finishing as shown below:
· Blasting – Oxidation/Micro Rust starts immediately after Blasting (even after SSPC-SP5 / NACE 1 White Blast Cleaning). Causes Hazardous Waste disposal.
· Multiple stage Finishing systems with Hazardous/Toxic chemicals, such as Solvent, Acid, Phosphate, Chromate etc. The bath gets contaminated during the production process, because of which there are Hazardous/Toxic waste disposals from time to time.
Thus, 100% cleanliness cannot be achieved by the traditional processes due to contamination, which results in quality failures & re-work. Finishing companies have been struggling to reduce the quality failures for years, because they are spending a lot of labor, time and cost for the re-work.
THE SOLUTION -
Achieving 100% cleanliness every time by a unique award-winning green product called PICKLEX®20, the One Step Metal Prep. in One Step with Zero Quality Failure (Zero Re-work, Zero Waste Disposal and Zero Product After-Cost).
Revolutionary US EPA Tested/Verified, National Award (2001) & Edison Award (2013) winner, non-hazardous, water based, ready-to-use, value-added green metal surface preparation/pre-treatment product/process for complete rust removal, rust protection (for several years), and complete surface preparation/pre-treatment for welding and painting/finishing in one step -- eliminating grinding/blasting and all hazardous/toxic chemicals presently used. Works on all ferrous & non-ferrous metal surfaces.
Zero Quality failure. Zero Re-work. Zero Waste Disposal.
PICKLEX®20 Can be used under High Temperature Paint/coating (can withstand around 2000⁰F).
PICKLEX®20 provides both surface preparation & pre-treatment by performing the following jobs in one step and in one minute without heating or rinsing:
· Completely removes the mill oil/cutting fluid, flash rust, white rust, oxidation
· Provide a nano-conversion coating
· Convert 100% mill scale, weld/laser scale, pitted rust to a weldable & paintable nano-conversion coating
· Seal the coating and stop the oxidation process
· Provide 100% cleanliness of the metal surface
NOTE: The TURI (Toxic Use Reduction Institute) tested PICKLEX®20 which resulted in 100% cleanliness. No other chemical or process needed.
About International Chemical Products, Inc [DBA Picklex 20]