Bead Dispensing Kits.

Boost the visibility and safety of your work with our professional Bead Dispensing Kits, designed to integrate smoothly with your existing line marking setup. These precision tools are essential for many industrial applications, allowing you to lay down reflective glass beads accurately and efficiently. Built for durability and reliable performance, our kits help you achieve a superior finish that meets regulatory standards. Enhance night-time visibility and line longevity with these easy-to-use, professional-grade accessories.

FAQs

Common questions answered.

Five of the questions we hear most often on carpark and street linemarking gear. Full knowledge base on our FAQ page.

  • Pressurised or drop-on: which bead system do I need?

    Pressurised for ATS 4110 longitudinal markings on public roads (Clause 5.12 + Clause 6 dual-angle bead retro within 15 percent). Drop-on (gravity) for private property carpark, sports field, council yard and any non-ATS 4110 work. Pressurised systems use dual 120 lb tanks and the RAC 5 0.234 inch bead nozzle for controlled-pressure delivery onto wet paint at council operating speed; drop-on systems use gravity from a unit hopper at gun-line speed. The unit class drives the choice: LineLazer V 200HS HP Reflective, V 250SPS HP Reflective, V 200MMA Reflective and RoadPak truck-mount run pressurised; LineLazer ES, 200HS Auto and FieldLazer run drop-on or no bead.

  • What bead grade do I pair with my line marking work?
    • Type B-HR (0.5 to 1.0 mm fine) for standard waterborne paint on most council and contractor work.
    • Type C-HR (0.85 to 1.4 mm mid) for audio-tactile thermoplastic per ATS 4110 8.22. Intermix at a minimum of 30 percent by mass to provide good wet-night enhancement when applied to the surface.
    • Type D-HR (coarse, high refractive index) for wet-night enhancement; surface-applied D-HR must have a proprietary adhesive coating.

    All grades must comply with APAS 0042 for ATS 4110 work.

  • What retroreflectivity targets does ATS 4110 set?

    Per ATS 4110 Annexure B Table B1b: white longitudinal markings must hit 350 mcd/m squared/lx within first 30 days, 200 mcd/m squared/lx between 365 and 395 days, with intervention required below 150. Yellow longitudinal markings track lower at 200 / 150 / 100. Retroreflectivity is measured with a reflectometer per Austroads test method AGPT-T800. The bead system, bead grade, paint film thickness, travel speed and dual-angle delivery all combine to determine whether the line passes; pressurised bead with Type B-HR at 60 percent embedment in 350 to 400 micron waterborne is the standard ATS 4110 fit-out.

  • How do I get 60 percent bead embedment in practice?

    Target 350 to 400 micron wet film thickness on waterborne paint with Type B-HR beads. Travel speed is the operator-side variable that controls WFT at a given pump pressure and tip orifice. At 100 mm centre line with the 0.234 inch RAC 5 bead nozzle, target travel speed is 2.7 km/h. On a 150 mm line, weigh out 2.7 kg of beads per measured length to verify the bead drop rate. Too deep (over 60 percent) and light cannot bounce back: dead line. Too shallow (under 60 percent) and the bead shears off under traffic. The 60 percent target is what every ATS 4110 bead system is calibrated around.

  • Is ACCU-BEAD a current pathway for Australian custom truck builds?

    No. The ACCU-BEAD pilot through Skip-Line USA did not proceed, and ACCU-BEAD is unlikely to be deployable on Australian custom truck builds. On Brisbane Airport and similar runway / taxiway custom builds, bead level is measured by weight scales on the bead tanks instead. ACCU-BEAD parts in this collection (cable 2009198, housing 2007960, sensor 2007130, flow sensor kit 2007534) are retained for legacy unit support only. For new custom truck-mount projects, scope a Graco RoadPak with weight-scale bead level + Skip-Line NZ camera and laser layout, not ACCU-BEAD.

Full guide

Choosing the Right Bead Dispensing System

Glass beads are the retroreflective component of every line marking job. Without beads, the line is visible in daylight but invisible at night to a driver's headlights. The dispensing system controls how the bead lands on the wet paint film and how deeply it embeds, which together determine the night-time retroreflectivity (mcd/m squared/lx, measured per AGPT-T800). Pick the system by whether the work is private property or ATS 4110 longitudinal markings on public roads.

Drop-on (gravity) systems for private property and low-traffic carpark. Drop-on bead delivery uses gravity from a unit hopper to drop beads onto the wet paint at gun-line speed. The Graco complete 6 inch 1-gun systems (277065, 24Z726, 24Z727), 12 inch 1-gun (24N265), and 6 inch 2-gun (24M838) are the standard drop-on fit-outs on entry LineLazer ES and 200HS Auto unit. Drop-on is the right call for private property carpark, sports field and low-traffic council yard work where there is no ATS 4110 retroreflectivity mandate. The trade-off is no air control: bead embedment depends on paint film thickness and operator travel speed.

Pressurised systems for ATS 4110 longitudinal markings. ATS 4110 5.12 mandates that beads complying with Type B-HR, C-HR or D-HR (per APAS 0042) be applied to longitudinal markings, and Clause 6 requires the unit to deliver beads at dual angles producing similar retroreflectivity in both directions (within 15 percent). That requires a pressurised bead system. The Graco pressurised bead gun kit (16R963) and the complete 1-gun (25R268, 25R270) and 2-gun (25R267, 25R269) pressurised systems use dual 120 lb (54 kg) pressurised tanks and the RAC 5 0.234 inch bead nozzle to deliver beads at controlled pressure onto the wet paint film. The 16U439 second tank kit adds a second pressurised tank to existing 1-tank units.

Bead grades and the retroreflectivity targets. ATS 4110 Annexure B Table B1b sets the targets: white longitudinal markings 350 mcd/m squared/lx within first 30 days, 200 mcd/m squared/lx between days 365 and 395, intervention required below 150. Yellow tracks lower (200 / 150 / 100). Type B-HR (0.5 to 1.0 mm fine) is the standard pairing with waterborne paint and most council/contractor work. Type C-HR (0.85 to 1.4 mm mid) is the audio-tactile thermoplastic intermix at not less than 30 percent by mass per Clause 8.22. Type D-HR (coarse, high refractive index) is the wet-night enhancement; surface-applied D-HR must have a proprietary adhesive coating. Beads themselves are sourced through Potters Industries or Avante Linemarking; this collection is the dispensing hardware.

The embedment maths that everyone forgets. Bead embedment is the single biggest determinant of whether a line passes ATS 4110 retroreflectivity testing. Target 60 percent of bead diameter sitting in the wet paint. Too deep (over 60 percent) and light cannot bounce back: line looks dead even though beads are there. Too shallow (under 60 percent) and as the paint shrinks the bead loses its grip and shears off under traffic. Transport for NSW worked example for waterborne paint at Type B-HR beads: target 350 to 400 micron wet film thickness, 100 mm centre line at the 0.234 inch RAC 5 bead nozzle gives a 2.7 km/h target travel speed. On a 150 mm line, weigh out 2.7 kg of beads per measured length.

Custom truck-mount and ACCU-BEAD note. For RoadPak truck-mount and custom paint truck builds, bead tank options scale to 200 kg, 450 lb (204 kg) and 650 kg, with the ROADLAZER 10-position air-solenoid valve (17U196) for multi-gun pressurised arrays. Bead level is measured by weight scales on the bead tanks, NOT by ACCU-BEAD: the Skip-Line USA ACCU-BEAD pilot did not proceed and ACCU-BEAD is unlikely to be deployable on Australian custom truck builds. ACCU-BEAD parts in this collection (cable 2009198, housing 2007960, sensor 2007130, flow sensor kit 2007534) are retained for legacy unit support only.

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