[BikerBill]

>if getting to temp too fast will cause the powder to melt too fast (before >part is hot), how does that differ form putting the part into a pre-heated >oven?

>if the oven is already at 400, wouldn't the powder melt right away before >the part even begins to warm?

Exactly... Oven temp is not as important (to a degree).. You dont want the part to come to temp too fast on the "surface". Picture putting a torch to a freshly coated (uncured) part. the powder will melt, but once the rest of the peice starts to pull the heat from the surface the curing stops..

Go back to the chicken anology.. do you cook a chicken at 200. You probably could, but how long would it take for it to reach temp.. No you run it at 400 to 500 degrees.Now cook the same chicken in a toaster oven.. Same chicken and same temps, but because the toaster oven dosent have the BTU's that the regular oven has it takes almost twice as long to cook.. Both oven hold the chicken, both ovens reach the desired temp.. But only one of them have enough power to cook it in a timely matter.

And yes.. I know our parts dont need to be heated to the core like a chicken, but they do have to be saturated enough to hold the temp at the surface with the given heat source long enough to cure the powder.

The oven temp doesnt play nearly as important as the temp of the part.. with out enough BTU's to maintain the parts at proper temp you could ruin the finish by having it only "start" to cure or never fully cure.

Now Im sure that it is possible to amp the btu's or wattage up to get the same effect as a torch heating just the surface.. but that would take ALOT of heat. maybe the same effect it the parts were to close to the source..