In the last decade paints have changed significantly, as has research, color diversity and demands. The Cupping Tester, a benchmark tester for many coatings, has now been changed to meet new demands.

The Automatic Cupping Tester, a new generation cupping tester, has new features such as complementary color selection. Defects in the coating will manifest as lines, cracks or marks in different colors when performing the test. With normal white light the reflections from coating and defects are equal in intensity. Complementary color selection will make an assessment of defects much easier. For example, green light on a red panel will make the panel look black while any defect with different color is highlighted. This will allow for an easy assessment of defects and reduce operator eye strain.

The Cupping test is mainly a low contrast test, as can be seen in the images. The use of green light on a red panel is an ideal example of the use of complementary colors. As shown in the images, the visual contrast between the coating and the defects is much higher in contrast, thus making assessment of the end point much easier.

End point determination accuracy was increased in the past by using up to 10X magnification. The use of a magnifier often limits the visibiity due to reflections and glare. This increases operator strain and fatigue while reducing reliability. Complementary color selection will allow the user to see much more with less strain. As shown in the table, the use of complementary color is comparable to that of a magnifier without the operator strain, making the method much more reliable.

• Reference panel
• Optical tool support rod
• Optical tool mount

• Power cord
  
• Manual