Glass bead technology has improved significantly over the past 10 years, as well as the awareness of the impact of glass beads on line marking. Choosing the right bead considerably affects the performance of markings, and one factor to consider is whether the beads are compatible with the line marking products.
Many beads these days have coatings to help them sit within different products, whether that’s for solvent-based paints, water-based paints or through to MMAs. One very important bead with a coating, is the MMA reactive beads.
These are very important as they are fundamental to the entry level spray MMA 98:2 system. The part A is sprayed through an airless sprayer (Graco 200HS), and the beads are applied directly behind the spray gun. Each bead is coated with peroxide, causing a reaction and the line to cure. Without the reactive beads, the line will not cure.
One important point is that a pressurised bead dispenser system is highly recommended for a couple of reasons.
- It ensures the consistent application of beads. This prevents parts of lines not curing or taking longer to cure, and can also prevent discolouration where beads have been overapplied.
- It ensures the beads are properly embedded into the line, giving more of a guaranteed cure, and you can be certain the lines will cure.
- It also saves on bead usage and makes sure that no beads are wasted in the application process. Also, less likely to need to sweep the area of loose beads after any project.
It is important to ensure the quality of the reactive beads as different levels can affect cure time, cure strength, reflectivity, slip resistance, colour and many other factors. If you want to know more about our range of road beads then get in contact today by calling us on 02392 200 606 or email us at mail@meonuk.com.
