Flow Metter for Painting Application

Please describe the application. Of immediate interest is why a flow meter is needed at all, for instance.

Measure volume, not flow rate, then.

I needs to know if my slaves servants employees are painting fast enough. This is step 1 of an SQC process. Later on, we will address whether the paint is going where it is supposed to, rather than onto cars in the parking lot.

This is a waste of time and money, but Graco makes them.

Graco Flow Meters

More to the point is applied coating film thickness.

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You will have too much trouble measuring flow rate, due to issues with various flow meters. If you insist on this path, then use a cheap G F Signet meter (paddle wheel meter probe) set up for the pipe diameter and liquid velocity range of the meter.

This is not rocket science, so you can even figure it out, or just tell the instrument salesman, and they will recommend what might work.

Otherwise, draw down vessels are what you need. It could even take the form of a calibrated side column (gauge tube) on the paint tank. Or it could be a set of scales on tank, and that is probably going to be your best solution to the issue at hand.

A mag meter relies on the fluid velocity,and generally have a turn down ratio of 100 to 1.

A very small diameter tube would be required to measure such a low volume.

I would recommend a Metering pump,with a micrometer flow adjustment to maintain accurate quantities for mixing.

If you just want to measure the flow rate, a Doppler meter would work,with a totalizer added to the system to give total quantity.

Good luck!

I think the OP is a bean counter.

"Painting powder and water" is hardly a way to describe making paint.

Besides, flow rate means nothing. It's how much paint is actually applied to the substrate that's important.

While we're on the subject, what is this?

Micron units wire gauge?

Not even close.

A European spark plug gap gauge.

Nope.

Unless you've actually used one, or cheat, it won't come intuitively.

Piano string spacer.

Nothing musical here.

No surprise; I just made that up.

Yes, wet film thickness gauge.

Each of the teeth is progressively longer/shorter and marked with the distance from the substrate surface.

Used to measure the coating thickness before the solvent has evaporated, so that the amount applied can be adjusted to achieved the desired cured coating thickness.

Knowing the solids/volatile ratio, one can get the desired cured thickness.

A witness coupon is used so that the finished product is intact.

I think you posted that one before. But then the company name gave it away. Looks like they use electronic instruments for this now.

I don't believe that is correct. The first instrument I mentioned was a dry film gauge.

Lyn, it was not in this post, but "before" in another post, which is maybe years back.

I am too lazy to dig it up, but you off all could know!

It is the Surfa Test comb for measuring wet lacquer thickness, I don't really get how that is supposed to work, is it capillary action that determines what tooth gets wetted?

I guess I could tell by looking at the thickness comb that the edges were offset.