Powder Coating wheels more than once, bad?
 

Does it really effect the rigidity that much?

I am looking into picking up a used set of wheels...they were powder coated by the first owner...then the 2nd owner picked it up and didn't like the color so he powder coated it to another color....now I am interested in picking up a set but its scratched up...he gave me the option to powder coat and re finish the wheels for $200 extra

So if I get them finished again....it will be a total of 3 powder coats....is this bad?

I may be mistaken, but I believe in order to powder coat them multiple times. The powder coating needs to be removed each time.

So essentially you're not piling on three layers of different colors. It's one layer/color, you'd be getting.

i see...does this effect structural rigidity? this is my primary concern.....i don't want to purchase weak as hell rims

It depends on what they used to strip them....

They need to use a special medium to keep the temps down so as not to effect the temper of the wheel.... You can't just go sand blasting on them... it can create hotspots and ruin a wheel internally... of course it's invisible to the naked eye...

They could have used a chemical stripper... but I bet they used sand... buying powdercoated wheels can be iffy... especially if they've been done several times...

looks like i will have to take the risk then....i'm going to do my best to avoid any kind of pot holes or cracks in the road....wish me luck!

I would highly recommend against it. My best friend had a horrible experience with his rims. He bought the rims brand new. They were painted by the manufacturer and he took them into a highly recommended powder coating shop and had them coated. Drove the car about a year and then noticed one day that the spokes(7spoke design) had cracks going through the entire rim. He was very lucky that they didnt fall apart while driving. After this happened we did a little research on the effects of heating and cooling a metal that has already been strengthend through a heat treating process. Basically what happens is everytime you re-heat the treated metal you actually change the molecular properties and in turn break down the strength of the initial heat treatment. So those rims have become weaker everytime they have been powdercoated since they must bake in an oven. I hope this helps.

I wouldn't recomend it. Stripping them isn't always the main issue. You can use blast media or a stripper that won't have any ill effects typically. Your main issue is heating the substrate multiple times to approx 400 degrees. This can effect the integrity or the alloy. In turn making the wheel brittle. You could try doing it. This is more likely to happen on a thinner spoke wheel than something like a stock ms3 wheel. I would advise to just have them painted. If you go to a pro you won't have any problems. Obviously it won't have the durability with chip and chemical resistance but you won't be running the risk of cracks or shattering.
Problem is if they are coated three times or even twice you don't know what you are getting into.