If you could equip your painters with the tools to lay down a sealer and basecoat in a single pass, would you? More importantly, what is 15 fewer minutes per paint job worth to your shop?
That’s the opportunity Spies Hecker has developed with its 5650 sealer.
“Painters will need a holster to enter the paint area,” says Steffen Apollo, brand manager for Spies Hecker parent company Axalta.
“To get the full advantage of the 5650, painters should enter the paint area with two guns—one base, the other this sealer—and finish the job faster than ever before.”
One of the greatest features of Axalta’s new 5650 sealer is that it sprays in a single coat, and when assisted by common handheld air blowers, “You’re done flashing the product in 3–5 minutes,” Apollo says. Most sealers require a two-coat application and an industry average of 18–25 minutes.
If you want to save 15 or more minutes per job, the tool you’ve been looking for is here.
Best Practices for the Best New Sealer
Apollo says he is “extremely excited” about the launch of the 5650 sealer from Axalta. He believes it will be a game-changer in the industry and one of the most innovative refinish products to emerge in a long time.
“This sealer is different. It uses an existing hardener that we already have in the marketplace, applies in a single coat—not coat and a half, not two coats, but in a single medium wet coat—and lays out flatter than any sealer I’ve ever seen, from anyone.”
Apollo also notes that the 5650 sealer has an unbelievably smooth transition/blend, so if you spot-seal, that transition area is virtually undetectable; it’s just nicely smooth and graduates into nothing.
Axalta is currently defining best practices for its new sealer. For a typical repair (one side of a car or less), Apollo says the process is simple: Mix your color in one gun, mix your sealer in another, walk into the spray area with two guns and don’t leave until you’re done spraying. After one coat of sealer, blow for 3–5 minutes and hit it with the base coat.
“It’s a game changer from a productivity point of view,” Apollo says. “The flow of the sealer is so nice and flat that there’s no transfer of texture from the undercoat to the color, and it doesn’t grain up in uneven applications. For strategic shops and MSOs focused on productivity and simplicity, this is a great opportunity. It will help from a cash-flow point of view to reduce inventory on the shelf.”
Apollo knows that many shops lose productivity during the sealer process; if it’s not done right, it can be a massive step backward in cycle time, slowing down other jobs and wasting precious time and materials.
“What excites me the most is the fast flash-off time of the sealer and the ability to walk into the booth with both guns,” Apollo says. He notes that it’s easy for technicians to get sidetracked with other obligations in the shop while waiting for sealer to dry, which can also jeopardize the job. If painters plan the job with both guns in hand, however, the chances of losing efficiency are reduced to almost zero.
“And that’s exciting because the industry is so productivity-minded,” he says. “From a technical point of view, we’ve come a long way into the waterborne arena and now have a cross-linked sealer. The smooth flow and transition on the blend are very exciting; the best-in-class sealer on the market today is pretty good, and the 5650 just blows it out of the water.”
Give Your Shop a Holiday Gift of 5650 Sealer
Shops won’t need any special equipment to enjoy the benefits of the 5650; it’s sprayed through a typical quality sealer gun. The recommend nozzle setup is 1.3mm. The product is poised to launch this fall as part of a full system for maximum efficiency and productivity, and will be available by SEMA 2019.
For more information, visit axalta.us.
