Inspection, like life insurance, provides peace of mind and added protection that most of us cannot afford to be without. The cost of premature coating failure may go beyond the expense of repainting. For instance, if the coating used to line a town’s water supply storage tank fails prematurely, one may be faced with many indirect costs including:

• Legal Action
• Customer Alienation
• Community Resentment

While this example may seem extreme, the fact is that ON-GOING inspection is critical in achieving optimum coating performance. Let’s look briefly at some essential inspection tools to assure the quality of the work performed.

Human Eyes
Priceless and worth protecting, they are by far your most valuable inspection tool. Used to monitor holidays, runs and sags, overspray, application technique, surface preparation, etc.

Sling Psychrometer
An instrument used to measure relative humidity, dew point, and temperature.

Micrometer
A tool used to measure the surface profile where the blast profile depth is critical to the performance of the coating system.

Surface Temperature Thermometer
An instrument used to measure the temperature of the substrate to which the coating will be applied.

Hypodermic Needle Pressure Gage
Gage used to measure air pressure of blast equipment at the nozzle and the air pressure of spray equipment at the gun. Extreme caution should be exercised when using this gage to prevent serious injury.

Wet Film Thickness Gage
Gage used immediately after application of a coating to determine the wet film thickness of the coating. Wet film can be used to estimate the dry film thickness of the material applied. To calculate theoretical dry film from wet film, simply multiply wet film thickness by the percent volume solid.

Mikrotest Dry Film Gage
A proprietary, single magnet, non-destructive instrument used to measure a coating’s dry film thickness on ferrous surfaces.

Tooke Gage
This instrument requires a cut be made through the dry film to the substrate but enables the inspector to determine the film thickness of each individual coat as long as they are contrasting colors. The cut should be repaired to prevent corrosion.

G-10X Magnifier
A lens used to make objects appear larger.

Sharp Pocketknife or Scalpel
Readily available, both can be used to check for adhesion, determine whether dirt or trapped air have caused bubbling and to perform many other valuable functions.

Pinhole Detector
Instrument used to detect pinholes in non-conductive coatings on conductive substrates. Most commonly used to inspect tank linings.