PPC Labs, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Permite Corporation, is an independent coatings testing laboratory. We serve manufacturers of paints, varnishes, lacquers and allied products (SIC 2851) and the customers who specify and apply them, along with clients in other industries.

PPC Labs began as the in-house laboratory for Permite Paints’ manufacturing operation. In the early 1980s it became a separate division so it could serve a broader marketplace. The lab brings decades of hands-on coatings experience to every project, with the independence our clients rely on.

Testing capabilities

We perform testing to recognized ASTM methods across the full life of a coating:

• Physical and application properties: viscosity, rheology, sag resistance, settling, fineness of dispersion, solids, specific gravity, flash point and transfer efficiency.

• Film performance: adhesion (pull-off, cross-cut and intercoat), hardness, flexibility, impact and abrasion resistance.

• Durability and protection: corrosion, chemical, water, heat and weathering resistance, cathodic disbondment, moisture vapor permeability, and holiday detection.

• Appearance and cure: color analysis, gloss, hiding power, dry time, and blocking, print and solvent resistance.

Equipment

The laboratory is equipped with industry-standard instruments, including:

• a Minolta spectrophotometer and Micro-Gloss meter

• Taber and Gardner abrasion testers

• an Elcometer adhesion tester

• Brookfield and Stormer viscometers

• Seta-Flash and Tag closed-cup flash point testers

• a muffle oven rated to 1500°F

• digital and mechanical film thickness gauges

• cathodic disbondment and permeability test assemblies

Whether you’re qualifying a new formulation, verifying a specification or troubleshooting a field problem, PPC Labs delivers accurate, objective results you can act on.