Change in Aluminum on new Airstreams?

[rocco52]

I was reading the specs on new Airstreams just for fun and noticed they all say this now: "Fluorocarbon Treated UV Protected Aluminum Exterior". Is this something I never noticed before or is it a new process?

[HiHoAgRV]

I'm betting that it's Marketing Speak for Clearcoat.

It sounds high tech and everyone knows that clearcoat fails.

[dkottum]

I think it's the Alcoa factory treated panels they have been using for 18 years. Great UV protection but the filiform corrosion found with coated aluminum persists, and most probably will continue. Requires ongoing preventive maintenance, and repair as needed.

[SeeMore]

Fluorocarbon treatments enhance the adhesion of the metal/film interface, provide excellent water repellency, some oil repellency, and UV protection while imparting anti-rust and anti-corrosion properties despite being thin. It is in the clear finish applied to the aluminum sheets before delivery to Airstream. Sadly, cutting and drilling holes in the sheets breaks the bond at the edges and allows filiform to get started between the protection layer and aluminum so maintenance is still required.

The presence of fluorochemical telomers in the bloodstream of 90% of humans on earth, and concerns about the safety of these compounds for human and animal health, led to the banning of certain fluorocarbon chemical finishes in 2015. I don't knows if the two part compound changed this year, but advertising it probably means it is free of the newly banned chemicals.

[Schu]

That is the name of the coating used on the aluminum starting September of 1998

[RareStream]

Yeah, I remember the LAST time the government banned certain painting techniques and forced all the car manufacturers to use new "environmentally safe" paint:



Gee...I wonder if it is more "environmentally safe" to have all that peeling paint scattered all around the ground and water sources rather than being stuck to the actual car???

Get ready for peeling problems with this new "safer" clearcoat.

Dambit.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by RareStream

Yeah, I remember the LAST time the government banned certain painting techniques and forced all the car manufacturers to use new "environmentally safe" paint:



Gee...I wonder if it is more "environmentally safe" to have all that peeling paint scattered all around the ground and water sources rather than being stuck to the actual car???

Get ready for peeling problems with this new "safer" clearcoat.

Dambit.

Yeah. As a auto manufacturers rep for 32 years, I bet I feel the pain worse than you. I had to live it for years.

[SeeMore]

Gee, nobody on the forum has ever complained about plasticoat peeling nor asked about how to remove what remains after it starts de-bonding.

[RareStream]

Originally Posted by SeeMore

Gee, nobody on the forum has ever complained about plasticoat peeling nor asked about how to remove what remains after it starts de-bonding.

That's beside the point. Everyone knows that Plasticoat was a disaster...from 30 years ago.

The coating that Alcoa had been using has for the most part been very reliable and has not had a wide-spread peeling problem.

THAT'S what this is about. We don't WANT to go back to the days of Plasticoat peeling.

But, once the government regulators get involved, such things USUALLY start to happen. Quality goes down and prices go up. All in the name of saving the smelt beetle larvae or some crap.

[stfennema]

You just need to love those employee's that are paid by the tax payer with no recourse back to them if they do screw up, the higher paid tax paid employee (boss) has the lower paid tax paid employee moved to a different position. Example what happen to the EPA employee that breached the dam in Cl. and for ever poised a beautiful stream now the tax paying farmers cannot water there stock because the water is to toxic.