FAQ
1) What is Picklex® 20? Picklex® 20 is a combination of a metal surface cleaner, rust converter, rust inhibitor, conversion/protective coating, sealer which prepares the metal surface rust/contamination free, ready for very long-term rust protection indoors as well as most of the finishing, such as priming, liquid painting, powder coating, e-coating, chrome plating etc.
2) How Picklex® 20 works? Picklex® 20 is a ready to use product which cleans and coats the metal surface at the same time without rinsing. It cleans the mill oil, dust, removes light surface rust (including white rust) completely, converts micro rusts and provides a composite conversion/protective coating which is metallurgically bonded to the metal surface (becomes a part of the metal which cannot be scratched off), all at the same time. Since there is no rinsing involved, no moisture gets trapped inside to promote rusting. Also, the whole coating gets sealed and stops further oxidation. Picklex® 20 prepares a rust/contamination free surface with no oxidation layer ready for long-term indoor storing, welding and finishing.
3) What is the shelf life of Picklex® 20? More than 4 to 5 years when stored indoors in cool and dry place.
4) How safe is the product ? Picklex® 20 is environmentally safe, non-hazardous, non-flammable, non-toxic, water based and water soluble product. It is very simple and easy to use, with no mixing, no stirring etc.
5) What type of metals can be used with Picklex® 20? All ferrous and non-ferrous metal, such as carbon steel, stainless steel, galvanized steel, aluminum etc.
6) Can I directly paint over Picklex® 20 coating? Yes, Picklex® 20 prepares a stable surface for painting and provides excellent adhesion. However, primer is used to provide a longer corrosion resistance, which means longer life for the same paint job.
7) Do I put Picklex® 20 if there is no visible rust on the surface? Yes, because Picklex® 20 is a pre-treatment chemical which prepares an excellent surface for bonding with the top coating. It also adds a long-term corrosion resistance to the paint job. In other words, with same primer and paint on Picklex® 20 coating will provide longer paint life than if the same paint job was done on a blasted metal surface. Picklex® 20 does some extra job of removing the visible surface rust if any and converts the micro-rusts.
8) How much Picklex® 20 should be applied on the metal surface? Just enough to put a very thin coating on the surface. Picklex® 20 is a conversion coating which gets metallurgically bonded to the metal surface and no more thick coating is needed. Wipe of all excess chemical completely, which will still leave full coating. This way, the coating will properly dry and the adhesion will be real good.
9) Is any rinsing involved? No, there is no rinsing involved and therefore no moisture is trapped inside which can start rusting.
10) Do I have to always wipe or blow off the surface? Yes to make sure that no excess chemical is lying on the surface which will not dry properly and will affect bonding. If excess chemical is left on the surface, you will find a lot of whitish powdery residue on the surface after drying.
11) How do I take care of the whitish powdery residue if it happens? Scrape off the powdery residue down to the metal without scraping the Picklex® 20 coating at the bottom. Make sure that the coating is dry (if the coating is not dry, there will be a moist feeling by touch).
12) Sometimes a brownish color is noticed after drying of the coating? Sometimes a brownish tint can be noticed on the coating after drying, which is a part of the chemical and it is not rust. The color of rust is orange, not brown. Do not have to remove it, just prime over.
13) How long can the Picklex® 20 coating prevent rusting while stored indoors? Picklex® 20 can provide indoor rust protection in terms of years (number of years depends on the location and the weather condition).
14) What I have to do if the Picklex® coated surface is left in storage for months before priming? If the coated metal surface is left in storage for a long period of time, it will collect dust. When ready to prime, either blow off the dust from the surface (if it is not tacky) or wipe the surface with a damp cloth to remove the dust. Do not use any paint thinner or any other chemical or solvent to clean the surface. Because it may react with the Picklex® 20 coating and mess up the coating. Note: You may perform a small bonding test (cross hatch test) by applying primer to a very small area (4 sq.in. area) after removing dust and after curing of primer, perform the bonding test. If it bonds properly, then it is OK.
15) How about Welding on Picklex® 20 coating? Welding can be performed over Picklex® 20 coating after complete drying. It increases the weld strength on steel and does not form weld spatter. After welding, spray Picklex 20 on the weld itself while it is still hot to provide a protective coating on the weld and also to reduce the heat scaling (heat scale usually fails to bond with the top coating). This way, the weld will have rust protection underneath and all over the welding area (weld is the first place rusting starts).
16) Can any primer be used? Most of the primers can be used except Self Etching Primer.
17) Do I have to sand the Picklex® 20 coated surface before applying primer? Most of the cases it was found that Picklex® 20 coating bonds real good with primer or paint without sanding to make the surface rough. Since Picklex® 20 stops the oxidation, there is no oxidation layer on the surface which can come in between top coating and the metal surface. To make sure, perform a test on a small area by applying the primer and performing a bonding test after curing.
18) Can Picklex® 20 be applied on surface which can get real hot later on, such as exhaust pipe? Yes, Picklex® 20 can withstand very high temperature and does not get burnt off.
19) Can powder coating be done over Picklex® 20 coating? Yes, powder coating can be performed over Picklex® 20 coating with excellent adhesion and corrosion resistance.
20) Can metal fillers be applied over Picklex® 20 coating? Yes, just buff that area a little for good bonding. Metal fillers can also be applied over the primer.
21) Can Picklex® 20 de-rust or de-scale? Yes, dipping a heavy rusted tool/part or hot rolled steel with mill scale for few hours in Picklex® 20 will de-rust, de-scale, pickle, condition the metal and provide a conversion/protective coating, all at the same time. The protective coating will provide a very long term indoor storage and also prepare the surface for welding and finishing.
22) What happens if Picklex® 20 freezes? Just keep it in a warm place and it will come back to the original condition.
23) What happens when Picklex® 20 oversrayed on paint? Picklex® 20 will not damage paint. But leaving the chemical for a long time may dull the paint. Just wipe off the chemical with wet cloth.
24) How do I clean if some chemical spills on the floor? Just wash the chemical with large amount of water.
25) What kind of personal protection I need while using the product? Wear rubber gloves and safty eye glasses to protect your eyes.
26) Is Picklex® 20 cost effective? Yes, it is extremely cost effective. Picklex® 20 has a very large coverage and only one thin coat is needed. So the product cost comes out to be few cents per sq.ft. with very less labor time. Also, it cuts down lot of conventional steps saving labor, cost and time. On top of that, the shelf life of Picklex® 20 is quite a few years which eliminates any waste.
27) Do you ship to Canada? Yes, we ship to Canada by UPS ground.
28) Do you ship to any other countries overseas? We can ship to other countries by Fed Ex air only. Please contact by e-mail to find out the total charges with shipping cost by Fed Ex air. Payments should be made in US Dollars by credit card only and through www.paypal.com web site.
REFUND POLICY: If for any reason you are not satisfied with the product, please ship back the product in the original container within 30 days from the purchase date for full refund (please close the cap real good and pack with original packaging material).
Picklex® 20 on TV show "Trucks": Picklex®20 was shown and used on the TV show called “Trucks” on Spike TV channel hosted by Kevin Tetz (episode - One-half a C-10) during restoration of a truck to prevent rusting for a long period of time before they are ready to prime and paint. The link to their web site on that particular episode where they listed Picklex®20 as a product used on their show is:
http://powerblocktv.com/sites/trucks/episodes/TK.php?ep_num=TK2007-10&ep_m=May
