419 Levelling and Sagging Tester

ERICHSEN 419 Levelling and Sagging Tester (Germany)

Product overview

The ERICHSEN 419 Levelling and Sagging Tester comes in two models, 419 ASTM and 419 DIN, for different standards and functions. The 419 ASTM tests both levelling and sagging, while the 419 DIN tests sagging only.

A coating's levelling affects the quality of the film it forms. If levelling is too poor, marks on the film surface do not flow out and cause coating defects. If it is too good, the film tends to sag and run. Sagging happens when a coating is applied to a vertical surface: under gravity, part of the wet film flows downwards before it dries, leaving the top thinner and the bottom thicker, or in bad cases forming drops or waves. Strong sagging is a sign of poor application properties and should be avoided.

Applications

The ERICHSEN 419 is mainly used to determine the flow behaviour of Newtonian liquids – in the coatings industry, mainly liquid paints and coatings. It is not suitable for high-viscosity pastes.

Test principle

The ERICHSEN 419 uses a special stainless steel applicator with notches of different heights to draw parallel stripes of wet film on a substrate. For levelling, films of different thickness are drawn on a horizontal test panel; after the film has cured, count how many stripes of the same thickness have flowed together to judge whether levelling meets the requirement. For sagging, films of different thickness are drawn and the panel is immediately stood vertical; after the film has cured, assess how the stripes have sagged to judge whether the requirement is met.

Technical data

419 ASTM (levelling to ASTM D 2801 & sagging to ASTM D 4400)
Dimensions: 155 × 30 × 15 mm (L × H × W)

Net weight: approx. 0.1 kg

Side thickness: 3 mm

Notch heights: levelling – 75–300 µm
sagging (paired stripes) – 250 µm, 500 µm, 1 mm, 2 mm, 4 mm

Notch widths: levelling – 6.4 mm
sagging – 1.6 mm

Notch spacing: levelling – 1.6 mm
sagging – 2.5 mm (between paired stripes); 12 mm (between neighbouring film thicknesses)

419 DIN (sagging to DIN 55 677)
Dimensions: 115 × 30 × 15 mm (L × H × W)

Net weight: approx. 0.12 kg

Side thickness: 5 mm

Notch heights: 75–300 µm (in 25 µm steps)
350–700 µm (in 50 µm steps)

800–1300 µm (in 100 µm steps)

Notch width: 10 mm
Notch spacing: 2 mm

Ordering guide

419.PDF

419.PDF