Ford Galaxy / Ford S-MAX. Manual — part 1072

Paint - General Information -
Environmental Regulations

S-MAX/Galaxy 2006.5 (02/2006-)

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Waste disposal in the repair paint shop

More than ever before, since the introduction of EU directives, rigorous attention is paid to
the avoidance of waste materials and to recycling in repair paint shops. In this respect,
repair paint shops must take into account and comply with the following requirements:

Separate waste according to its recycling and disposal methods.
Produce evidence for the correct transport and disposal of waste.

NOTE: The organization of disposal in the plant must comply with the requirements of the
Waste Avoidance and Management Act: The avoidance and recycling of waste must
always take priority.

However, despite all measures which may be taken, waste cannot be completely avoided.

NOTE: Waste which is not allowed in household rubbish, and which can no longer be
utilized, must be disposed of as special waste.

Paint residues containing solvent, application residues, sanding dust, waste containing
peroxides, solvents, soiled cleaning cloths and paint slurry all count as special waste. Each
of these must be collected in a separate, sealed and suitably labeled metal container and
properly disposed of using a specialist company.

Careful separation allows some waste to be usefully re-used.

Empty metal containers can be sent for scrap instead of being disposed of as waste.
Contaminated cleaning thinners can be separated by distillation.
Packing material and masking paper can be added to the recycled paper collection.

Residues which cannot be used must be correctly disposed of.

All remaining waste must be treated as commercial waste and disposed of according to the
local regulations.

The new VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) solvent regulation

Keeping the air clean protects the environment and the population from the heath-
damaging effects of air pollutants.

In certain atmospheric conditions, volatile organic compounds contribute to summer smog.

NOTE: For comprehensive information, please refer to the European VOC Directive,
1999/13/EU. Furthermore, the effective national regulations must be complied with.

The European VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) Directive has controlled the limits for such
compounds since August 2001. It applies to production coating companies and those which
undertake repair painting of private and commercial vehicles.

Not least because of the VOC legislation, modern, low solvent and solvent-free lacquers and
paints are finding greatly increased distribution across industry and the trade. Up to the
year 2007, emissions from painting work will drop by at least 40%.

At the same time, the paint manufacturers guarantee for example that they will produce a
ready-to-spray product consisting of base paint + hardener + thinners, with a permitted
VOC level.

A company in business today can conform with the stipulated requirements by introducing
water-based paints and using the other necessary products from the relevant paint
manufacturers.

For more detailed information, please refer to the EU VOC Directive.

Paint - General Information - Factory
Paint Application

S-MAX/Galaxy 2006.5 (02/2006-)

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Description and Operation

General fundamentals of paint technology

Paint is a pigment-containing liquid which undergoes chemical and/or physical processes
after it has been applied to a surface, so changing into a solid film covering.

Repair paint consists of binder, pigments, filler and solvent.

NOTE: Organic solvent is being replaced by solvent based on water.

Constituents of paint

Binder

Mostly semi-fluid resins which bind together the other components of the paint when it

dries.

Makes the paint durable.
Ensures good surface coverage.

Pigments

Fine, colored powders, which give color to the paint.
Cover the components below (covering power).

Additives

Additives give the paint special properties.
e.g. flow improver, softener, drying accelerator, thickener.

Solvent

Thins the paint and allows it to flow more freely.
Evaporates during drying.

Painting process and corrosion protection.

In production, painting consists of individual steps which are optimally matched to each
other.

Bodywork consists almost entirely of steel panels which have been pre-coated with zinc.
The zinc layer is between 5-10 µm thick and acts as the first corrosion protection layer of
the steel panel.

Production sequence:

Clean and de-grease

In the first step, the bare bodywork is initially dipped in a cleaning bath and cleaned

with a degreasing solution.
Phosphatising

The cleaned bodywork is dipped in a bath containing various phosphate salt solutions.

This creates a crystalline metal-phosphate layer which offers the optimal prepared
surface and also corrosion protection.
CDP base

The cataphoretic dip paint (CDP) base acts as a further corrosion protection layer.
In this process the bodywork is completely immersed in a bath consisting of a paint

and electrolyte solution.

By application of an electric voltage, an electric field is created.
Positively charged paint particles settle on the negatively charged bodywork and form a

protective layer up to 20 µm thick.

Next the bodywork is placed in a dryer, where the CDP base is hardened at 180°C.

Sealing, stone-chip protection

Edges, seams and but joints are sealer with a sealing compound.
Vulnerable areas are coated with stone-chip protection.

Filler

Filler protects the body panels from stone impacts. Furthermore, any unevenness of

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the metal surface is flattened out, in order to create the most homogenous and fault-free
undersurface possible.

Once the filler is dry, it serves as the base on which paint is applied.

Top coat

The top coat is applied as a single layer or two layers of paint.
When working with two layer paint, in the first job step the initial colored base paint is

applied. In the second job step, a clear lacquer is applied, giving the base paint shine and
hardness.

The structure of an original paint finish

During construction of the original paint, a total surface thickness of between 120 and 130
µm is achieved. The thicknesses of the layers may vary however, because they are greater
for horizontal surfaces than vertical ones.

Paint layers

Description

Steel panel

Phosphate layer 2.9 g/m², corresponding to 2 µm.

Cathodic dip paint 30-35 µm

Filler 30-35 µm

Base paint 15-20 µm

Clear varnish 55 µm

Colored fillers applied in production

Filler which gives color is used in production. Its use makes the base paint and clear varnish
unnecessary on certain vehicle interior surfaces (engine, doors).

Not every exterior paint has its own matching filler. It is more that the tones of the filler are
color compatible, i.e. they have similar intensity to the top coat.

During repair painting the filler color tones must be used according to the manufacturer's
instructions.

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Paint - General Information - Paintwork
Defects and Damage

S-MAX/Galaxy 2006.5 (02/2006-)

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Diagnosis and Damage Assessment

Paint concerns, regardless of their causes, are part of the everyday work in the paint shop.
Correct damage assessment and determination of the cause are preconditions for a
professional resolution of a paint concern.

Paint concerns can still occur through a variety of causes, despite improved paint materials
and new spray methods.

NOTE: A first appraisal of the paint damage should be done before cleaning. External
factors such as rust, droppings, incorrect or insufficient paint care can then be more
easily detected.

Diagnosis is best done in daylight but not in direct sunlight. Exact evaluation can also be
done under artificial light from special luminescent lamps.

Paint damage guide

The most important paint damage concerns which make a paint repair necessary are:

Damage from biological paint contamination such as bird or insect droppings, tree resin
and aphids.
Chemical paint damage caused by industrial contaminants such as smoke, fuel, acids,
oils.
Mechanical damage caused by stone impact during operation, scratches in the car wash
and parking.
Damage caused by faults in treatment. Application defects such as paint runs or orange
peel.
Dirt inclusions in the paint layer, e.g. caused by dust in top coat or textile lint.
Damage due to corrosion.

Before repair of such paint concerns, exact diagnosis must be performed to determine the
cause exactly. On the spot diagnoses using simple aids and processes are often enough.

Diagnosis without disturbing the paint is done by:

Optical inspection without visual aids, under suitable light conditions from a suitable
angle and correct distance.
Optical inspection with the help of a magnifying glass.
pH paper.
Measurement of the thickness using FE / NFE coating thickness meters for ferrous (FE)
and non-ferrous metals and non-magnetic steel (NFE) - magnetic process on steel
panels, eddy current process on non-metals.

A test method where the traces of testing can be easily removed again is the finger nail
test. With suitable experience the existing hardness of the paint can be determined.

Test methods where the paint is partially destroyed are:

Pencil hardness test.
Adhesion test using adhesive tape.
Lattice cut test process to check the strength of adhesion.

Under certain circumstances these test methods are not enough for a certain diagnosis. In
this case, paint diagnosis under laboratory conditions must be performed.

Measuring and testing equipment for painted surfaces